(本文选自《经济学人》20201114期)
背景介绍：
作为西餐正餐中最接近中国人饮食习惯的一种美食，意大利一直深受世界各地人们的喜爱。而随着新冠肺炎疫情的爆发，无论是在欧洲、美洲还是澳洲，意大利面都成为了除卫生纸以外最紧俏的商品。那么，到底是什么原因使得意大利面如此抢手呢？
Stockpiling pasta boosts Italy’s foodmakers
人们对意大利面的疯狂囤积推动了意大利面生产商的繁荣发展
A Italian staple is a pandemic favourite
Supermarket shelves stripped bare by stockpilers were familiar scenes as anxious shoppers loaded up with toilet rolls and pasta when lockdowns were first imposed. The taste for long-lasting dried food has been a boon for Italy, a country in deep recession.
超市货架上的商品被人们抢购一空，这一场景再熟悉不过了，在意大利首次实施封城措施之时，焦急的购物者们疯狂地囤积着卫生纸和意大利面。对于深受疫情困扰的意大利来说，这种能够长期保存的干燥食物是人们的一大恩惠。
Although Italians remain the biggest eaters of pasta worldwide,
munching
through 23kg per head annually, the country’s pasta-makers export 60% of their production, mostly to Europe and America.
尽管意大利仍是全球最大的意大利面消费国（意大利人每年人均吃掉23公斤的意大利面），但该国的意大利面生产商仍将其产量的60%出口至其他欧洲国家和美国。
While stuck at home far more cooks made plates of spaghetti, fettuccine and farfalle. According to ISTAT, the Italian statistics agency, exports of pasta increased by 30% in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2019.
由于被迫待在家中，越来越多的家庭厨师学会了做意大利细面、意大利宽面和意大利蝴蝶结面。据意大利统计机构 ISTAT 的数据，今年上半年意大利意大利面的出口量相比去年同期增长了30%。
Barilla, the world’s biggest pasta-maker with sales of €3.6bn ($4.2bn) last year, must keep up with increased demand for its core product. The 143-year-old family firm also owns Wasa, the world’s biggest maker of Swedish crisp bread, as well as
a host of
smaller snack brands.
百味来集团是全球最大的意大利面生产商，其去年的销售额达36亿欧元（约合42亿美元），如今该集团必须跟上人们对其核心产品日益增长的需求。这家有着143年历史的家族企业旗下还拥有全球最大的瑞典脆饼生产商Wasa以及一些规模较小的零食品牌。
The company’s high-tech headquarters in Parma operated at close to capacity, producing 1,000 tonnes a day, throughout Italy’s harsh lockdown in spring. Some other Barilla factories produced more pasta than ever, says Bastian Diegel of Barilla in Germany, albeit at significantly higher cost thanks to the additional safety measures. It continued to make all of its 120 varieties.
今年春天，当整个意大利都处于严格封锁状态之时，该公司位于帕尔马的高科技总部却在以接近最大产能的速度运转，每天生产近1000吨意大利面。百味来集团德国分公司的巴斯蒂安·迪格尔说，百味来的其他工厂生产的意大利面也比以往任何时候都要多，但由于采取了额外的安全措施，成本也更高了。百味来正在不断生产其120种产品。
Maintaining supplies to Germany, one of Barilla’s most important markets, even required dedicated transport. Starting in March the job of providing 22% of the pasta and as much as 39% of the sauces eaten in Germany meant
dispatching
two trains a week from Parma to Ulm, its main warehouse in the country.
为了维持德国市场（百味来集团最重要的市场之一）的供应，百味来甚至需要专门进行运输。自今年3月起，为了向德国供应其22%的意大利面和39%的酱汁，百味来每周需派遣两趟火车从帕尔玛前往乌尔姆（百味来在德国的主要仓库）。
Each train has 16 wagons transporting 490 tonnes of pasta, 60 tonnes of sauces and 50 tonnes of pesto. From June the trains ran three times a week; soon they might make four journeys.
每列火车有16节车厢，总计可运送490吨的意大利面、60吨酱汁以及50吨香蒜沙司。自今年6月起，每周需派遣的列车数量增至3趟；而不久之后甚至需增至4趟。
The question for Barilla and other pasta-makers is whether the boom will outlast the pandemic. Luigi Cristiano Laurenza of the International Pasta Organisation is confident. Pasta consumption worldwide increased from 7m tonnes in 1999 to 16m tonnes last year, even before it became a pandemic staple.
对于百味来以及其他意大利面生产商来说，最大的问题在于这种繁荣是否会持续至疫情之后。国际意大利面协会的 Luigi Cristiano Laurenza 对此持有乐观态度。意大利面的全球消费量已从1999年的700万吨增长至去年（彼时，新冠肺炎疫情尚未爆发）的1600万吨。
Italy may have lost its appetite a little in recent years but there is room for growth nearly everywhere else, in particular in Africa and Asia. Pasta is cheap, tasty and
versatile
, says Mr Laurenza, making it especially attractive for cash-strapped families battered by a pandemic.
近年来，意大利人可能对意大利面可能有点吃腻了，但在世界其他地方，意大利面都有着巨大的市场增长空间。Laurenza 说，意大利面价廉味美，并且可以用来制作多种菜肴，其对于因受疫情影响而在经济上陷入困境的家庭来说是个不错的选择。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
本文翻译：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
编辑：Vinnie
随着新冠肺炎疫情的爆发，欧洲许多国家都采取了封城措施以遏制疫情的蔓延。特殊时期囤够足够的粮食是全人类面对灾难的本能操作，而全球各地的人们似乎像提前商量好一般，都在疯狂囤积着味美价廉、而又适合长期储存的意大利面。
重难点词汇：
munch
[mʌntʃ] v. 用力咀嚼；大声咀嚼
