They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and the same should go for fruits. Take the?cherimoya. This?prehistoric-looking tropical fruit has thick, scaly green skin and looks more like a?Jurassic Park?prop than a yummy dessert choice. And yet it’s a?symphony?of sweetness. It’s no wonder why the Incas reserved it as a treat for royalty and?Mark Twain?called it “the most delicious fruit known to men.”
人們常說(shuō)你不能光看一本書的封面來(lái)評(píng)判它是不是好書，水果也是一樣。番荔枝（俗稱釋迦）就是一個(gè)典型的例子。這個(gè)擁有史前長(zhǎng)相的熱帶水果，有著厚厚的、丑陋的綠皮，看上去更像《侏羅紀(jì)公園》里面的道具，而不是美味的甜品。然而事實(shí)上，它卻是香甜的代名詞。難怪印加人把它視作皇家珍饈，馬克·吐溫稱它是“人類吃過(guò)的最可口的水果”。

Native to the inter-Andean valleys of?Ecuador, Colombia and?Bolivia, cherimoyas grow in big, bushy trees and are very popular in Latin American?cuisine. They’re?easily found in street markets around the region — and under?myriad?names. In Brazil, people call them?graviolas; in Mexico,?poox;?in Belize,?tukibs; in Haiti,?cachimans laChine;?and?in Venezuela,?chirimorrinons?— quite a tongue twister. They come in hundreds of different varieties, with names like Deliciosa, McPherson and Chavez, and while they do well in tropical climates, they are also grown in places like the south of Spain and California.
釋迦生長(zhǎng)在厄瓜多爾、哥倫比亞和玻利維亞的安第斯山谷間高大茂密的樹上，是拉美非常流行的美食。在這塊區(qū)域的街邊市場(chǎng)上很容易找到這種水果，而且有著多種多樣的名字。在巴西，人們叫它格拉維拉斯；在墨西哥，人們叫它普科斯；在伯利茲，人們叫圖克普斯；在海地，叫卡西馬斯拉西尼；在委內(nèi)瑞拉，叫希瑞莫瑞勒斯（是不是有點(diǎn)像繞口令）。釋迦有多個(gè)品種，比如帝力希爾薩、麥克弗爾森和夏維茲，它在熱帶地區(qū)生長(zhǎng)良好，同時(shí)也可以生長(zhǎng)在西班牙南部和加利福利亞。

What does it taste like? Well, it’s difficult to describe but resembles a mouthwatering cross of other exotic fruits, including banana, pineapple, papaya and mango. This odd combination makes it taste more like a dessert: custard, fruit pudding or even bubblegum. “It’s one of those very particular tastes that either you love or hate,” says Carmen Pons, a fruit vendor at a Barcelonian market.
它吃起來(lái)像什么呢？很難描述，不過(guò)感覺(jué)像集合了各種異域水果的味道，輕輕地從你嘴里滑過(guò)，包括香蕉、菠蘿、木瓜和芒果。這種奇怪的多重味道讓你感覺(jué)更像是在吃甜點(diǎn)：牛奶沙司、水果布丁、異或甚至是泡泡糖?！斑@是一個(gè)很特別的味道，讓你又愛(ài)又恨，”一位巴塞羅那市場(chǎng)的水果經(jīng)銷商卡門·龐斯說(shuō)。

The soft, beige interior might not seem very appetizing. The cherimoya has the texture of a rotting pear and is filled with big, black (slightly toxic) seeds, but use a spoon to scoop out its squishy insides, and you won’t be disappointed. What’s more, packed with?antioxidants, vitamin C,?protein?and dietary fiber, this fruit turns out to be quite a superfood.
那軟軟的、淡黃色的果肉看起來(lái)像是并不太開胃。釋迦的果肉非常松軟，里面還有很多大的、黑色的（輕微有毒）種子。但是如果用勺子挖一塊里面軟乎乎的果肉嘗一口，定不會(huì)另你失望。而且，果肉富含抗氧化成分、維他命C、蛋白質(zhì)和膳食纖維，這款水果簡(jiǎn)直就是個(gè)超級(jí)食物。

So why isn’t cherimoya already on the menu at every restaurant and smoothie shop? Chalk that up to the fruit’s formidable reptilian exterior appearance, fiddly interior and high cost. “Restaurants tend to prioritize less-exotic ingredients because the profit margins are so low,” says Spanish chef Bertant Basany. Banana and pineapple, which taste somewhat the same, are “way cheaper and easier to find, and might give you a similar result,” he says.
那么為什么現(xiàn)在很少有餐廳和甜品店把釋迦列在菜單上呢？原因在于其可怕的像兩棲動(dòng)物一樣的外表、精致的內(nèi)在和昂貴的價(jià)格?！案骷也蛷d都想少采用一些異域食材，因?yàn)槔麧?rùn)實(shí)在太低了，”西班牙廚師波爾騰特·巴塞里說(shuō)。他補(bǔ)充道：“香蕉和菠蘿嘗起來(lái)味道差不多，但是價(jià)格卻要便宜很多，而且更容易買到，如果用這些水果也能做出相似的味道?！?/div>

Still, for the adventurouss fruit eater who refuses to let mere aesthetics guide his or her diet, the cherimoya might be a wonderful new ingredient for smoothies, flans and sorbets. They could even serve as a great social crutch: If you’re having particularly boring people over for dinner, one way to keep them entertained is to serve them some cherimoya and then ask them to guess what type of fruit they’re eating.
不過(guò)，對(duì)于一些喜歡冒險(xiǎn)并且不太在意審美的水果吃貨而言，釋迦是一個(gè)制作牛奶沙司、果醬餅和冰沙的很棒的食材。釋迦甚至可以用來(lái)作為社交潤(rùn)滑劑：如果你正和特別無(wú)聊的人一起共進(jìn)晚餐，一種使他們高興的方法就是讓他們嘗嘗釋迦的味道，并讓他們猜出是哪種水果。