舌尖上的航海丨第6集 “牛肉”船长拜师记

人们说，水手沈鹏为中国饮食文化争了脸，这话不假！

《鹦鹉号》船长罗杰斯，人称“牛肉”船长。

《鹦鹉号》是艘意大利远洋货船。

中国水手沈鹏被外派到这条多国船员“混搭”的船上当天，就被喚到”牛肉”船长房间，生辰八字问个“底朝天”。最后记下了他的生日纪念日。

沈鹏上船前就对“牛肉”船长略知一二；船艺精谌，待人热情…，但是人们为何称他“牛肉“船长却不知晓。

沈鹏来自中国的“拉面“之乡一兰州。做一手地道的“兰州拉面“。该拉面的主料是牛肉，所以，沈鹏对牛肉”情有独钟“；难道船长喜欢牛肉？

沈鹏想解开“牛肉”船长这个绰号的迷团。

功夫不怕有心人，机会终于等来了。

这天，《鹦鹉号》驶出苏伊士运河不久，来到了意大利的米兰港。正巧是沈鹏的生日。

船上歺厅里，大厨准备了生日蛋糕，在烛光和“祝你生日快乐”的乐声中，大厨端出一碗热腾腾的”炖牛肉“。

沈鹏望着香味扑鼻的炖牛肉直楞神：“专为我做的？”

大厨笑着点了点头：”这是船长亲自为你做的！”

这是《鹦鹉号》船上的传统，每逢船员生日，船长都会亲自下厨，烧一道“炖牛肉“，並说这道菜与航海有关，是航海人发明的菜！

所以，人们亲切地称罗杰斯船长为“牛肉”船长。但是，问起与航海的关係和航海人发明的菜，人们都摇着头：“不知道，船长从未透露过。”

沈鹏是位业余的航海科普协会的会员，利用环球航海的机会，搜集和譔写了与航海有关的趣闻逸事。对“牛肉”船长这道“炖牛肉”想弄个明白。

听说，“牛肉”船长特别喜欢面食，尤其是各式各样的面条。

一天，正值意大利的美食节，沈鹏精心做了碗“兰州拉面“，送到船长室。

“牛肉”船长吃完这碗特殊风味的面条，竖起大姆指：“好！“连声叫好：“这是你们中国的美食！“

沈鹏频频点头：“家乡的兰州拉面。”

最后，”牛肉”船长想进一步了解“兰州拉面“的做法和来龙去脉。因为“牛肉”船长是位远近闻名的海上美食家！还想拜沈鹏为师呢！

沈鹏没有辜负“牛肉”船长的期望，回到舱室，连夜将“兰州拉面”的来历和做法，一五一十地写出来

拉面又叫甩面，拉面，坤面，是中国北方城乡独具地方风味的传统面食。传说因山东福山坤面而馳名，有起源福山坤面一说。后来逐渐演化成各种口味的著名美食；如兰州拉面，山西拉面，河南拉面等拉面，可以蒸，煮，烙，炸，炒不同风味。

拉面的技术性很强，必须要掌握正确要领。和面要防止脱水，坤条必须均匀，出条要园滚，下锅要撒开，防止蹲锅疙瘩。根据口味和喜好，还可以制成空心拉面，夾馅拉面，毛细拉面，扁条拉面，水条拉面等不同形状和品种。

接着，沈鹏地拉面的和面，坤面，煮面工艺逐一做给”牛肉“船长看。

”牛肉“船长十分高兴，用生硬的汉语连称沈鹏：“师付！“并亲手做了道“海上牛肉”浇盖在拉面上，摆在沈鹏面前，笑着说：“按中国拜师的规矩，就算见面礼吧！”

沈鹏紧紧握住“牛肉“船长的手：“就叫中意友好面吧！”说完乘机问起“海上牛肉“的来历。

此刻，兴致勃勃的“牛肉“船长没有打罢，讲起了“海上牛肉”的神奇来历。

第二次世界大战期间，意大利巡洋舰经常游戈在大西洋海域，屡建奇功。享有”海上尖刀“的盛誉。

一年，圣诞节前夜，海上游戈多日的意大利巡洋舰“海豹号”，食品物料几乎消耗殆尽。此刻，炊食兵意外地发现冷藏櫃里还有一大块牛肉。

欣喜若狂的炊食兵，立馬按传统的烹调方式把进锅里加热，这时方才发现，厨房的淡水已耗光。望着锅里爆响冒烟的牛肉不知所措，慌忙中，把身边一小捅啤酒倒进锅中救急。不料，啤酒烹调的牛肉不仅色泽鲜艳，而且肉嫩而滑，湯淡且倜，水兵们赞不绝口！

后来，这道产生在大西洋的“海上牛肉”很快风靡世界，不仅各地的大歺馆都有“一席之地“，还显赫地登上多国“国宴“的歺桌。

“牛肉”船长的祖父曾是”海豹号”上的水兵，所以“牛肉”船长对這道“海上牛肉“菜独有情钟。

沈鹏望着眼前这碗“中意友好面”，紧握住“牛肉”船长的手，说：“没想到《海上牛肉》来历这么神奇有趣！”

Shen Peng is a Chinese sailor who sailed to many corners of the world

and befriended people from all cultures and backgrounds. To say that the

fame and recognition of Chinese cuisine and culture owes a large part to

Shen Peng is not an exaggeration. Having traversed the entire globe by sea,

he left sprinkles of Chinese cultural significance wherever he went.

Once, Shen Peng was assigned to a cargo ship named the Pappagallo that

employed a multi-national crew. On his very first day onboard, Shen Peng

was called into the captain’s office. The captain asked Shen Peng all

sorts of questions, and made a special note of the sailor’s birthday.

The captain of the Pappagallo was Captain Rogers, who was strangely

nicknamed “Captain Beef” by his crewmates. Shen Peng knew a little bit

about him before he boarded the ship: he was highly skilled at pioneering

and maintaining the ship’s conditions, and he always treated people with

respect and warmth. But Shen Peng had no idea why people referred to him as

“Captain Beef”.

Shen Peng’s hometown is the Chinese city of Lanzhou, which is known

for its delicious Lanzhou Ramen. The main ingredient in Lanzhou Ramen is

beef, so Shen Peng had a particular fondness for beef. He wondered, perhaps

Captain Rogers shared his love for cooking and eating meat?

Curious and hopeful, Shen Peng was determined to uncover the reason why

Captain Rogers had such an uncommon nickname.

As the Pappagello sailed through the Suez Canal and to the ports of

Milan, Italy on Shen Peng’s birthday, his opportunity finally came.

To celebrate the Chinese crewman’s birthday, the Papagello’s head

chef had prepared a special birthday cake. As the entire crew sang “Happy

Birthday” to Shen Peng in candlelight, the chef also carried out a plate

of steaming, aromatic beef stew.

Shen Peng stared at the dish in amazement, and asked, “Did you make

this specifically for me?”

The chef smiled. “The captain made this for you personally.”

The chef explained that it was a tradition on the Pappagallo for the

captain to prepare and serve his own recipe of beef stew for each crewmate

on their birthday. He would then claim that beef stew was indisputably

connected to seafaring, but to Shen Peng’s bewilderment, he never revealed

why.

The reason why Captain Rogers was appropriately nicknamed “Captain

Beef” became clear to Shen Peng, but now he wanted to find out how exactly

beef stew was so related to life at sea.

Shen Peng was a part-time member of the Association for Nautical

Research and Development, and used his time with different ships and crews

as a way to investigate and draft any discoveries and explanations of any

interesting phenomenons he encountered at sea. The relationship between

beef stew and nautical journeys was something he knew was fascinating, and

he wanted to unravel the story behind it.

Eventually, Shen Peng found out that Captain Beef loved pasta and

noodle dishes, and enjoyed looking for new ways to prepare them.

Shen Peng picked the occasion of an Italian food festival to carefully

craft a serving of Lanzhou Ramen, served it in a delicate china bowl, and

presented it to the captain.

Captain Beef was pleasantly surprised to see this bowl of unfamiliar

yet fragrant noodles. He first took small spoonfuls to test out the taste,

and then picked up his chopsticks and finished the noodles in minutes.

He put up his thumb in approval, and said, “Amazing! This is a classic

dish from Chinese culture!”

Shen Peng nodded. “This is the Lanzhou Ramen from my hometown.”

Captain Beef was eager to find out the recipe for Lanzhou Ramen and how

it came about. Despite being the captain of beef stew himself, he wanted

Shen Peng to be his teacher instead!

Shen Peng did not disappoint Captain Beef, and spent an entire night in

his cabin writing out the origins and recipe of Lanzhou Ramen with

precision, careful not to miss a single detail.

In China, ramen is also known as pulled noodles or stretched noodles.

They originated in Northern China, and are full of the local flavor of

traditional Chinese villages. According to folk tales, Chinese ramen was

first put on the map by noodle chefs in Shandong who created the Fushan

Stretched Noodles. As the demand of Chinese ramen increased, the simple

noodle dish evolved into many regional variations: Lanzhou Ramen, Shanxi

Ramen, Henan Ramen, and much more. These different kinds of ramen can be

steamed, boiled, fried, and stir-fried with a wide assortment of side

dishes.

While ramen looks easy to prepare, a lot of technical skills and hours

of practice are required to truly master the dish. The dough must be mixed

together before it dries out, the stretched strands of noodles must be even

in length, and the noodles must be constantly stirred and maintained when

steaming in a pot of boiling water to ensure that they don’t lump

together. After becoming proficient in making the most basic ramen dish,

chefs can also create their own signature alternative, including hollow

ramen, stuffed ramen, paper thin ramen, thick ramen, and flat ramen.

Inspired by his hometown’s cuisine, Shen Peng invited Captain Beef to

the kitchen as he prepared the ramen from scratch. He showed Captain Beef

the process of rolling the dough, slicing them into strips, stretching and

pulling them, and finally boiling them in broth.

Captain Beef was beyond delighted. He spent hours with Shen Peng in the

kitchen, and even referred to him as the Ramen “Shi-Fu” - the Chinese

word for Master. As Shen Peng boiled the noodles, Captain Beef also chopped

up a piece of steak and prepared a beef stew as a topping for the ramen

dish. He layered it on Shen Peng’s noodles, and said, “Please accept this

as a present while I ask you to teach me the secrets to preparing ramen!”

Shen Peng gazed at the minced beef topping on his noodles and shook

Captain Beef’s hand. “This dish symbolizes the nautical friendship

between China and Italy!”

Shen Peng tried to hide his excitement, and asked, “Could you please

tell me why beef stew is connected to maritime history?”

Moved by Shen Peng’s enthusiasm, Captain Beef cleared his throat and

told the tale of the beef stew and maritime history.

During the Second World War, Italian cruisers often roamed the Atlantic

Oceans, and repeatedly performed outstanding service for their country.

Because of their meticulous methods and success during missions, they

gained the reputation of being the “knives of the Atlantic”.

On one Christmas Eve, naval officers on a cruiser named the Foca

realized that in the chaos of all its missions, the Foca had unfortunately

run out of food for a Christmas feast. The distressed crewmen searched

every fridge and pantry, and found an unexpected piece of steak left in

their fridge.

Ecstatic, the officers chopped up the steak and tried to steam a pot of

beef stew the traditional way, only to realize halfway through that the

kitchen didn’t have enough fresh water.

They watched in panic as the pot of beef smoked and burned, and in a

moment of distress, one cook grabbed a bottle of beer, popped the cap off,

and poured it into the pot to save the day. To everyone’s astonishment,

the beer beef stew not only looked bright and appetizing, but tasted light,

tender, and smooth, too!

As the naval officers returned home after the war and prepared beef

stew with beer for their families, more and more people fell in love with

this bizarre method of cooking beef. The “Atlantic Beef Stew” took the

world by storm, appearing not only in major restaurants but also on the

terraces of important state banquets.

Captain Roger’s grandfather was an officer on the Foca himself, and he

was the one who cooked beef stew for Captain Rogers everyday and inspired

him to become a seafarer.

Shen Peng looked down at the bowl of noodles in his hand and pondered

its sentimental meaning as a symbol of friendship. He turned his gaze to

Captain Beef and remarked, “I never imagined that there could be such a

captivating story beneath the flavors of this nautical beef stew!”