美国国家公共电台 NPR Harvesting Salt By Hand Is Making A Comeback In France

 

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Sea salt has been harvested for more than a thousand years on the Atlantic coast of France. The industry declined in the mid-20th century. But with foodies looking for ever-fancier ingredients, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports the salt marshes² are making a comeback.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE³: It's a summer evening on the island of Noirmoutier. As the sun shimmers⁴ on the rustling⁵ marsh¹ grasses, Herve Zarka is raking in sea salt from shallow pools in his salt marsh. Zarka uses a simoussi, a 10-foot pole tipped with a flat board. Salt has been harvested this way since at least the seventh century, when Benedictine monks⁶ dug the canals that bring seawater into this marshland.

HERVE ZARKA: (Through interpreter) This is my little paradise. The sea is 50 yards away, and I'm working the land. That's the whole principle of this island really - a piece of land in the middle of the sea and to work with only the birds around you.

BEARDSLEY: Zarka explains how the canals feed seawater into a series of clay ponds. And as the water flows between the pools and evaporates, each becomes saltier than the last until the crystals form in the bottom. Zarka says Noirmoutier's salt industry was booming in the 1940s until refrigerators allowed people to preserve food with cold instead of salt. And consumers began to demand pure white refined salt for their tables.

JESSICA TESSIER: (Speaking French).

(LAUGHTER)

BEARDSLEY: On another side of the island, 32-year-old Jessica Tessier and her father Jean Pierre are working in their family salt marsh. She grew up here, left for college and a job in Paris then decided⁷ to return and continue the work of several generations. Tessier remembers being out in the salt marshes when she was a little girl.

TESSIER: My grandfather was producing salt. And he used to make little tools for me - so just adapted to my size. So I had those little tools with which I tried desperately⁸ to harvest some salt.

BEARDSLEY: Noirmoutier's salt began to make a comeback in the 1990s with the renewed focus on fresh, local food. Famous French chefs touted⁹ the mineral properties of natural sea salt and sprinkled their best dishes with fleur de sel.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER TRICKLING)

BEARDSLEY: Fleur de sel, which translates as salt flower, is a fragile salt crystal that Tessier is skimming from the surface with a special tool called a lousse.

TESSIER: It's like a thin layer of ice on icy water, if you see. So it's really thin, and it's really made under the action of wind and sun. And the particles of salt just stay at the surface of the water, like if you're creaming some really creamy milk.

BEARDSLEY: Fleur de sel fetches 20 times the price of the coarse sel raked up from the bottom, allowing salt makers¹¹ to earn a decent living. But rain can ruin an entire salt harvest.

(SOUNDBITE OF CARRIAGE BELLS JINGLING)

BEARDSLEY: The return of Noirmoutier's salt industry is also a boon¹² for tourism. When he's not raking salt, Herve Zarka takes groups of tourists into the marshes in a horse-drawn carriage.

ZARKA: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: On a recent afternoon, Zarka tells them about the three things that have revolutionized an industry that's hardly changed for centuries - the rubber tire, which allowed wheelbarrows into the marshes without sinking into the clay; new materials that have lightened traditional heavy wooden tools; and smartphones that let every salt maker¹⁰ know when it's going to rain.

Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Noirmoutier, France.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "LIKE GENTLE GIANTS")

1 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

2 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 shimmers   

n.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的名词复数 )v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The hot pavement sent up shimmers. 晒热的道路浮起热气晃动的景象。 来自辞典例句
• Sunlight shimmers on the waters of the bay. 阳光在海湾的水面上闪烁。 来自辞典例句

5 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

6 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

9 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

10 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。