In One Spanish Town, A Foundation of Sweets
西班牙小鎮 甜點的原鄉
By Raphael Minder

ESTEPA, Spain – On Christmas Eve, the fifth-generation family owners of La Colchona close a small factory here employing 15 workers.
去年平安夜當天，「拉可喬那」公司家族第五代老闆關閉了位於西班牙草原鎮一間雇用15名員工的小工廠。

But rather than joining the long list of companies hurt by Spain’s economic crisis, La Colchona has managed to raise earnings this year and plans to reopen in September, at the start of the next Christmas confectionery season.
不過，拉可喬那可沒加入被西班牙經濟危機打趴的眾多公司的行列，相反的，她不但去年的盈利提高了，還打算在今年九月新的耶誕糕點旺季開始時重新開張。

The factory is part of a highly seasonal industry that underpins the economy of Estepa, home to 13,000 people. While the industry operates for only about one-quarter of the year, its contribution extends beyond the season. The companies reinvest about 85 percent of their earnings into the local economy, helping to sustain other businesses around Estepa.
這間工廠是淡旺季分明的糖果糕點業的一員，這行業是居民1萬3000人的草原鎮的經濟基礎。糕點業雖然一年約只忙一季，貢獻卻延續到這個季節之外。這些公司大約將85%盈利再投資於當地經濟，有助維持草原鎮周遭的其他產業。

This town’s 23 confectioneries operate what is almost a national monopoly, manufacturing 95 percent of the assortment of crumbly sweets that are traditionally eaten by Spaniards around Christmas. Such sweets, which come in different shapes and flavors, from cinnamon cookies to sugarcoated almond paste, are known as polvorones in most of Spain.
草原鎮23家糕點公司賣的是幾乎壟斷全國的商品，西班牙人依傳統會在耶誕節前後食用的各式鬆脆甜點，95%由他們生產。這些甜點外形、口味各異，包括肉桂蛋糕和裹糖衣的杏仁糊，在西班牙多數地區稱為「小酥餅」。

Estepa’s producers said they tried in the past to persuade Spaniards to eat polvorones outside the Christmas season – to no avail. And exports represent only 5 to 10 percent of the production, with most going to Latin American countries that have cultural links to Spain.
草原鎮糕點製造商說，他們曾在國內推廣耶誕季以外吃小酥餅卻沒成功。小酥餅出口只占總產量5%到10%，多數銷往與西班牙有文化淵源的拉美國家。

Still, the industry has been a lifeline during the economic malaise that has swept Spain. In a farming region filled with olive groves, Estepa’s confectionery sector employs more than 2,000 people in the months before Christmas and provides an additional 2,500 people with supply and distribution jobs.
儘管如此，舉國經濟低迷之際糕點業卻是經濟命脈。在草原鎮這橄欖樹林立的農業區，糕點業在耶誕節前幾個月雇用超過2000人，另外供應和配送方面也提供了2500個工作機會。

Thanks to polvorones, Estepa has kept its jobless rate at 7 percent during the pre-Christmas months. That climbs to 14 percent during the summer months, when most of the employment comes from agriculture. In contrast, Andalusia, Spain’s largest region, now has an average jobless rate of 36 percent.
拜小酥餅之賜，草原鎮失業率得以在耶誕節前幾個月維持在7%。失業率在夏季攀升至14%，這時期多數工作機會來自農業。相形之下，西班牙最大自治區安達魯西亞目前平均失業率為36%。

“As a town, we win the lottery every Christmas season,” said Miguel Fernández Baena, the mayor of Estepa.
鎮長費南德茲說：「我們這個鎮每逢耶誕都像中了樂透一樣。」

Some of the sector’s workers understandably have mixed feelings as Christmas nears. “I’m happy to have had a job in the last months but sad that it’s coming to an end,” said Emilio Martos Gómez, who operates the wood-fired oven of La Colchona. “I have to think about finding work after Christmas, but I don’t see any great prospects.”
耶誕節接近時，糕點業一些員工難免憂喜參半。拉可喬那操作柴燒窯的馬托斯說：「很高興這幾個月我有工作，但工作接近尾聲讓我難過。耶誕節後我得想辦法找工作，然而前途茫茫。」

A few companies have diversified into other confectionery, but whether that is profitable is “the hardest question,” said Marcos Galván, the fourth-generation owner of La Estepeña.
「拉艾斯特培尼亞」公司第四代老闆高爾凡說，少數糕點業者增加產品種類，不過能否賺錢是「最難回答的問題」。

Estepa’s confectionery industry traces its roots to Arab cuisine, brought to Andalusia during the Moorish occupation, and to medieval recipes developed in Catholic convents. The sweets became a staple Christmas food only about 60 years ago, during the Franco dictatorship, when workers from agrarian Andalusia migrated to the industrial cities of northern Spain.
草原鎮糕點業可追溯到摩爾人占領期間傳到安達魯西亞的阿拉伯美食，以及出自天主教女修道院的中世紀食譜。約60年前獨裁者佛朗哥統治期間，農業區安達魯西亞的工人遷移到北部工業城市，這些甜點才成為耶誕節必備食品。

Today, polvorones are as ubiquitous as mince pies in Britain, the cakelike panettone in Italy or the fruitcakelike stollen in Germany. Estepa produces more than 16,300 metric tons of confectionery – roughly 300 grams for every Spaniard – generating revenue of about 40 million euros.
如今，小酥餅在西班牙普及到不行，一如肉餡餅在英國，外形像蛋糕的托尼甜麵包在義大利，或外形像水果蛋糕的耶誕蛋糕在德國。草原鎮生產超過1萬6,300噸的糕點（相當於每個西班牙人分到300克），營收約4,000萬歐元。

Estepa’s polvorones normally come in a boxed assortment, weighing one kilogram. The standard factory-made box sells for about €4. The four ingredients are flour, sugar, cinnamon and lard. Lard helped make polvorones a Christmas specialty, because families look to recycle pig’s fat after the traditional slaughtering in November.
典型的草原鎮小酥餅裝在一個盒子裡，形色各異，重一公斤。用標準工廠製盒子裝的每盒售價約四歐元。小酥餅的四種成分是麵粉、糖、肉桂和豬油。豬油讓小酥餅成為耶誕節特色食品，因為家家戶戶希望在11月傳統豬隻宰殺月後，將豬油回收再用。

The factory operates several shifts, six days a week, during the peak production. Mr. Galván said some employees ended up working as much as 72 hours in one week. Estepa’s factories pay workers about €8 for regular working hours and 20 percent more for extra hours.
在耶誕節前的準備期間，拉艾斯特培尼亞公司有250名工廠員工，其他時候僅留五名員工維護工廠設備，另有17名管理行政人員。這家工廠在尖峰生產期間每周開工六天，每天分好幾個班次。老闆賈爾凡說，有些員工一周工作達72小時。草原鎮工廠工人正常班時薪約八 歐元，加班時薪增加20%。

On the factory floors of Estepa, the workers, most of them women, have done the same job for decades. Traditionally, such work has allowed Estepa’s women to supplement the family income. Since 2008, however, “this work has changed from being an extra help to becoming the main earnings,” said Rafael Fernández, the secretary of the regulatory body that oversees the sector.
草原鎮工廠裡工人多為女性，數十年來都做同樣工作。傳統上，這樣的工作可讓草原鎮女性貼補家用，不過，主管糕餅業的政府機關首長費南德茲說，2008年起，「這工作已從家計額外助力轉變為家中主要收入來源」。

“This work really now feels like a Christmas miracle,” said Carmen Sánchez, 58. “What else could somebody like me possibly hope to be doing, when even 20-year-olds with a great education cannot find any work in our country?”
58歲的卡門‧桑切斯說：「現在這工作真讓人覺得像耶誕奇蹟。眼前在這個國家就連20歲的高學歷青年都找不到工作，像我這樣的人還能指望做什麼別的呢？」

編者按：原文撰寫於去年底，譯文已將時間基點改為今年以利閱讀。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/business/international/sweets-made-only-for-christmas-are-spanish-towns-gift-to-itself.html

Slideshow：A Town’s Cookie Economy
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/12/23/business/international/biscuits24.html

2014-01-07聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS李京倫譯 原文參見紐時週報八版上