Brewers Look to West to Save Sake
日本清酒廠在西方找生路
By Kimiko De Freytas-Tamura

LONDON – Kensuke Shichida, the head of a centuries-old sake brewery in southern Japan, had spent a dizzying week in London restaurants tasting a variety of exotic and confounding dishes: pub food, gourmet burgers, French food, Angus beef, ceviche.
七田謙介在日本南部經營一家已有百餘年歷史的清酒廠，曾以一個星期的時間在倫敦各餐館品嘗混雜的異國菜色，包括酒吧食物、行家漢堡、法國食物、安格斯牛肉及檸檬醃生魚，搞得頭暈目眩。

The experience left him slightly bewildered and slightly ill, he said, suffering from a food hangover. But Mr. Shichida, 43, is on a mission, he said, to bring his family-brewed sake to European restaurants and pair it with Western cuisine, which means charting new territory.
他說，這次經驗使他有點困惑而不適，出現食物宿醉。然而43歲的七田說，他負有將家族釀造的清酒帶進歐洲餐館，與西方菜餚結合的使命。這意味開拓新市場。

Japan is proud of its sake heritage, but sales have been falling for decades, and Mr. Shichida and a number of other brewers are trying to help reverse its decline before it is too late.
日本以其清酒傳統為榮，然而數十年來銷路不斷減小。七田與部分日本清酒釀造商試圖扭轉清酒式微的趨勢，以救亡圖存。

“I’d be lying if I said pairing sake with burgers didn’t hurt my pride as a Japanese,” he admitted, hesitantly poking a piece of lamb kidney and sweetbreads with his fork. “But we need to be exploring this path to survive as a brewer.”
七田猶疑的叉起一片小羊腎與幾片小羊胰臟，承認說：「如果我說以清酒搭配漢堡無損於我身為日本人的自尊，那是騙人。然而為了生存，我們必須試探這條路。」

“Sake is surprisingly versatile,” he added.
他接著又說：「清酒的多樣性令人驚訝。」

Fresh oysters, for example, usually go well with Champagne or Chablis, which have a crisp acidity. But Mr. Shichida, who runs the 140-year-old Tenzan brewery, says sake works better. The drink is less acidic, and its cleansing properties help remove the oysters’ briny taste, he said.
例如，法國生蠔通常可用來搭配具有酸性的香檳或法國白葡萄酒夏布利。七田經營已有140年歷史的天山酒造株式會社。他說，清酒效果更好，因為清酒酸度較低，淨化的特性又可去除生蠔的海水味。

Most Westerners generally view sake as a clear-colored liquor to be savored with sushi and sashimi, with an alcohol content of 15 to 20 percent. It is thought to have originated in the seventh century and is considered the drink of the gods in the Shinto religion.
整體而言，多數西方人將清酒視為酒精濃度介於15%至20%，專門搭配壽司與生魚片享用的透明酒類。一般認為，清酒源於西元七世紀。日本神道教認為它是神的飲料。

Sake is made from fermented rice, water and koji – white rice imbued with a special kind of mold. It ranges from sparkling, somewhat similar to Champagne, to namazake, which tastes best straight from the vat, unpasteurized.
清酒以發酵的米、水及含有一種特殊真菌的米麴共同釀造而成，種類包括有點類似香檳的泡沫型，以及直接自大桶取出且未經加熱殺菌處理下，風味最佳的生清酒。

Some chefs and food lovers describe the experiment with sake as a shot in the dark, but for brewers, the challenge is more urgent.
有些廚師與美食愛好者形容，為清酒找出路的這種嘗試有如盲目射擊，然而對酒廠而言，這卻是更迫切的挑戰。

Sake consumption has fallen sharply in Japan since the 1970s because of a decreasing birthrate and a switch by many drinkers to wine, much of it imported, or other domestic drinks like beer, whiskey or shochu, a Japanese spirit.
由於出生率不斷下降，再加上許多日本人改喝葡萄酒（許多是進口的）或國產的啤酒、威士忌或燒酒，日本清酒消耗量1970年代開始大減。

The number of brewers has shrunk to around 1,000 from around 4,600 in the earlier part of the 20th century.
日本的酒廠已由20世紀初的大約4600家，銳減為如今的1000家左右。

“The sake industry won’t survive on its local market,” said Barry McCaughley, a consultant based in London. “Unless it makes changes now, it will be dead in 20 to 30 years.”
倫敦顧問麥考夫雷說：「日本的清酒釀造業無法靠國內市場生存。除非立即改變，它將在20到30年內消失。」

Restaurants and retailers are starting to push sake as the next drink fad, similar to craft beer, whose popularity has exploded. A Scottish brewer, Arran, plans to start producing Britain’s first sake on a commercial scale later this year, the second European brewer to do so after Nogne O of Norway.
在日本，精釀啤酒近年來大受歡迎。餐館與零售商已經開始將清酒推介為類似的下一波時尚選擇。蘇格蘭愛倫酒廠打算今年稍後開始量產英國首見的清酒，是繼挪威納酷歐酒廠之後，第二家這麼做的歐洲酒廠。

“If we’re able to tell the Japanese, ‘Look how much foreigners are enjoying sake,’ that would give them an opportunity to rediscover sake and revive demand,” Mr. Shichida said. “We don’t want our culture to disappear. We really don’t.”
七田表示：「如果我們能夠告訴日本人，『看看外國人多愛清酒』，那將使他們得以重新重視清酒，進而使需求恢復。我們不希望我們的文化消失。真的不希望如此。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/world/europe/sake-with-your-burger-japan-looks-west-to-save-a-tradition.html

2014-10-07聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十一版下