西施故里話香榧

在浙江諸暨綿綿群山中，有著廣達3萬多畝的一片香榧林，其中香榧古樹群126個，千年以上的榧樹2700多株，盛產榧樹達15萬株，平均年產香榧50萬公斤左右，占全國香榧總產量的60%以上，被國家命名為“中國香榧之鄉”。

走進諸暨香榧盛產地之一的鐘家嶺村仙坪山，只見山頭云霧繚繞，滿山滿坡生長著近千株百年以上的古樹，雄樹的粗壯枝干以各種姿態伸向藍天，雌樹卻“披發”下垂。這里的香榧古樹群落在幾百年的生長過程中，因為歷經狂風暴雨摧殘和電閃雷鳴打擊，有的折枝斷臂，有的東倒西歪，有的虬株龍盤屹立于懸崖峭壁中，因而香榧古樹群落的形態千奇百怪，有的似獸類奔走，有的似雄鷹展翅，有的似一對恩愛情侶，有的儼然成了怒目金剛……

香榧樹長得最為雄偉奇特的，得數西坑村馬觀音崗頂灣的那株“香榧王”。這是一株雌香榧樹，高達18米，可與6層樓比高下，胸圍9.26米，需6人才能合抱，它的巨枝像傘骨一樣向四面八方伸展，猶如一把巨大的青蔓傘，樹冠覆蓋面積達0.85畝，合576平方米，可同時容納100多人在它的下面納涼，它每年產700多公斤鮮果。

香榧味道鮮美，營養價值也高，據分析，它的果肉含脂肪50%、蛋白質10%，還有多種維生素與礦物質。香榧不但營養豐富，還有一定的藥用價值，據李時珍《本草綱目》記載：香榧有“治五痔，去三蟲蠱毒”、“療寸白蟲，消谷，助筋骨，行營衛，明目輕身，令人能食”等功效。品嘗香榧許多人都用牙咬開外殼，而內行人卻用兩個指頭捏住香榧，用力一撳香榧就裂開了，然后用外殼刨去果實黑衣使之露出淡黃的果肉。這種裂殼吃香榧的方法，據說是2400多年前的西施發明的：當時西施與小姐妹去南貨店玩，老板欺她們指嫩力薄，叫她們用兩個手指撳香榧，誰撳得開香榧就可以免費讓其品嘗，心靈手巧的西施看到香榧的頭上有兩個凸起的圓點，就像兩只眼睛一般，于是她捏住兩只眼睛用力一撳，香榧殼果然裂開了。從此，許多內行吃香榧不用牙咬，只用手捏。

香榧好吃樹難栽。榧樹一般要栽種8年才能零星掛果，幾十年后產量成倍增加，只有到了幾百年的壯齡樹，才能真正達到碩果累累，故當地人稱它為“公孫樹”。香榧樹還有一個美名曰“三代果”：榧樹每年3—5月發芽抽梢，5月花原基開始分化；第二年4月中下旬雌雄花發育成熟開始授粉，8—9月受精形成幼果；第三年5—8月幼果逐漸膨大，9月初果皮轉淡黃成熟。清乾隆諸暨縣志載：榧樹每三年始可采，疊三節，每年采一節，俗稱“三代果”。

香榧采摘難度頗大，它不像山核桃那樣可以棒打，因為樹上除了成熟的榧子，還有明年可采的幼果，因此香榧必須一顆一顆地小心采摘，尤其是生長在樹梢的香榧，需要有一定技巧的人上樹才可采摘，否則便會從樹上摔下來。香榧摘下來后不像桃杏李梅那樣當即可吃，需要堆放七天讓它發酵，讓營養轉化，然后剝去外面青綠色的外果皮，洗凈后再堆放15天左右（第二次成熟——營養轉化），只有經過這一處理過程的香榧香氣才充足，才可曬干儲藏或分批炒制。香榧炒制好壞也很有一番技巧，炒制用手工，用木柴，待炒制到外殼微微發黃時將香榧浸入一定濃度的淡鹽水中，讓鹽水趁熱鉆進榧肉中，然后瀝干再炒。

香榧由于生長地域狹窄，分布面不廣，年產量也不高，許多地方只聞香榧之名而不知其實，因而人們對其倍感珍貴。秦始皇于公元前210年南巡會稽時，品嘗了榧果而覺其名不雅，故將“榧子”命名為“香榧”。唐武宗宰相李德裕贊香榧曰：“木之奇哉有稽山之海棠榧。”北宋大詩人蘇東坡在會友時見席上香榧果吟曰：“彼美玉山果，粲為金盤實。瘴霧脫蠻溪，清樽奉佳客。祝君如此果，德膏以自澤。愿君如此木，凜凜傲霜雪。”清乾隆皇帝下江南時，縣令以稀世珍果香榧進貢，乾隆御口一嘗，龍顏大悅，當即將它封為“御榧”，此后香榧便年年作為貢品孝敬皇上；著名歷史地理學家陳橋驛賦詩贊其曰：“暨陽珍果世間稀，兩頭尖尖白肉肥。但愿佳種傳八方，人人都得嘗新奇。”

China Torreya in Beauty's Hometown

At the mention of Zhuji， many people may think of Xi Shi， a legendary beauty who helped her kingdom to recapture the lost land and became a legend in the country’s history. But Zhuji has more wonders to offer.

There stretches a 2，000-hectare forest of China Torreya (Taxaceae) in the mountains of Zhuji， Zhejiang province. There are 126 ancient China Torreya clusters in the forest， including 2，700 single China Torreya that are more than 1，000 years old. There are 150，000 that are in their best time in producing Torreya seeds. Altogether， the forest turns out about 500，000 kilograms of Torreya seeds a year， accounting for 60% of the national total. In terms of quantities， the forest of China Torreya in Zhuji is really amazing. But what are so special for Chinese Torreya seeds?

Chinese Torreya seeds offer scrumptious nutmeat to consumer nut enthusiasts across the country. The first emperor of the Qin Dynasty was fascinated with the yummy taste of the Torreya nuts during his 210 B.C. south tour to Kuaiji， Zhejiang. Li Deyu， a prime minister of the Tang Dynasty (618-907)， spoke enthusiastically about the tasteful seeds. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) tried the seeds first in his tour to this part of China and was also fascinated with the yummy nuts. Then the nuts became an annual tribute to the royal family of the Qing Dynasty.

Why did the emperors have to travel this far to have their first crack at the nuts? It is mostly because China Torreya grows only in a limited area. The trees are picky to where they are. Zhuji happens to suit them， where mountains are wrapped with clouds all the year around. The male Chinese Torreya trees are upright with formidable foliage whereas females take a low profile with their branches spreading downwards. The ancient trees show their weather-beaten postures: they resemble sculptures of running animals， flying eagles， even affectionate lovers. The most magnificent of them is the Queen Mother of Chinese Torreya located in West Pit Village: she towers 18 meters in height， equivalent to a six-storied building. It takes 6 people to encircle the tree’s 9.26-meters circumference. Its giant branches spread out like a huge umbrella， covering an area of 576 square meters. What is more， it produces 700 kilos of Torreya seeds per year， making a big contribution to the village’s economy.

The cultivation of Chinese Torreya trees needs patience and produces wonders. Generally， a baby Chinese Torreya takes eight years to grow up and begin to produce fruits. In the first few fruiting years its yield is negligible. After decades of nonstop maturity， the yield doubles again and again. It is not until after a few hundreds of years that a Chinese Torreya comes into full production.

And it takes three years for fruits to get ready to be picked. For this reason， when it comes to picking the fruit， it takes patience， care， and skill. As one single Chinese Torreya bears fruits in different stages of their three-year periods， you can’t beat branches with a long pole to get all the seeds out and down. The young seeds in their first or second years have to stay. And only the three-year-old fruits need picking manually. So climbing up a tree and staying there to pick all the mature fruits is hazardous. After the picking， the fresh fruits need to cure in heaps for seven days before the green pulp and the seeds are separated. After washing with water， these seeds will be heaped for another 15 days to further ripen and develop fragrance. Then the seeds are ready to be manually processed as food. Farmers have special recipes to process the seeds.

Cracking the nuts is no easy job， either. The first timers often try to crack a seed open with teeth. Experienced gourmands tweak a seed open with just two fingers. After removing the shell and a thin layer of blackish membrane， you see the yellowish nutmeat. This two-finger pinching technique， according to a legend， was first developed by Xi Shi over 2，400 years ago.

Now at the mention of the fragrant Torreya seeds， people inevitably think of Xi Shi the Beauty and Zhuji， her hometown and the home to the country’s largest China Torreya forest.

(Translated by David)