Custard tart: the traditional English dessert

The custard tart is regarded as one of Britain’s traditional dishes. It remained a favourite over the centuries and is just as popular today. Even the name has an ancient pedigree - it is derived from both the old French word for crust (crouste), and the Anglo-Norman ‘crustarde’, which meant a tart or pie with a crust.

蛋撻是公認的英國傳統(tǒng)美食之一，幾百年來一直深得人們的喜愛，直到今天仍然廣受歡迎。甚至連“蛋撻”這一名字也有著古老的淵源——“蛋撻”來源于“酥皮”（crust）的法語詞“crouste”和盎格魯諾爾曼語詞“crustarde”，“crustarde”意思是帶酥皮的蔬菜、水果或肉餡餅。

Custard tarts were popular during Medieval times and records show that King Henry IV enjoyed them at his coronation banquet in 1399.

早在中世紀時，蛋撻就已經(jīng)風靡一時。有記載稱，1399年，英國國王亨利四世在加冕禮宴會上就享用了蛋撻這種美食。

Henry IV is not the only English monarch with a liking for them. Called ‘doucets’ in the Middle Ages, they were equally popular at the court of Henry VIII. Henry VIII’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, who had a famously sweet tooth, also had a great liking for custard in pastry. At her court, custard tarts grew to enormous sizes and had jesters prancing around in the wobbly mix. The mess must have been quite considerable!

亨利四世可不是唯一鐘情于蛋撻的英國君王。在亨利八世時期的宮廷里，蛋撻同樣廣受青睞。亨利八世的女兒，嗜好甜食的女王伊麗莎白一世也對蛋撻情有獨鐘。她的宮廷中囤積了大量的蛋撻，再加上逗趣的弄臣在宮中搖擺表演，那場面真是亂得無以復加！

Another Royal, Queen Elizabeth the II was also served custard tart as the dessert for her recent 80th birthday celebration.

在另外一位皇室成員——女王伊麗莎白二世80歲的壽宴上，蛋撻也被作為甜點款待賓客。

Today, custard tarts are usually made from short crust pastry, eggs, sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla, sprinkled with nutmeg and baked. However, in King Henry’s day they could have included ingredients such as pork mince or beef marrow, but they were always filled with a sweet custard.

如今，蛋撻通常以松脆的酥皮、雞蛋、糖、牛奶或奶油、香草為原料，撒上肉豆蔻烤制而成。然而，在亨利時期，蛋撻還可能含有豬肉末或牛骨髓等食材，但總要覆蓋上甜甜的蛋奶糊。

To make them a special treat they can be topped with fresh strawberries or raspberries. In the past they were much richer, and more fattening. Almond milk and honey was often added—much too sweet for today’s tastes.

以蛋撻款待尊貴的客人時，還可以在頂部放上新鮮的草莓或覆盆子。以前，蛋撻里常常會加入杏仁奶和蜂蜜，很油膩且容易讓人發(fā)胖。顯然，這樣的口味對于今天的人們來說過于甜膩了。

The custard tart is a lovely treat to come home to and goes wonderfully with a cup of Earl Grey tea. You just can’t get more English than that.

在家招待客人，蛋撻是很好的選擇。再配上一杯格雷伯爵茶，那滋味更是妙不可言，沒有比這更英式的美味了。

Vocabulary:

short 文中指“松脆的”

Earl Grey tea 格雷伯爵茶，以查爾斯?格雷伯爵命名的混合型調味茶