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Your Giant Potato Might Set a World Record. Then What to Do With It?

Your Giant Potato Might Set a World Record. Then What to Do With It?

你的巨型土豆可能會創造一項世界紀錄。那怎麼處理呢?
Dow Jones Newswires ·  2021/11/27 01:20

By Jennifer Calfas

詹妮弗·卡爾法斯(Jennifer Calfas)著

"Dug," a contender for the world's heaviest potato, might soon become "Done," the vodka.

作為世界上最重的土豆的競爭者,“DUG”可能很快就會成為伏特加的“完蛋”。

Colin and Donna Craig-Brown found the tuber underground in August while clearing a plot in their New Zealand garden for new seeds, and the couple submitted it to Guinness World Records.

8月份,科林和唐娜·克雷格-布朗在新西蘭花園清理一塊地尋找新種子時,在地下發現了這種塊莖,這對夫婦將其提交給了吉尼斯世界紀錄。

The unexpected giant awaits the verdict while stowed in the couple's freezer to maintain its weight, which they recently reported as just over 16.7 pounds. The current Guinness potato record, awarded in 2011, is about 10.9 pounds.

這位意想不到的巨人在等待判決的同時被藏在這對夫婦的冰箱裏,以保持它的體重,他們最近報告説,它的體重略高於16.7磅。目前的吉尼斯世界紀錄是在2011年頒發的,重約10.9磅。

And they have begun a discussion that's familiar to jumbo-produce growers everywhere: What's to be the misshapen mass's final fate?

他們已經開始了一場各地巨型農產品種植者都很熟悉的討論:畸形人羣的最終命運會是什麼?

It's too lumpy to create a cast a replica for posterity, says Mr. Craig-Brown, 62, and there's no way they would preserve it. The amateur distiller has another idea: Turn Dug into vodka.

62歲的克雷格-布朗説,它太粗糙了,無法為後代製作模型複製品,他們也不可能保存它。這位業餘釀酒師有另一個想法:把挖出來的變成伏特加。

"We're going to have a wake for him at the end of the whole process," he says. "I'm going to name the vodka Done, because Dug will be done by then."

“我們會在整個過程結束時為他守夜,”他説。“我要把伏特加命名為”完蛋了“,因為到那時DUG就已經完蛋了。”

Giant-produce growers typically don't have personal consumption in mind. After records are set and festivals are over, a giant's final stop can range from compost pile to seed harvesting to serving as a movie-set prop, says Kevin Fortey of Cwmbran, South Wales, the current Guinness record holder for heaviest beetroot.

巨型農產品種植者通常不會考慮個人消費。南威爾士Cwmbran的凱文·福蒂(Kevin Fortey)説,在創造紀錄和節日結束後,巨人的最後一站可能會從堆肥堆到收穫種子,再到充當電影道具。目前,他是最重甜菜根的吉尼斯世界紀錄保持者。

Some people carve their giant pumpkins for Halloween -- or drop them from 100 feet in the air at festivals or blow them up with explosives.

有些人在萬聖節前夕雕刻他們的巨型南瓜,或者在節日期間把它們從100英尺的高空扔下來,或者用炸藥炸燬它們。

Other growers donate their big veggies to food banks or farms. Mammoth onions, tomatoes and celery can taste good, "but just need a large family to feed," Mr. Fortey says. The 43-year-old health-board project manager made a chili sauce out of the world's heaviest beetroot, holder of a Guinness record he and his family set in 2019.

其他種植者將他們的大蔬菜捐贈給食品銀行或農場。猛獁象洋葱、西紅柿和芹菜味道不錯,“但只需要一大家子人來養活,”Fortey先生説。這位43歲的健康委員會項目經理用世界上最重的甜菜根做了辣椒醬,保持着他和他的家人在2019年創造的吉尼斯世界紀錄。

Patrick Teichmann of Poessneck, Germany, has grown giant vegetables since 2012 but doesn't eat them, saying: "I am an absolute carnivore." The 29-year-old, who grows these veggies full-time, stores his behemoths until the seeds ripen and composts the rest.

來自德國波斯內克的帕特里克·泰希曼自2012年以來一直在種植巨型蔬菜,但他並不吃這些蔬菜,他説:“我絕對是個食肉動物。”這位29歲的男子全職種植這些蔬菜,他把他的龐然大物儲存起來,直到種子成熟,然後將剩下的種子堆肥。

An artist has carved birds and flowers into one of Mr. Teichmann's massive marrow zucchinis. The grower filled another marrow with about 66 pounds of mostly minced meat and cheese, and it became the largest portion of filled zucchini -- at about 137 pounds -- according to the World Record Academy, a competitor to Guinness that certifies measurable world records.

一位藝術家將鳥兒和鮮花雕刻成泰希曼的一隻巨大的骨髓西葫蘆。這位種植者在另一個骨髓裏裝滿了大約66磅的西葫蘆,其中大部分是碎肉和奶酪,根據世界紀錄學院(World Record Academy)的説法,這成為填充西葫蘆的最大部分-大約137磅。世界紀錄學院是吉尼斯世界紀錄大全的競爭對手,負責認證可測量的世界紀錄。

Christopher Qualley, the Minnesota-based Guinness World Records titleholder for world's heaviest carrot, tried to salvage the 22.4-pounder for seeding. It ended up rotting. Before he placed it back in the soil to try to recover it for seeds, a relative took a bite. "She said it tasted like a carrot," he says.

克里斯托弗·誇利,明尼蘇達州的吉尼斯世界紀錄保持者,是世界上最重的胡蘿蔔的保持者,他試圖打撈出這個22.4磅的胡蘿蔔來播種。它最終腐爛了。在他把它放回土壤中試圖恢復它作為種子之前,一位親戚咬了一口。“她説吃起來像胡蘿蔔,”他説。

"There's no real purpose for a giant vegetable as far as supporting a community or feeding people," says Mr. Qualley, 38, a real-estate agent who got into the hobby first with giant pumpkins.

“就支持社區或養活人們而言,巨型蔬菜沒有真正的目的,”38歲的房地產經紀人誇利説。他最初是用巨型南瓜養活自己的愛好。

He wouldn't make a pie with a giant pumpkin, he says: "They're gross. They're stringy."

他不會用一個巨大的南瓜做餡餅,他説:“它們很噁心,很粘。”

The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, an organization with clubs around the world, sets rules, standards and regulations for many pumpkin competitions. Andy Wolf, a county public-health sanitarian, was crowned the North American champion this year with his 2,365-pound pumpkin, which then went on a brief tour before coming home.

大南瓜聯邦是一個在世界各地擁有俱樂部的組織,它為許多南瓜比賽制定了規則、標準和條例。安迪·沃爾夫(Andy Wolf)是一名縣公共衞生保健員,他以2365磅的南瓜加冕了今年的北美冠軍,然後南瓜在回家之前進行了短暫的參觀。

Mr. Wolf, 42, plans to collect its seeds and distribute some to giant-pumpkin-grower clubs world-wide, he says.

現年42歲的沃爾夫説,他計劃收集南瓜種子,並將其中一些分發給世界各地的南瓜種植大户俱樂部。

The carcass will go partly to his 67-year-old aunt, Vicky McKinney, who says she makes five to 10 gallons a year of pumpkin wine. "It turns into the most amazing Riesling," she says.

身體的一部分將捐給他67歲的姑姑維姬·麥金尼(Vicky McKinney),她説自己每年生產5到10加侖的南瓜酒。“它會變成最令人驚歎的雷司令,”她説。

Jumbo-produce growers dedicate considerable energy into creating the perfect environment, saying the right soil and seeds, and attention to pests and diseases, are crucial.

巨型農產品種植者投入大量精力創造完美的環境,他們説,合適的土壤和種子,以及對病蟲害的關注,是至關重要的。

The Craig-Browns didn't do any of that, having no intention of growing a record spud. They stumbled upon Dug in what most recently was a pathway between strawberries and cucumbers. They had grown potatoes there previously but not for at least two years.

克雷格-布朗夫婦並沒有做任何這些事情,他們並沒有打算創造一個創紀錄的土豆。他們偶然發現了最近在草莓和黃瓜之間的一條小路上挖掘的東西。他們以前在那裏種過土豆,但至少有兩年沒種過了。

"It just went along doing its thing completely unnoticed until we uncovered him," says Mr. Craig-Brown, who works on the couple's hobby farm. "We looked at it in amazement and said, 'This is crazy.' I scratched it and tasted it, and said, 'That's a bloody potato.' "

在這對夫婦的愛好農場工作的克雷格-布朗説:“它一直在做自己的事情,完全沒有人注意到,直到我們發現了他。”“我們驚訝地看着它,説,‘這太瘋狂了。’我抓了抓,嚐了嚐,然後説,‘那是個該死的土豆。’”

It was 7.9 kilograms on their metric spring scale, or 17.4 pounds.

在他們的公制彈簧秤上,這是7.9公斤,或17.4磅。

They submitted a Guinness World Records claim to determine whether Dug was a global winner -- a process that can take months -- and took it to a seed store for a second weigh-in and found it was just over 16.7 pounds. Worried Dug had lost weight from wounds suffered from a hoe and gardening tongs, the couple stuck it in a freezer to maintain its mass.

他們提交了一份吉尼斯世界紀錄聲明,以確定迪格是否是全球冠軍-這一過程可能需要幾個月的時間-並將其帶到種子店進行第二次稱重,結果發現它只有16.7磅多一點。由於擔心Ducg被鋤頭和園藝鉗子弄傷,體重減輕,這對夫婦把它放在冰箱裏,以保持它的質量。

Weeks later, they pulled Dug out for an official weigh-in for Guinness with two unaffiliated witnesses -- the retail assistant and store manager at their local seed shop. They wouldn't disclose the results of that more recent weigh-in, but confirm it has lost some weight since they found it.

幾周後,他們在當地種子店的零售助理和商店經理這兩個獨立目擊者的陪同下,挖出了吉尼斯世界紀錄的官方稱重。他們不願透露最近的稱重結果,但證實自從他們發現它後,它的體重已經減輕了一些。

They then discovered the official Guinness weigh-in requires a qualified professional -- like a horticulturist or botanist -- to identify and measure it, so they must redo the weigh-in, they say.

他們説,然後他們發現,官方的吉尼斯世界紀錄大全需要一位合格的專業人士--比如園藝學家或植物學家--來鑑定和測量,所以他們必須重新稱重。

A spokeswoman for Guinness World Records says it received the couple's claim and is waiting for evidence to review.

吉尼斯世界紀錄的一位女發言人説,他們收到了這對夫婦的索賠,正在等待證據進行審查。

"Sometimes these world records are flukes," says Mr. Fortey, the Wales-based grower, whose father started pumpkin competitions at a pub until they couldn't fit through the door, "and there are real surprises."

“有時候,這些世界紀錄都是僥倖,”威爾士的種植者福蒂説。他的父親在一家酒吧開始南瓜比賽,直到他們進不了門,“真的有令人驚訝的事情。”

Today's heaviest-potato titleholder, Peter Glazebrook, doesn't think the Craig-Browns will surpass his 10.9-pound record because he doesn't think whatever they found is a spud at all. Dug's rough surface markings and growth shapes, he says, aren't typical of a potato.

今天最重的土豆冠軍得主彼得·格雷茲布魯克認為克雷格-布朗夫婦不會超過他10.9磅的記錄,因為他根本不認為他們發現的任何東西都是土豆。他説,DIG粗糙的表面標記和生長形狀並不是典型的土豆。

"I think he will not be able to substantiate his claim," says the England-based Mr. Glazebrook, 77, who has broken -- and re-broken -- Guinness records for longest beetroot, heaviest potato, heaviest onion and heaviest cucumber, among others.

現年77歲的英國人格雷茲布魯克説:“我認為他無法證實自己的説法。”他曾多次打破最長甜菜根、最重土豆、最重洋葱和最重黃瓜等吉尼斯世界紀錄。

One has to work deliberately to grow a giant, he says in an email: "There is no way anyone can suddenly 'find' without trying a vegetable almost twice the size" of the record holder.

他在一封電子郵件中説,一個人必須刻意努力才能長出一個巨人:“任何人都不可能突然‘找到’,而不是嘗試一種幾乎是紀錄保持者兩倍大小的蔬菜”。

Mr. Fortey, who has seen photos of Dug online and communicated with other growers in a Facebook group he runs, says it looks like a potato and "I think the consensus of opinion draws it to a potato."

Fortey先生在他運營的一個Facebook羣裏看到了在網上挖掘的照片,並與其他種植者交流過。他説,它看起來像一個土豆,“我認為輿論的共識把它引向了土豆。”

The couple responds that the verdict is up to horticulture professionals.

這對夫婦迴應説,判決取決於園藝專業人士。

Dug's destiny is vodka. It will be a new challenge for Mr. Craig-Brown, who has made the liquor only using sugar before: "We might get a bottle or two out of him."

達格的命運是伏特加。對於克雷格-布朗來説,這將是一個新的挑戰,他以前只用糖釀造過這種酒:“我們可能會從他那裏拿到一兩瓶。”

Write to Jennifer Calfas at Jennifer.Calfas@wsj.com

寫信給詹妮弗·卡爾法斯(Jennifer.Calfas@wsj.com)

譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。


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