云南美食故事1——烧饵块

一天清晨，粗糠宝挑着一担山货到昆明去卖。刚刚走进大东门，就看见城门口站着不少老百姓，一个个怒气冲天，叫骂之声不绝于耳。有的娃娃躺在妈妈的怀里张着小嘴哇哇直哭，粗糠宝站在旁边听了一会儿，才明白了事情的原委。原来，昨天晚上知府衙门二堂不知什么原因突然起火，知府气得暴跳如雷，认定是大胆刁民故意捣乱。他马上下令，在昆明六道城门张贴布告，从今天开始，所有百姓一律不准在家生火做饭。此项禁令有效期三个月，违者严加惩处，绝不宽容。

粗糠宝向乡亲们招招手，如此这般地嘱咐了一通，大伙儿顿时乐得眉开眼笑。回去以后，大伙儿纷纷从家里搬出炉子，在上面烤起粑粑来，一个个吃得香极了。

知府老爷知道了，急忙出来查看。他揪住一个老倌吹胡子瞪眼睛。粗糠宝走上前去，冲着知府扮了个鬼脸，“知府大人，布告上禁止在家里生火煮饭，可没有禁止在家门口烤粑粑吃呀！”知府懊恼不已，事先怎么就没想到粗糠宝会来这一手呢！

撒梅人把粑粑叫饵块，烧饵块就这样流传了下来。

Baking Er Kuai

One morning, a young farmer named Cu Kangbao carried a basket of local goods to Kunming for sale. When entering the East Gate, he saw crowds of angry people standing there and cursing. And little babies were crying with an open mouth in their mothers’ arms. Cu stood by until he understood what was going on. Last night, the government’s second interrogation room was on fire and the cause was yet to be identified. The officer was angry to death and assumed that it must be a mob messing around. He ordered that announcements be put on the six gates of Kunming and that all people should not cook at home using fire for three months. Anyone who violates it would be severely punished.

Cu waved to the crowd, and patiently explained to them how to deal with the matter. After hearing his words, people all put on happy smiles. When they arrived home, people carried out their stoves one after another and started baking Baba, a snack made of rice, over the stoves. All enjoyed a good meal.

Knowing this, the officer hurried to inspect. He caught an old man, questioning him with threat. Cu went up and made faces to the officer saying “Sir, the announcement said “no cooking at home using fire”, but it did not ban the people from baking Baba out of home using fire. We all cook and bake our Baba out of our homes. The officer regretted deeply. He had not expected the situation would become so unmanageable.

Sa Mei people, a branch of Yi ethnic group, call Baba Er Kuai. This is the story how baked Er Kuai was passed on.

（感谢中央民族大学外国语学院北京市大学生创新项目“云南美食故事的收集与传播”供稿。）