The Origin of Edible Bird's Nest.食用燕窝由来。

食用燕窝由来

明时李时珍撰本草纲目，应陈懋仁撰泉南杂技，对燕窝的叙述：『闽之远海近番处，有燕名金丝者。首尾似燕而甚小，毛如金丝。临卵育子时群飞进汐砂泥有石处，啄蠶螺食。有询海商，闻之土番云，蠶螺背上肉有两肋如逢蠶丝，坚洁而白，食之可补虚损，以劳痢。故此燕食之，肉化而肋不化，并律液呕出，结为小窝附石上。久之，与小雏鼓翼而飞，海人依时拾之，故曰燕窝』。在西方，燕窝则被称为“Edible Bird’s Nest”， 意思就是『可吃的鸟巢』。

According to the ancient Chinese Medical Journal, the birthline of Bird's nest has a long illustrious history. The ancestral roots of swiftlets originate from the golden swiftlet. Swiftlets swarm and feed on a variety of prey, before their mating and reproduction. Before the mating, a process of nest building is practised on variety of surfaces, through the natural bodily secretions from a swiftlet's mouth. As time passed by, the Edible Bird's nest was generated.

一般我们所见的燕子多居北半球，属Hirundinidae类，常见于中国、印度、欧洲及北美洲，是最广为人们所熟悉的一种燕子。其窝皆以树枝、细草、泥土所造，故此类燕窝皆无食用及营养价值，也并非『本草纲目』所记载的燕窝。

The common swiftlets in the world live in the northern hemisphere, mostly in China, India, Europe and North America. These swiftlets use twigs, tender grass and mud to create their nests. These nests possess no ntritional value, and are not the nests being recorded in the Chinese Medical Journal.

古时所载之燕窝为金丝燕(Colloclia, 俗称Swiftlet)，属雨燕科。金丝燕比我们常见的燕子体型较小些，背部羽毛呈灰褐色，带有金丝光泽，翅膀尖而长，体型呈弧月形，四个脚趾都朝前生长。此燕的喉部有很发达的黏液腺，所分泌的唾液可在空气中凝成固体，是它们筑巢的只要材料。

The nests which are of nutritional value are created by Colloclia, or Swiftlets, belonging to a specific of swiftlet family. These swiftlets are slighter in size, its fur is brownish grey, with a tinge of gold. Its wings are sharper and longer, creating a crescent body structure. Its claws grow outwards. As these swiftlets have well developed saliva glands, they can produce secretions which harden in room temperature, this secretion is what they use to build their nests.


金丝燕每年生产有三季（三月至六月、六月至十月或十一月至二月），通常一次产两颗蛋，它们每天飞翔于海面和高空，摄食海面上的小鱼、海藻或田野间的昆虫等小生物。在消化完食物后，他们飞到海拔较高的峭壁裂缝、洞穴深处，以唾液分泌物筑成窝巢，大约二十多天才能筑成。筑成的燕巢，只要是为了孵蛋用，燕子并不居于其中，对于金丝燕筑成的巢，採燕窝的人并不会做杀鸡取卵的事，他们会耐心等待金丝燕生儿育女，小燕子飞离巢，成燕即废弃此巢不再使用，方可进行燕窝采集工作。

These golden swiftlets have 3 reproductive seasons (March - June, June to October, November - March). In general ,they lay 2 eggs per season. Daily, the swiftlets fly out to the sea and the skies, feeding on fish, plankton, or insects and organisms in the open fields. After digestion, they locate a suitable location in a cave or cliff wall and use their saliva to create their nests. This process takes 20 days. The completed nest is only used to nurse and incubate the eggs, the swiftlets do not stay in them. During extraction, the nest extractors will not harm the birds or eggs, they await patiently for the swiftlets to leave before extraction.


根据历史家认为，中国首位吃燕窝并带动风潮者是明代七下西洋的航海家郑和，并因此在华人圈形成风气。某次，郑和的远洋船队在海上遇上大风暴，被迫停泊在马来群岛的一个荒岛，因食物严重短缺，无意中发现硝壁上的燕窝。于是郑和就命令部署采摘、洗净后用清水炖煮食用充饥。数日后，船员个个脸色红润，中气颇足。回国时，郑和因而携带些燕窝献给明成祖。从此，燕窝成了朝拜皇帝重臣的贡品。燕窝成为贡品后，其价值连城。

According to historians, the pioneer of nest consmption was the voyager, Cheng Ho, which ultimately led to a great influx of other chinese eaters. On one fateful voyage, Cheng Ho and his crew were stranded on an island on the Malay Archipelago, due to a severe shortage, the crew found and extracted the bird's nests for his consumption. After the cleansing, boiling and consumption for days, the crewmen were found to be in the pink of health, with an improved bodily functioning ability. Upon his return, Cheng Ho presented the miraculous discovery to the Emperor, leading to the delicacy being a sacred item consumed only in royalty and castles.



最早的燕窝介绍文字记载在1695年的《本草逢源》，认为燕窝能使金水相生（肺属金，胃属水），是食品之中最驯良者。根据文字记载，燕窝输入中国大抵是十七世纪后期，每年有十二万五千磅燕窝从爪哇的巴达维亚（现称雅加达）运往中国，而这也与郑和七下西洋经过的国家时间相吻合。

The earliest recording of bird's nests in literature was in a Medical Journal, it mentions that the delicacy is beneficial to the lungs and stomach, and is a premium food item. It also states that the lasrgest exporter of the nests was Batawelia (modern day Jakarta), the stock is exported to China. The timeline is similar to that of Cheng Ho's expedition.


不过，也有史学对此说不以为然。他们指出，唐代诗圣杜甫的诗及明初贾铭写给明太祖朱元璋的『饮食须知』一书中，都有记载，而另一本『宛暑杂记』也提到大宴中有燕窝，可见郑和之前就有人吃过燕窝。但是学者们却也认为，郑和虽然不一定是中国第一个吃燕窝人，但很可能是第一个把燕窝献给皇帝的人，使燕窝的身价从此青云直上。

However, there were also contradictory views, documents from the Tang Dynasty have mentioned the presence of bird's nests in consumption. It is evident that the bird's nests have also been consumed and extracted before the time of Cheng Ho. However, most historians agree that even if Cheng Ho was not the first Chinese consumer of bird's nest, he was the first person who presented the delicacy to royalty, and the pioneer who led to the rapid rise in value and respect for the Bird's Nest.