They are so strong a pairing that we even use them to describe people --think of George Clooney and his trademark salt and pepper hair.

它們是如此契合的搭擋，我們甚至拿它們來形容人——例如演員喬治・克魯尼和他那標誌性黑白相間的頭髮。

But where did they come from, and why do they form such a ubiquitous pairing?

但它們到底是從哪裡來的，且它們為什麼會成為這種隨處可見的組合呢？

Salt is essential for life, and it's been used since prehistoric times, either scraped from saltwater deposits, harvested from salty lakes, or mined from underground.

鹽是生活中的必需品，且從史前時代就開始被使用，可以從鹹水沉積物中取出、從鹹水湖中採集，或從地下開採。

It's one of the earliest food industries, and one of the most important commodities in the world.

是最早形成食品工業的物品，也是世界上最重要的商品之一。

It makes food taste better, but it's also vital for preservation - whether of meat or vegetables.

它使食物的味道更好，對食物的保存也至關重要——不管是保存肉類還是蔬菜類。

Methods for producing and controlling it were developed by all the classic civilisations, most notably the Romans, who left their mark on modern day language with their word for salt – sal.

鹽的生產和管控方法是由所有經典文明發展而來的，最主要的源自羅馬人，而現代語言中 salt 這個字也是源自於他們語言的 sal 所留下的痕跡。

Roman soldiers received their salary – money to buy salt – and salads were vegetables and greens seasoned with salt.

羅馬士兵的工資是買鹽的錢，而沙拉則是各種用鹽所調味的蔬菜。

In the medieval period salt was expensive, and frequently controlled by the state.

在中世紀時期，鹽的價格很高，並經常由國家所管控。

Huge, ornate vessels for the table were made out of gold and silver, dominating dinner tables, and indicating very clearly who was of high status.

用金銀製成的巨大而華麗的餐桌器皿佔據了餐桌，被非常明確地表示了誰擁有了較高的地位。

Sitting below the salt--i.e. not on the highest table--well, clearly you weren't exactly exalted.

坐在下席——即不坐在貴賓席上——代表了你的地位並沒有特別顯赫。

Having salt on the table was as much for show as practicality.

桌子上放鹽，既是為了展示，也是為了實際用途而擺放。

For dishes were seasoned in the kitchen, but adding salt to one's meat--with the tip of the knife--was common practice, and the uncertain noble could buy written advice on exactly how salt etiquette worked along with the even thornier question of how to carve.

雖然餐點是在廚房裡調味的，但是用刀尖在肉上灑鹽是個很常見的用法，而那些對於使用鹽的禮節不太清楚的貴族，可能會去買關於麻煩的用鹽禮節的書來閱讀。

But how did pepper come to join it?

但是胡椒是如何加入這些的呢？

It was one among a wide range of spices available to the medieval cook, and it was expensive--in the 1430s one pound of peppercorns cost as much as a pig.

它是各種中世紀料理中所使用的香料中的其中一種，且它很昂貴，在1430年代，一磅胡椒粉的價格相當於一頭豬。

In the late 15th Century, the Portuguese took control of Malabar in east India, and started cultivating black pepper on a large scale.

在15世紀末，葡萄牙人控制了東印度的馬拉巴爾，並開始大規模種植黑胡椒。

Prices fell, in line with over supply, and pepper became more readily available.

因為供給過剩而價格下跌，而胡椒也變得較為平易近人。

By the 16th Century the phrase "peppercorn rent" was in use, to mean a nominal sum.

到了16世紀，衍伸的片語 peppercorn rent 開始出現，意思是「象徵性租金」。

The real boost though, came with a change in culinary fashion to favour the French.

真正讓胡椒的地位來到另一個層次的，是為了迎合法國人而做出烹飪方式的改變。

They loved black pepper, and their chefs were busy tidying and simplifying medieval cuisine, delineating more firmly sweet from savoury, and codifying which ingredients worked with which.

他們超喜歡黑胡椒，且廚師忙著整理和簡化中世紀的美食，更嚴格地將甜味和鹹味劃分開來，並記載下來適合的香料搭配。

Salt was obviously savoury.

鹽很明顯是鹹的。

Pepper tended that way, and so the fashionable French-style dishes of the next century used both, together, and with fewer and fewer other spices.

辣椒也是偏向鹹的那邊，所以下個世紀時尚的法式餐點便將兩者結合，而其他香料的使用則越來越少。

By the Victorian age, salt and pepper were coming together as standard seasonings.

到了維多利亞時代，鹽與胡椒成為標準的調味料。

However, other forms of pepper vied with black, and cayenne also appeared frequently in cookery books.

然而，其他形式的椒類開始與黑胡椒爭奪，而辣椒也是烹飪書籍中的常客。

Salt was still on the table, now in small salt cellars, no longer just for the privileged few.

鹽仍是桌子常客——現在裝在小鹽窖裡，不再只是少數特權人士的專利。

In 1911 the Morton Salt Company of Chicago patented an easy-flow salt and salt shakers could finally take off.

1911年，芝加哥的莫頓鹽業公司獲得專利的易倒鹽，而鹽罐終於開始出現在市面上。

During the 20th Century, pepper shakers joined them.

在20世紀，胡椒罐也加入了他們的行列。

Then, as package holidays introduced Brits to freshly ground pepper at the table, pepper mills replaced the shakers.

然後，隨著這個套裝為英國人帶來現磨胡椒的靈感後，現磨胡椒取代了普通罐裝胡椒。

Phew.

呼！

It's not a ubiquitous combination everywhere though--other cultures might still have the salt but replace the black pepper with chilli.

但這也不是全球通用的組合——其他文化中可能還是會有用鹽，但用辣椒將胡椒取代。

And let us not forget the pickles, the sambals, the vinegars, the fish sauces and the salsas.

而且不要忘了醃菜，馬來叁巴醬，醋、魚露還有莎莎醬。

Can I make room on my table and have them all?

我可以在我的桌子上騰出空間，一次擁有它們全部嗎？