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I HAVE A CONFESSION to make: For nearly a decade, I kept contraband in my freezer. It was a stash of Sichuan peppercorn, the bright and earthy Asian spice that tingles and numbs the tongue. Harvested from prickly ash shrubs and trees in temperate parts of Asia, Sichuan peppercorns had been banned from the U.S. in 1968 out of fear they might spread citrus canker. 我有件事必须坦白：近10年来，我一直在冰箱里藏着违禁品。它就是花椒，一种明亮、朴实的亚洲香料，入口辛麻。花椒生长于亚洲温带地区，是灌木或乔木花椒树的果实。由于担心这种植物会导致柑橘溃疡病蔓延，美国在1968年曾颁布过花椒的进口禁令。 The spice is often combined with chilies for a sensation the Chinese call ma la─literally 'numbing-hot.' It was a food buzz that intrigued me because it was like no other. (Despite the name, the reddish-brown pods are not related to black pepper.) The zingy husks are used in China, where the spice is called hua jiao ('flower pepper'), while Japanese cuisine favors the pod's milder berries, known as sansho. In any form, that lemony tang is unmistakable. 花椒常与辣椒一起使用，烹制口味麻辣的菜肴。这种调料在我看来非常独特，引发过我的无限好奇。（虽然中文名字中都有一个“椒”，但这种红褐色的芸香科植物与黑胡椒并无关系。）不论是中国菜中使用的花椒，还是日本料理中使用的柔和些的山椒，其浓烈辛辣的香味都是明白无误的。 | 
