来源：中国日报网
你有没有想过为什么方形纸板盒里装着圆形披萨？装在圆形披萨盒里不是更紧密吗？本文将为您揭示答案。
[Photo/Pexels]
If you’re like most people, you’re too busy eating pizza to stop and consider the logistics of how it arrived on your kitchen counter. Ponder it long enough, though, and you may find it curious that pies usually come in square or other boxes that are a geometric departure from the round crust. So why don’t pizzas arrive in round cardboard boxes?
如果你和大多数人一样，你通常只吃披萨，而不是关心披萨是如何来到你的桌子上的。但如果你仔细想想，你可能会想知道为什么披萨经常放在不同形状的方形或其他形状的盒子里。那么，为什么披萨不放在圆形纸板盒里呢？
It’s mostly because the pizza industry doesn’t really care to disrupt the cardboard industry. Cardboard boxes are usually manufactured with edges (i.e. square or rectangular) because they can be made in one piece as well as neatly stacked.
这主要是因为披萨行业无意给纸板盒行业带来麻烦。纸板盒通常是棱角分明的（如方形或矩形），因为这样的盒子可以一次形成，而且很容易堆放整齐。
The advantage of making a round pizza box would mainly be aesthetic. It’s not going to save space over an edged box. In the case of frozen pizzas, stacking pies vertically runs the risk of them rolling out of place. It’s just bad pizza management.
制作圆形披萨盒的主要优点是好看，但并不比棱角分明的盒子节省空间。储存冷冻披萨时，垂直堆放的披萨盒会使披萨滚走，使其难以清理。
Of course, there are exceptions. Many pizzerias offer sheet or Sicilian-style pizzas, which are served in a rectangular shape and better conform to a rectangular box. And some chains have toyed with the conventional pizza box shape. Domino’s has a six-sided design with tapered front edges intended to reduce the cardboard used and limit the company’s carbon footprint. (It also reportedly keeps the pizza from sliding around.)
当然也有例外。许多披萨店会提供薄底披萨或西西里式披萨，这更适合装在矩形纸盒里。一些连锁店改造了传统的披萨纸盒。达美乐披萨推出了锥形边缘六边形披萨盒，旨在减少纸板的用量，限制企业的碳足迹。（据说它还可以防止披萨在纸盒里滑动。
Pizza wasn’t always relegated to square cardboard. In the 1800s, street sellers carried pies in portable metal containers that kept them warm. When pizza started rising in popularity in postwar America, pizzerias used a single piece of cardboard as support and then slipped the pie into a paper bag. Eventually, corrugated cardboard struck a fine balance between retaining heat without trapping too much moisture.
披萨并不总是安装在方形纸箱里。19世纪的街头小贩曾经把披萨放在便携式保温金属容器里。后来，披萨在战后的美国变得越来越受欢迎，披萨店用纸板把披萨放在纸袋里。最后，披萨店用瓦楞纸板做披萨盒，既能保温，又不会在盒子里留下太多的水分。
Will we ever see a radical rethink of the pizza box? Some people have tried. In 2010, Apple filed for a patent for a round pizza container with holes so moisture can escape. It’s used in the company’s food courts. Another company, World Centric, designed a compostable round box in 2018 that can be used to reheat pizza. A similar product was test-marketed by Pizza Hut in 2019. All of the designs boasted of keeping pizzas warmer and crispier for longer, but none have become ubiquitous.
披萨盒未来会有很大的创新吗？有些人已经尝试过了。2010年，苹果公司向有孔的圆形披萨盒申请专利，通过小孔可以释放披萨的水分。苹果食堂使用这种披萨盒。还有一个叫World Centric该公司于2018年设计了一种可降解的圆形披萨盒，可用于重新加热披萨。2019年，必胜客也试销了类似产品。所有这些设计都声称，披萨可以保持更长的保温和更长的时间，但没有一个能成功推广。
For the most part, you’re still likely to encounter square boxes. Pizza is, after all, about finding comfort in the familiar.
大多数时候，你仍然会看到方形披萨盒。毕竟，吃披萨就是从熟悉的感觉中寻求安慰。
英文来源：Mental Floss
翻译&编辑：丹妮
