Food — Page 3

Coffee has been banned in several countries.

Throughout history, coffee has been banned in several places, including Mecca in the 16th century and Prussia in the…

The largest per capita consumer of Coca-Cola in the world is Iceland.

Iceland has the highest per capita consumption of Coca-Cola in the world. It is estimated that each Icelander drinks…

In the 18th century, pineapples were rented out as dinner party centerpieces.

They were incredibly rare and expensive in Europe. Hosts would rent one just to display it for a dinner party to show…

Kopi Luwak, one of the world's most expensive coffees, is made from beans eaten by civets.

The civet eats the coffee cherries, and the beans pass through its digestive tract. Enzymes in the stomach alter the…

The popsicle was accidentally invented in 1905 by an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson.

He left a glass of soda water with a wooden stirring stick outside on his porch overnight. It froze solid, and he had…

Honey is one of the most durable foods that exists.

Archaeologists have found pots of honey in Egyptian tombs over 3,000 years old that were still in good condition…

Real wasabi is extremely expensive and rare.

Real wasabi (Wasabia japonica) is an extremely difficult root to grow and very expensive. Most restaurants serve a…

Chocolate was used as currency by the Maya.

The Maya used cocoa beans as currency for exchange. A rabbit was worth about 10 beans, and a slave could cost 100…

Coffee was discovered by a goat herder in Ethiopia.

According to legend, Kaldi noticed that his goats became energetic after eating the red berries of a shrub. He took…

Sliced bread was invented by an American engineer.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented the machine to slice and package bread in 1928. The invention was an immediate…

Almonds are not true nuts; they are the seeds of the fruit produced by the almond tree.

Botanically, almonds are drupes, related to peaches and cherries. The part we eat is the seed inside the hard shell…

The first Starbucks store, opened in 1971 in Seattle, originally sold only coffee beans and equipment, not brewed drinks.

The founders were inspired by a coffee roasting entrepreneur, and it was not until 1987 that the company began…

Black Ivory coffee is made from beans eaten and excreted by Thai elephants, making it one of the most expensive coffees in the world.

The elephants' digestive enzymes break down the coffee's proteins, reducing bitterness. The beans are then collected…

The oldest restaurant in the world, Casa Botín in Madrid, Spain, has been serving customers continuously since 1725.

Recognized by Guinness World Records, it is famous for its roast suckling pig and has hosted famous writers like…

The Margherita pizza was created in 1889 to honor Queen Margherita of Italy, using ingredients to represent the Italian flag.

The red tomatoes, white mozzarella, and green basil were chosen to mirror the colors of the national flag, creating…

An ancient Bulgarian recipe used live ants to ferment milk and make yogurt.

The almost forgotten technique involves using natural acids and enzymes from ants to coagulate milk, resulting in a…

In 19th century Brazil, beer was made exclusively from corn.

In the early 19th century, a foreign visitor recorded in Rio de Janeiro the production of a fermented beverage made…

Genuine wasabi is grown in flowing mountain water and is very hard to produce on a large scale.

The plant needs shade, cool temperatures and clean moving water. As a result, most wasabi sold is a mixture of…

Garum, a fermented fish sauce, helped date the eruption of Vesuvius.

Analysis of garum pots found in Pompeii revealed that the sauce was made with bogues, a fish abundant in the…

Milbenkase is a German cheese ripened with thousands of live mites.

Milbenkase is made with quark seasoned with salt and caraway, placed in wooden boxes with rye flour. The mites…

Live ants can ferment milk to make yogurt, scientists confirmed.

The ancestral technique from the Balkans and Turkey uses acids and bacteria present in ants to accelerate milk…

Churros were invented in Mexico.

Churros are not Mexican. Their most likely origin is Portugal or Spain, where shepherds prepared fried dough instead…

King Gustav III of Sweden used prisoners to test whether coffee was poisonous.

In the 18th century, the king ordered two condemned twins to drink coffee daily to prove whether it was harmful. The…

Chocolate chip cookies were invented by accident in a bakery in France.

Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, invented chocolate chip cookies in 1938. She thought…