Interesting facts about food

Ancient Greeks and Romans were the first to turn cheese making into a fine art. Larger Roman houses even had a special kitchen, called a careale, just for making cheese.

There are more than 2000 varieties of cheese available worldwide, mozzarella is the favorite around the globe, and the most consumed.

Garlic was one of the first herbs to be cultivated. Cultivation of garlic started about 4000 years ago.

First ancient civilization that truly incorporated garlic into their diet was Egypt. In 3rd millennium BC garlic was used not only by nobility, but also in medicine, religious rituals and was given to the slaves as a powerful source of strength.

The pollination of California’s almonds is the largest annual managed pollination event in the world, with close to one million hives (nearly half of all beehives in the US) being trucked in February to the almond groves. Much of the pollination is managed by pollination brokers, who contract with migratory beekeepers from at least 49 states for the event.

Explorer Christopher Columbus in 1493 found pineapples on Guadeloupe Island in the Caribbean. He called it piña de Indes, meaning “pine of the Indians”, and brought it back with him to Spain.

Honey is the only food that contains “pinocembrin“, an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

Possibly the world’s oldest fermented beverage, dating from 9,000 years ago – mead (“honey wine”) is the alcoholic product made by adding yeast to honey-water must and fermenting it for weeks or months.

Old Vikings believed that in their heaven called Valhalla, there is a giant goat whose udders provided unlimited supply of beer.

Stanford researchers found that beer bubbles create a gravity-defying loop. Bubbles head up in the center where frictional drag from the glass is less and down on the outside as the top gets crowded.

Whiskey is beer that’s been distilled two or three times. To distill whiskey, you first have to make beer. Beer is a technical term for whiskey wash, regardless of the type of raw ingredients used.

Angel’s share is the name given to the alcohol that evaporates from a cask as the whiskey is maturing in a warehouse. In Scotland and Ireland, this is approximately 2% of the contents of each cask each year, although this amount is higher in other countries with warmer climates.

In 1889, King Umberto and Queen Margherita had the privilege of getting the first known pizza delivered by Raffaele Esposito, the most famous pizza chef in Naples, Italy.

Truffles are a form of mushroom that grow in harmony with a host tree, enabling the tree to take in phosphorus while in return the truffle receives sugars enabling it to grow. The ancient Greeks believed truffles were made when lightning hit soil and Egyptian ate them coated with goose fat. Romans believed in their therapeutic properties Truffles mysteriously disappeared during middle ages and came back during the Renaissance during the times of Louis XIV.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity on earth – crude oil (unrefined petroleum) is the first. Its popularity is mainly attributed to its invigorating effect, which is produced by caffeine, an alkaloid present in coffee.

According to legend, in 2732 B.C. Emperor Shen Nung discovered tea when leaves from a wild tree blew into his pot of boiling water. He was immediately interested in the pleasant scent of the resulting brew, and drank some. Legend says the Emperor described a warm feeling as he drank the intriguing brew, as if the liquid was investigating every part of his body.

The word “sushi actually refers to rice that has been seasoned with vinegar, sugar, and salt, and contrary to popular belief, Sushi does not mean raw fish at all.

Champagne one of the world’s greatest sparkling wines, is popularly but erroneously thought to have been invented by the Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Perignon (1638-1715). Although he did not invent or discover champagne, he founded many principles and processes in its production that are still in use today. And he purportedly declared upon drinking the bubbly beverage, “I am drinking stars.”

Caviar is one of the oldest delicacies. It came before raw oysters, truffles, and even Champagne. Caviar was sought-after by kings and the aristocracy. Ancient Greeks, Romans and Russian tsars were all known to splurge on caviar.

World’s most expensive pear is Buddha shaped pears $9.00 each.These pears look exactly like a Buddha statue, even down to the facial details.A mold was made by Chinese farmer Xianzhang Hao of the Hebei province.

Despite its name, the strawberry isn’t a true berry. Technically, it is an aggregate accessory fruit, meaning that the fleshy part is derived not from the plant’s ovaries but from the receptacle (the thickened part of a stem) that holds the ovaries.

Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday is a special day celebrated in many countries around the world. It is celebrated in English-speaking countries like the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada. The idea of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday is more than 1,000 years old!

The smell of chocolate increases theta brain waves, which triggers relaxation.

There are typically ten segments inside an orange.

Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit – In 1887, U.S. tariff laws imposed a duty on vegetables, but not on fruits. This meant the status of tomatoes become a matter of legal importance. The US Supreme Court ruled in the case of Nix v. Hedden that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables, based on the popular definition that classifies vegetables by use, where they are usually served with dinner and not as a dessert. However, the courts did not reclassify the tomato botanically, it is still a fruit.

The sandwich is named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who is said to have asked his servant to bring him meat stuffed between two slices of bread so that he would be less inconvenienced while out hunting, playing cards, and just generally being a rich gentleman on the go. Apparently, his friends took notice and asked for ‘the same as Sandwich.’ And so, the name stuck.

The term hamburger originally derives from Hamburg, Germany‘s second-largest city. In German, Burg means “castle”, “fortified settlement” or “fortified refuge” and is a widespread component of place names.

When launched, Coca-Cola’s two key ingredients were cocaine and caffeine. The cocaine was derived from the coca leaf and the caffeine from kola nut, leading to the name Coca-Cola (the “K” in Kola was replaced with a “C” for marketing purposes).

The first ice cream parlor in America opened in New York City in 1776. American colonists were the first to use the term “ice cream”. The name came from the phrase “iced cream” that was similar to “iced tea”. The name was later abbreviated to “ice cream” the name we know today.

In China a typical greeting, instead of “How are you?” is “Have you had your rice today?”. A greeting to which one is expected to always reply, “Yes”.