Do you know any historical Food or Diet related info that others might not know?

[Type Username Here]

For example:

At one time, lobsters were considered undesirable food in the US (and Europe IIRC), and it was fed to prisoners.

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

The romans were really into flamingo tongue. Also, drowning birds and pigs in wine to tenderize meat. They didnt give a fukk about animal cruelty, except for Plutarch

 

[duck]

the conquistadors invented m&ms

 

[Shogun]

in Europe, in the 1800's, Pineapples were so rare that wealthy party hosts used to rent them for their centerpieces.

also, Europe was introduced to coffee by Ottoman invaders during the siege of Vienna in 1529. When the siege was lifted the Austrian's baked roles in the shape of their enemy's symbol, the crescent, thereby inventing the french breakfast roll of the same name. They were, quite literally, eating their enemies for breakfast.

 

[NZA]

For example:

At one time, lobsters were considered undesirable food in the US (and Europe IIRC), and it was fed to prisoners.

it was also given out as a sort of government cheese to widowed women in the colonies

and many americans used to think tomatoes were poisonous

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

Nikola Tesla discovered that when used properly, rice can fix just about any electronic device simply by using it to cover the broken device.

 

[acri1]

Like most people know, caviar is an expensive food made from salt-cured fish eggs, specifically eggs from the Sturgeon family. Currently it costs around $2500/lb. What a lot of people don't know is that caviar wasn't always expensive or considered a delicacy.

It wasn't until after 1900 that this became the case. Before that, caviar was so abundant in the U.S. and Canada that we used to actually be the major suppliers to Europe. In fact, caviar used to be so cheap that it would sometimes be served in American saloons, often for free. They served it for the same reason that peanuts are sometimes given out for free at bars now, ie. that the salty taste would make people drink more.

After 1900 it gradually got more expensive, and the price went way up in the 1960s. That happened basically because overfishing and polluton in the Caspian Sea (the world's main source of wild sturgeon).