I’m fascinated by the existence of so many foods. Who decided to boil tree sap for 3 weeks to make maple syrup? Who agitated cows milk vigorously for 20 minutes to discover butter? Who saw cheese for the first time and decided to still eat moldy milk?
I thank those nameless humans for their service to society.
The first one would have been obvious by the time Europeans reached the Americas because reducing things to increase the intensity of flavours by removing water would have been a known cooking technique for a long time by then (and I’m guessing would have been figured out soon after the invention of pots). Then, it would have been a matter of someone who was aware of that technique tasting raw sap, realizing it was sweet, then trying to extract the sugar through reduction, then discovering it’s still pretty good as a syrup rather than dry sugar.
And extracting sap from trees goes way back, as that’s what frankincense and myr were (and disappointing to find out these “precious substances” just smell like church).
Yogurt is also very interesting, as its bacteria originates from ants. Who would think “hmm ants have infested my milk container but hey let me taste what they did to milk anyways”
You can just leave milk out at room temperature for a few days and you’ll get yogurt. There’s tons of lactobacilli floating around in the air and on every surface. You might need ants for a specific strain, but you don’t need them if you just want any yogurt.
Butter was discovered by accident when humans were still nomadic tribes. Milk was transported in animal skin bags and the agitation from travel turned it into butter. Probably being chased by something or running very fast.
It’s proposed that cheese was discovered the same way, when the rennet in sheep stomach sacks used to transport milk curdled the milk into curds and whey.
They clearly had good cardio if they were agitating it that vigorously for long enough to make butter! Forget fitness watches, maybe I should wear a sack of milk at the gym to see if I’m working hard enough.
blue cheese was discovered from a guy eating lunch in a cave, and leaving it unfinished to go talk to a pretty girl. when he came back months later the cheese had molded into blue cheese and he ate it and it was good
Just wanna mention, you don’t need to boil maple sap for anywhere near that long to make syrup. It can be done in an afternoon unless you’re trying to make gallons.
I suppose you’re right - it could be done on a small scale. I’m so used to seeing massive vats at the sugar bush that I didn’t even think of a small volume in a pot
Thus this custom of firing houses continued, till in process of time, says my manuscript, a sage arose, like our Locke, who made a discovery, that the flesh of swine, or indeed of any other animal, might be cooked… without the necessity of consuming a whole house to dress it.
I’m fascinated by the existence of so many foods. Who decided to boil tree sap for 3 weeks to make maple syrup? Who agitated cows milk vigorously for 20 minutes to discover butter? Who saw cheese for the first time and decided to still eat moldy milk?
I thank those nameless humans for their service to society.
The first one would have been obvious by the time Europeans reached the Americas because reducing things to increase the intensity of flavours by removing water would have been a known cooking technique for a long time by then (and I’m guessing would have been figured out soon after the invention of pots). Then, it would have been a matter of someone who was aware of that technique tasting raw sap, realizing it was sweet, then trying to extract the sugar through reduction, then discovering it’s still pretty good as a syrup rather than dry sugar.
And extracting sap from trees goes way back, as that’s what frankincense and myr were (and disappointing to find out these “precious substances” just smell like church).
Yogurt is also very interesting, as its bacteria originates from ants. Who would think “hmm ants have infested my milk container but hey let me taste what they did to milk anyways”
You can just leave milk out at room temperature for a few days and you’ll get yogurt. There’s tons of lactobacilli floating around in the air and on every surface. You might need ants for a specific strain, but you don’t need them if you just want any yogurt.
For every person that managed to make maple syrup there must be several that made a stew from danger-mushrooms.
Darwinian evolution is as much luck as it is skill
Butter was discovered by accident when humans were still nomadic tribes. Milk was transported in animal skin bags and the agitation from travel turned it into butter. Probably being chased by something or running very fast.
It’s proposed that cheese was discovered the same way, when the rennet in sheep stomach sacks used to transport milk curdled the milk into curds and whey.
The question remains - how hungry must they have been to still eat that?
As the old saying goes: " 'twas a brave man who first ate an oyster." (Pretty sure this is an Oscar Wilde quote)
Randy, are you prostituting yourself out for sheep stomach cheese again?
They clearly had good cardio if they were agitating it that vigorously for long enough to make butter! Forget fitness watches, maybe I should wear a sack of milk at the gym to see if I’m working hard enough.
Humans literally used to hunt by jogging animals to death. Our ability to sweat was a game changer.
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a70683169/how-to-make-butter-while-running/
I think there’s a lot of “dare you to eat that” in food history.
I think a lot of it boils down to, “we either eat it or starve.”
And sometimes both.
Oregano trail wasn’t wrong when it made dysentery a near death experience.
There’s also a lot of " Tom didn’t make it" and “Not gonna do that again” in food history.
blue cheese was discovered from a guy eating lunch in a cave, and leaving it unfinished to go talk to a pretty girl. when he came back months later the cheese had molded into blue cheese and he ate it and it was good
What a moron.
Who though to stab a tree and collect the juice? I want that mf knighted
Right? And trees that leak, like pines, have sap that tastes like absolute ass. You’d think they’d avoid tasting tree sap at all costs
Birch juice though mmmm
Just wanna mention, you don’t need to boil maple sap for anywhere near that long to make syrup. It can be done in an afternoon unless you’re trying to make gallons.
I suppose you’re right - it could be done on a small scale. I’m so used to seeing massive vats at the sugar bush that I didn’t even think of a small volume in a pot
From the 1888 A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig
Unfortunately the rest of it is pretty trash.