(no subject)

[camwyn]

Just went to the supermarket to get some stuff for chili tonight. I've thought this lots of times before, but I don't think I'll ever cease to be amazed by the realization that for every single food product out there, at some point in human history, somebody said, "You know what? I should totally put that in my mouth."

And then, some time later, said, "I should totally put that in my mouth AGAIN."

And then convinced someone else to do it too.

Comments

here from latest things

[archersangel]

i think about that sometimes too. and for the things that turned out to be inedible or poisonous, people had to make a mental not not to eat that.

Re: here from latest things

[camwyn]

It's not even the thought of "Hey! That thing that looks like a booger in a shell, I should eat that" that gets me. It's stuff like- "What happens if I chew the bark on that tree branch? Oooh, I should put that on my meat and see if it tastes good too". Or "This bulb thing that smells awful and that seems to make the wolves or dogs or wildcats sick. If I eat that, will it be okay?"

The one I really wonder about is mushrooms. Every book I've ever read that mentions foraging for wild ones says FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT EAT YOUR COLLECTION UNTIL AN EXPERT HAS EVALUATED THEM. Who was the first mushroom expert? Who was the first person to deliberately eat the second or third kind of mushroom? You can't get the groove of 'these are safe to eat but these are dangerous' from watching animals, the way you can with meat; who was the first human to say "okay, that last mushroom poisoned the living daylights out of Gronk, but I;m telling you, this one here is JUST FINE and we should totally eat it"?

Re: here from latest things

[leeshajoy]

What really gets me is olives. Olives straight off the tree taste terrible; they have to be soaked in lye for several days to get rid of the bitter chemicals in them. Therefore, somewhere along the line, someone had to think "Gee, this fruit is nasty, maybe if I soak it in poison for a week it'll taste better!"

Re: here from latest things

[camwyn]

At least hakarl has the excuse of very clearly being desperation food. Some poor starving Icelander or Greenlander must've thought to themselves once, "I haven't been able to hunt or fish successfully in I don't know how long but I saw something bury its catch here on the beach, maybe it's worth eating" and dug up the remains of a Greenland shark only to find that despite having putrefied for weeks, it was now edible rather than too ammoniac to believe. Food that has to be left alone for a dog's age is one thing; food that has to be dunked in a chemical is another.

[batyatoon]

Like acorns! Okay, they don't have to be soaked in lye, but you have to pour a lot of water over them before they're palatable.

But yeah, anything that isn't edible in its natural state. Anything that needs soaking or cooking or any sort of low-tech processing.

The one I always wonder about is artichokes.

[batyatoon]

I think a lot of them had to have come from either desperation or watching animals eat them. Or both.

You got me on the mushrooms, though.