Four Fun Facts About Food

We consume it on a daily basis, some more than others, but we rarely think about the origins or ingredients of the foods we consume…we simply, well, consume. And while the intriguing food facts found below will not alter your food consumption patterns, they do provide some watercooler fodder and are, in the end, food for thought (insert well deserved groans and head shakes here).

1. 

   We love soup, especially if it’s made by the “Soup Nazi” made famous in season seven, episode six of the famous sitcom, Seinfeld. Patrons to the Soup Nazi’s kitchen endured his strict, regimented rules for waiting in line and ordering as well as his rude disposition in order to gain access to his delicious concoctions, such as wild mushroom and jambalaya.
   One wonders if people would queue up for soup created from a recently discovered 6,000 year old recipe that contained the unique ingredients of hippopotamus, sparrow, various vegetables, lentils and spices. Of course, if the Soup Nazi did create this soup and you voiced your displeasure…NO SOUP FOR YOU!

2. We Americans put ketchup on everything from steak to eggs. However, up until the 1800s, Europeans and Americans avoided tomatoes like the plague as they too closely resembled the poisonous nightshade berries. In fact, when Conquistador, Hernan Cortez, returned to Europe with some heretofore unknown tomato plants, they were only regarded as ornamental plants.
   Finally, in the early 19^th century, recipes for tomato ketchup began to appear in US magazines, but people were still fearful of eating the fruit raw and the popularity of tomato ketchup far outpaced raw tomatoes. People, apparently, were willing to eat pureed tomatoes mixed with sugar, vinegar and other spices.
3. Have you ever wondered how SPAM got its name? (No, it does not stand for “something posing as meat”). According to Hormel, SPAM is an amalgamation of the words “spiced” and “ham”…think web + log = blog. However, shortly after its creation in the 1930s, it was known as “shoulder of pork and ham.” Yeah, “spiced ham” sounds quite a bit more palatable.Apparently, the moniker struck a chord with the members of the Monty Python comedy troop as one of their more famous skits involve a cafe patron attempting to order something without the canned meat as part of the dish…”We’ve got SPAM, eggs, SPAM, SPAM, bacon and SPAM.” It was also included in a line from their full-length feature film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That one line then spawned a 2005 Broadway musical entitled Spamalot that won three Tony awards. Who knew SPAM was so humorous.
4. Finally, on a quick note, baby carrots originally were created from unsellable ugly, gross carrots that were simply shaved down to baby size. The new miniature versions sold so well that eventually many non-ugly, non-gross adult carrots were simply converted into the infant variety.

So there you are. Four food facts with which to amaze and edify your friends, and if you get a chance, be sure to check out the “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld, as well as anything that combines Monty Python and SPAM.

Steve, MagicKitchen.com blogger