Caving Trivia
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Know any interesting food trivia? (origins, discovery etc)?
Do you know any interesting trivia or anecdotal evidence about where certain recipes, or food discoveries originated?
I cant really say exactly what sort of thing I’m asking for, otherwise I’d already know it 
But some examples..
- Edinburgh rock was supposedly invented when a confectioner left a tray of sweets on a shelf for months without realising.
- They say Roquefort was discovered accidentally in the 11th Century, after being left in a cave for too long. (It requires stable conditions and certain mold spores, which by chance, only that cave could ever provide naturally).
- Its believed that carrots were originally purple, not orange. Cultivation by Dutch farmers produced a species to be sweeter, and some say, were bred to be intentionally orange (the color of their national flag)
It doesn’t have to be scientifically proven (like the carrot one).
But even then, its kinda interesting.
The word “salary” comes from the Roman Empire when workers were paid with salt, or “sal”.
Yellow Corn in America has been cross bred and genetically manipulated so much that it physically cannot grow without human intervention.
There is a certain type of mallow tree that grows in swamps, or marshes, that has a high starch content. When extracts from this tree are cooked, the starch converts to sugar and a sweet confection can be made from the marsh mallow: the Marshmallow.
Krotomos Climb and Treasure Trivia