Fun Facts About Food Near and Far
What's bouillabaisse? It's French for a fish stew that combines many kinds of fish and shellfish. Here is a stew of another kind — a variety of food facts.
Meal Within a Meal
For special occasions, the Bedouin tribes of Africa stuff a fish with eggs and put it inside a chicken. The chicken is put inside a sheep, and the sheep is put inside a camel and roasted. Now that's stuffed!
Prehistoric Food
Have you ever wondered what people ate before recorded time? Just like what people eat now, it depended on what plants and animals were available to them. According to archeological evidence, some prehistoric people dug wild onions and radishes and searched for wild squash, cabbage, mushrooms, and waterlily seed to eat. They also ate some insects, raw. Certain tasty insects became extinct from being overhunted (or overeaten?).
Bird's Nest Soup
Yes, this Asian delicacy is made from real bird's nests. In China, a prized food is the soup made from the Asian swift's nest.
Breakfast in Egypt
In Egypt, breakfast is often bought and eaten at a street stall. Usually it is bread wrapped around assorted fried vegetables: eggplant, beans, tomatoes, and peppers.
Aborigine Food
The Aborigines of Australia call their native food “bush-tucks.” It includes game meat such as kangaroo, turkey, and goanna, which is a kind of lizard.
Pretzels and Prayers
According to folklore, pretzels were given to children who knew their prayers. The pretzel shape was supposed to signify arms folded across the chest in prayer.
Gorp
The energy food of bikers and hikers is called Gorp: Good Old Raisins and Peanuts.
Peanut Butter
A favorite spread for sandwiches, peanut butter was created by a doctor as a health food. In Africa, where they were first grown, peanuts are known as groundnuts.
Buffalo Wings
Buffalo wings have nothing to do with bison. They are spicy chicken wings that originated in Buffalo, New York.
Horseradish
The ancient Greeks believed horseradish was worth its weight in gold.