Nowadays, people are well aware of what and how to eat, what food is healthy, which is a rare delicacy. Restaurateurs go off their feet to surprise their sophisticated and demanding customers with new combinations of tastes. But it was not always so. Our ancestors made fundamental discoveries when they found a new way of cooking or found out which fruits are edible and can kill.

 

Unique and strange products that we eat

 

We at Bemorepanda have selected unique and strange products that are now well known to everyone. But how did people learn about their properties for the first time? How could one guess what to do with coffee beans, that honey is edible, and poisonous fish can be eaten? Internet users tried to answer these and other questions, and we share their answers with you. How do you think our ancestors learned about edible products? Share your opinion in the comments.

 

1. Oysters

Someone looked at the mucous contents of an accidentally broken shell, and suddenly a bright thought came to his mind: “Let me taste this rubbish! ... Look, it's not bad! — youdontknowme6 / Reddit

 

2. Coffee

What genius managed to pull off an experiment with coffee beans? After all, they first need to be fried. And then to realize that they can be ground ... Still tasteless. What if you add some water and boil it? Well, that's already something! This is how our ancestors came up with coffee in the morning! — OriginallyFromNYC / Reddit

 

3. Dogfish

Only a tiny part of this fish of the pufferfish family is edible, and the rest of the features are deadly poisonous! So how did the first gourmets of humanity know which piece of fish was edible? They probably cried and injected themselves, but ... they continued the experiments! — Michael_Stone_UDA / Reddit

 

4. Lobster

Most likely, the fisherman who caught such a lobster decided and took a chance: “Well, he looks terrible with these claws of his. Let me try and see how it tastes...” — quoted / Reddit.

 

5. Gympie Gympie

The Gympie Gympie tree, or stinging tree, grows in Australia. It is also known as the suicide plant because its burn is so painful that local sources have reported that people and animals have even committed suicide to avoid the pain. This pain can last for weeks, months, or even years.

 

Stinging tiny hairs cover the entire plant, but someone (perhaps a smart native) discovered that if each hair was carefully removed from a mulberry-sized fruit, it was quite edible! Imagine how much people worked to ensure that the fruit could be eaten! — __hey__its__me__ / Reddit

 

6. Chili pepper

Imagine that you find this bright pepper pod, bite it with an appetite ... and feel that a volcano has flared up in your mouth! But this does not stop you, and you decide he is perfect! You start adding it to your dishes like a spice. -Edgar- / Reddit

 

7. Bread

All the sky stars must converge so that someone would be the first to suddenly think of combining the ingredients and baking bread! He took flour and yeast from somewhere, got salt - and here you are not a cake, but a loaf! spheroid / Reddit

 

8. Honey

When you meet a swarm of aggressive wild bees in the forest, which are so easy to anger, it will forever discourage you from climbing into their hollow. But someone took a chance and climbed in, giving humanity sweet fragrant amber honey! Thank him very much! — coconut-greek-yogurt / Reddit

 

9. Mushrooms

People have always picked mushrooms. But how can you tell what is edible from what is not? No way - only guided by bitter experience. Take some pretty mushrooms, eat them raw, or even cook them, and you'll die. But if you boil them 3-5 times, everything will be in order! — anon/Reddit

 

10. Snails

The French must have been omnivores or very hungry since it occurred to them to collect slugs and cook hearty dishes from them! Not only that, but they also declared them a delicacy! — anon/Reddit

 

11. Cassava

An exotic root crop from the South American continent is like our potato. It is common in hot countries, just like our potatoes. There is the same side dish, and they make flour from it.

 

But cassava is poisonous unless it is peeled and thoroughly cooked. If eaten raw or improperly cooked, one of its chemical components will be attacked by human digestive enzymes and release the deadly poison cyanide. Just two cassava roots can contain a lethal dose. But one ancient Indian from Peru or Bolivia still figured out how to cook cassava properly! — Nuovo/Reddit

 

12. Castoreum

Castoreum, or beaver stream, is a sweet-tasting exudate released from the glands of the beaver, with which the animal marks territory. It has a powerful creosote odor and is used as an odor fixative in perfumery. And it is also used by some culinary specialists (though secretly).

 

For example, Blue moon contains the secret ingredient that gives Blue Moon its vanilla and berry flavors - gourmets suspect the product is spiced with castoreum. Who came up with the idea to add this “beautiful smell” to food? — BCProgramming / Reddit

 

13. Yogurt and cheese

At first, people drank fresh milk directly from under the cow. But they wanted to save some for later, and that's how sour cream, butter, cheese, and yogurt were born. Or maybe everything is more straightforward - the products turned sour, and I had to strain my brains and prepare fermented milk products. — NCCAM/Reddit

 

14. Blue cheese

The first one who declared it a cool delicacy, most likely, got hungry and went to the pantry for cheese. There he saw that the cheese was covered with mold, absolutely all! “So what? I’ll eat it anyway,” the gourmet decided and ate it. And so as not to point fingers at him, he declared moldy cheese the most expensive and best. — chayne108 / Reddit

 

15. Hakarl

This Viking dish is, in fact, rotten and then dried shark meat. Shark meat is unsuitable for food, but the ancient Icelanders were not at a loss and came up with a way to cook it - do not throw away the caught fish!

 

The Greenland shark is gutted and decapitated, then placed in a shallow hole, covered with sand and gravel, and pressed down with rocks to drain the liquid. So the shark is fermented for as long as 6-12 weeks, after which the carcass is cut into strips and hung to dry for several months. The crust on the meat is removed and then cut into small pieces and served. — msvivica / Reddit

 

16. Pokeberry

The plant, which lives in the southern United States, has edible leaves. Well, how edible? Eating them raw will make you sick or even die, as the whole plant contains a neurotoxin that causes respiratory paralysis. The toxin will still kill you if you boil or fry the leaves.

 

How can this be edible? The Indians found the recipe! If you boil three times, drain the water three times, and only then fry the leaves, then perhaps you will eat and stay alive! — Kulladar / Reddit.

 

17. Maple Syrup

It was invented where a lot of maples grow - in Canada. A curious mind suggested: "Let's poke a hole in this tree, collect the juice, boil it for three days and see what happens!" — lovelyb1ch66 / Reddit.

 

18. Rice

It's just a cereal that grew itself and did not touch anyone. But a wise guy looked at a bunch of thick grass and thought: “Let me take these spikelets and dry them, break them, then polish them and cook them. Let's see what happens!" And the result was a lumpy and tasteless mess that has been feeding countries such as China and Indonesia for millennia. — snortypuff / Reddit

 

19. Artichoke

Walking along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the first connoisseur of artichokes was very interested in the weed - prickly purple thistle: “What a wonderful plant! I’ll take it and start growing it, so it later becomes a gourmet delicacy!” — Sidmesh / Reddit.

 

20. Durian

A prickly and smelly fruit that is difficult to open. But, oddly enough, it has a very delicate vanilla taste. Someone hungry ate it for the first time, holding his nose with his fingers! — yirao / Reddit

 

21. Nopal

The cactus, known to us as prickly pear, whose fruit has been a staple food in Mexico for thousands of years. They still eat it now, cutting off the thorns - it tastes like green beans, and the texture is tender, crispy, and juicy. The first gourmets did not see that the cactus pads were covered with sharp thorns. "It's nothing! I bet this cactus tastes amazing!” — ThePeasantKingM / Reddit.

 

22. Truffles

It is now truffles served in Michelin-starred restaurants for big money, and the first person who appreciated them most likely herded pigs in an oak grove. “What is it that my piglet is rummaging under a tree and eating with appetite? It must taste damn good if pigs eat it!” — anon/Reddit.

 

23. Cranberry

Having tried cranberries directly from the bush, you can wrinkle - the berries are tart, sour and bitter. But someone did not look at it and began to use cranberries in pastries and salads - and it went! Yummy, what else to look for? — ctophermh89 / Reddit

 

24. Onion

How can one recognize the current favorite and leader in cooking in this nodule with a terrible smell and tears when cut? No way! But it occurred to someone to dig, remove the husk, chop, and put the onion in the stew. — dogsolitude_uk / Reddit

 

25. Chocolate

A true genius has created this sweet masterpiece from bitter cocoa beans! But how did he know? — Skitzcordova / Reddit

 

26. Lutefisk

Fish in lye is another strange Scandinavian masterpiece. First, you go to the fish store. Then you leave it hanging on a stick for a few months to dry. Then put in water for a couple of days. Then you put it in lye water for a couple more days. And at the end, you put it back in clean water, cook, and eat. Why so much work to spoil the fish? — anon/Reddit

 

27. Noodles

Five points to the one who first thought of rolling out the dough thinly, then cutting it into long strips. It turns out delicious! buzzbuzzwakeup / Reddit

 

28. Sea urchin

The first person to taste a sea urchin most likely dived into the depths of the sea and suddenly saw ugly prickly lumps at the bottom. "Remove anyway!" thought the diver, piercing all his hands. — Miryam / Reddit

 

29. Palm's heart

“Something this year is a crop failure of coconuts! Let's eat the whole coconut tree! No, only the core is better, and we will throw everything else away! — Cracked_Emerald / Reddit

 

30. Acorns

You can't eat them straight from the tree. But how hungry you must be to figure out how to grind acorns into powder or leach tannins three times! And then they can make flour or "coffee." — mobiusteph/Reddit

 

31. Aki fruit

Even though most of this fruit is poisonous, it is still eaten. In Jamaica, aka is considered the national fruit and delicacy. They do not cook poisonous seeds but fresh hard peel. How was anyone able to figure this out in the first place? Xero-theory / Reddit

 

32. Caviar

It is hard to believe, but there used to be so many sturgeon, beluga, and stellate sturgeon that caviar was the food of poor fishermen. Once upon a time, they walked knee-deep on it ... - jack28415 / Reddit

 

33. Guinness, cola, or any black drink

How did these drinks become popular? They were created by accident, and the sales went: “Look, this is not so bad for our business!” — Zeruvi/Reddit.

 

34. Olives

They are so tasteless on the tree that someone decided to pickle them: maybe at least they can be eaten like that? Or crush and get oil? This ancient Greek was a genius. — _thatsmeinthecorner_ / Reddit

 

35. Pufferfish

How did people know that only a certain part of the pufferfish is not poisonous if cut properly? — SuccessfulFailure9 / Reddit