NotASharkInAManSuit6d ago

Genius.

https://lemmy.world/post/44361778

Show threadNottaLottaOcelot

I’m fascinated by the existence of so many foods. Who decided to boil tree sap for 3 weeks to make maple syrup? Who agitated cows milk vigorously for 20 minutes to discover butter? Who saw cheese for the first time and decided to still eat moldy milk?

I thank those nameless humans for their service to society.

Mar 17 at 5:07pmWeb
Show threadBigBananaDealer6d ago
blue cheese was discovered from a guy eating lunch in a cave, and leaving it unfinished to go talk to a pretty girl. when he came back months later the cheese had molded into blue cheese and he ate it and it was good
Show threadAffine Connection6d ago

the cheese had molded
he ate it

What a moron.

Show threadreal_squids6d ago
Who though to stab a tree and collect the juice? I want that mf knighted
Show threadNottaLottaOcelot6d ago
Right? And trees that leak, like pines, have sap that tastes like absolute ass. You’d think they’d avoid tasting tree sap at all costs
Show threadreal_squids5d ago
Birch juice though mmmm
Show threadPacattack576d ago
Butter was discovered by accident when humans were still nomadic tribes. Milk was transported in animal skin bags and the agitation from travel turned it into butter. Probably being chased by something or running very fast.
Show thread_stranger_5d ago
It’s proposed that cheese was discovered the same way, when the rennet in sheep stomach sacks used to transport milk curdled the milk into curds and whey.
Show threadNottaLottaOcelot5d ago
The question remains - how hungry must they have been to still eat that?
Show threadFrChazzz5d ago
As the old saying goes: " 'twas a brave man who first ate an oyster." (Pretty sure this is an Oscar Wilde quote)
Show threadRooster3265d ago

A man’s gotta eat

Show threadrestingOface5d ago
Randy, are you prostituting yourself out for sheep stomach cheese again?
Show threadNottaLottaOcelot5d ago
They clearly had good cardio if they were agitating it that vigorously for long enough to make butter! Forget fitness watches, maybe I should wear a sack of milk at the gym to see if I’m working hard enough.
Show threadSirActionSack5d ago
runnersworld.com/…/how-to-make-butter-while-runni…
Runners Are Discovering They Can Churn Butter on Their Runs—and It’s Surprisingly Easy

Some runners on social media are successfully churning butter during their runs.

Runner's World
Show threaddellish5d ago
I think there’s a lot of “dare you to eat that” in food history.
Show threadRooster3265d ago
There’s also a lot of " Tom didn’t make it" in history after eating something.
Show threadKnossos5d ago
For every person that managed to make maple syrup there must be several that made a stew from danger-mushrooms.
Show threadNottaLottaOcelot5d ago
Darwinian evolution is as much luck as it is skill
Show threadCaptainBasculin5d ago
Yogurt is also very interesting, as its bacteria originates from ants. Who would think “hmm ants have infested my milk container but hey let me taste what they did to milk anyways”
Show threadhowrar5d ago
You can just leave milk out at room temperature for a few days and you’ll get yogurt. There’s tons of lactobacilli floating around in the air and on every surface. You might need ants for a specific strain, but you don’t need them if you just want any yogurt.
Show threadRustyEarthfire5d ago

Thus this custom of firing houses continued, till in process of time, says my manuscript, a sage arose, like our Locke, who made a discovery, that the flesh of swine, or indeed of any other animal, might be cooked… without the necessity of consuming a whole house to dress it.

From the 1888 A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig

Unfortunately the rest of it is pretty trash.

Show threadKairuByte5d ago
Just wanna mention, you don’t need to boil maple sap for anywhere near that long to make syrup. It can be done in an afternoon unless you’re trying to make gallons.
Show threadNottaLottaOcelot5d ago
I suppose you’re right - it could be done on a small scale. I’m so used to seeing massive vats at the sugar bush that I didn’t even think of a small volume in a pot
Show threadBuddahriffic5d ago

The first one would have been obvious by the time Europeans reached the Americas because reducing things to increase the intensity of flavours by removing water would have been a known cooking technique for a long time by then (and I’m guessing would have been figured out soon after the invention of pots). Then, it would have been a matter of someone who was aware of that technique tasting raw sap, realizing it was sweet, then trying to extract the sugar through reduction, then discovering it’s still pretty good as a syrup rather than dry sugar.

And extracting sap from trees goes way back, as that’s what frankincense and myr were (and disappointing to find out these “precious substances” just smell like church).