20 July 2008

Food for thought...

It's Sunday and I'm bored so what better to post than some bits of trivia that will be of no help one way or another except to maybe amuse. Enjoy...

  • Milk chocolate was invented by Daniel Peter, who sold the concept to his neighbour Henri Nestlé.
  • An ounce of chocolate contains about 20 mg of caffeine.
  • The world's oldest existing eatery opened in Kai-Feng, China in 1153.
  • Coffee is the seed of a cherry from the tree genus Coffea
  • Melba toast is named after Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931).
  • Three quarters of fish caught are eaten - the rest are used to make things such as glue, soap, margarine and fertilizer.
  • The world's most expensive jam (jelly) is Confiture de groselles. It is a redcurrant jam (jelly) from a 14th century recipe made in the tiny French town of Bar-Le-Duc.
  • To make one kilo of honey, bees have to visit 4 million flowers, traveling a distance equal to 4 times around the earth.
  • Botanically speaking, the banana is a herb and the tomato is a fruit.
  • Bananas are the world's most popular fruit after tomatoes.
  • Approximately 44 million tons of bananas are produced annually, compared to more than 60 million tomatoes. Apples are the third most popular (36 million tons), then oranges (34 million tons) and watermelons (22 million tons).
  • The scientific term for the common tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum, which means, "wolf peach."
  • There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes.
  • In the Middle Ages, sugar was a treasured luxury costing 9 times as much as milk.
  • Over 90% of all fish caught are caught in the northern hemisphere.
  • Wine is sold in tinted bottles because wine spoils when exposed to light.
  • Approximately one billion snails are served in restaurants annually.
  • Vitamin A is known to prevent "night blindness," and carrots are loaded with Vitamin A. One carrot provides more than 200% of recommended daily intake of Vitamin A.
  • Carrots have zero fat content.
  • Tea is said to have been discovered in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water.
  • Ice tea was introduced in 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis.
  • An onion, apple and potato all have the same taste. The differences in flavour are caused by their smell.
  • China uses 45 billion chopsticks per year. 25 million trees are chopped down to make 'em sticks
  • Chocolate is the number one foodstuff flavour in the world, beating vanilla and banana by 3-to-1.
  • Watermelons are 97% water, lettuce 97%, tomatoes 95%, carrots 90%, and bread 30%.

3 comments:

tornwordo said...

I find it hard to believe that an onion and potato have the same taste. I love the list though, I use these kinds of things in class all the time. Thanks!

Thomas said...

If that were a test, I would have failed. thanks.

Ur-spo said...

10,000 varieties? ohoh
I just know i am going to try to find most of them.