Every region, every culture, had it's own idea of what 'food' is. What may be a delicacy in one part of the work is unthinkable to eat in another. Insects, eyeballs, various organs and such are all eaten in the world. It's all a matter of what is readily available in the area. Many Western cultures see such things as taboo to eat, simply because they are not as visually appealing as other dishes.
On a different note: Have you ever thought about how much of what you eat(regardless of culture) was ever considered to be food? Who was the first person to try eating something, and see if they lived? Or who first thought of how to prepare something for the first time, such as putting food in a vinegar/brine solution? Who first went "Huh, well I got this wine that went bad...some salt and other spices...wonder what will happen if I mix it all together and put this meat/vegetable in it and leave it there for a while..." I find such things interesting. It might be because I've devoted nearly a third of my life to food. Cooking it, eating it, learning about it.... Now I want to know what all of -you- think.
Well Yeah that's a hard question, I heard they eat dogs in asia and stuff but I can't think about it. Then again, Arabia can't think of me eating pig food.
I think people just tend out to try things. They look to the nature, as a lion eats a Zebra, Why don't we try a pig? Etc etc
well i know that tomatoes were at first considered to be poisonous and look how many dishes involve tomatoes some really brave dude had to bite the bullet and test it there has to be a willingness to eat the food for it to become accepted into popular society and not considered taboo mostly it takes one brave guy
a food that i eat a lot of pierogies were invented by a bunch of slavs that decided "hey i wanna eat mashed potatoes cheese and whatever else i can fit into a pocket of unleavened dough and call it a pierogi" that guy is my hero
@ Deth, my hero is the man/woman who invented giros(pronounced heeros). Basically a donner kebab, except someone decided to put chips in it and cram it full of other random sauces.
Also I heard the term 'dog's bollocks' was invented by British soldiers in China where dogs nuts were a delicacy ergo dogs bollocks is slang for excellent, in the UK at least, I can't realy imagine many other nations saying it.
when you grow up in an environment accostomed to those foods you generally accept it and try it when you're young because you don't know what it is.. After you get some self acknowledgement and learn what is "gross" to your social environment you generally tend to become more like them and think it is gross... it's fun to think two things
1. every person you've come near is now a part of you (skin cells) 2. the more you are around a person the more you are like them
Enough od anything is a poison. It's something like if you eat 50 odd oranges a day (something ridiculous) you can get errr... orange poisoning.
ice cream doesn't KILL u
No but it is unhealthy and can contribute to things that will kill you. Ice-cream contains alot of fat. Some fats <trying to remember proper name> can create plaques on arterial walls. This increases blood pressure making thrombosis (and therefore strokes/heart attacks) and aneurysms more likely.
I have been fascinated for years about how humans gained the knowledge of what plants are ok to eat and which aren't. There was probably a certian amount of trial and error going in ( eating random berry's and mushrooms). But also I think the observation of other animals may have played a part. Obviously it isn't 100% accurate, some animals can tolerate poisons that we can't etc.
Who first went "Huh, well I got this wine that went bad...some salt and other spices...wonder what will happen if I mix it all together and put this meat/vegetable in it and leave it there for a while..."
A personal favourite of mine chocolate. when it was first being used by the South American tribes it was very diferent to some Dairy Milk. "xocolatl" could contain maize gruel, honey, vanilla or peppers. Just the idea of taking a bean, removing the seeds, drying and roasting them and then processing them is amazing.
The durian fruit is hideiously odeious and is banned in some areas because if its pungent smell. Yet it is also sen as a delicasy and tastes very nice. How did someone get close enough to sample it. That was some brave person or they had anosmia lol.
Insects, eyeballs, various organs and such are all eaten in the world.
I saw on Discovery that some tribes in Mongolia(I think) eat almost everything from cow, including blood and raw eyeballs. Really nasty site. But yet again what is baloney made of? Probably everything that can be digested can be considered as food, if you add proper spices to make it taste good and if that stuff that is supposed to be eaten has some nutritious value.
You guys haven't even touched on some of the stuff that I'm pretty sure a person would have to be starving before they touched it, try looking up geoducks or balut... And even the deep fried twinkie *shudders*
