A rare songbird called the Ortolan is an illegal delicacy in France. Every year 300,000 Ortolans fly from the North, Baltic states, Finland and Scandinavia to warmer climes in the South. On the way they have to cross France. In France around 30,000 ortolans are hunted during their emigration. The Ortolan features on International Union …
Hamburger University is a corporate university owned by the McDonalds fast food chain. The university began with a meeting in a in suburban Chicago basement in 1961 between Fred Turner and Ray Kroc. Kroc was CEO at the time and Turner would later become CEO. During his lifetime Kroc took the franchise from 6 to …
Hamburger University is harder to get into than Cambridge, Harvard or Oxford Read More »
The Snickers chocolate bar consists of nougat, peanuts, and caramel with a chocolate coating. It is sold in over 70 countries across the globe and is the best-selling chocolate bar in the world with global sales adding up to more than $2 billion. Many clever British people of a certain age will delight in pointing …
Did you know Snickers was originally called… Snickers? Read More »
The British Department of Health recommends that we eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. However, the Japanese government, recommends to its citizens to eat 13 portions of fruit and veg a day. So why should the Japanese need more fruit and veg? “There must be a balance between what is healthy for …
Snail Caviar is a delicacy in France. When you hear ‘caviar’ you normally think of fish eggs. But the origin of the word comes from the ancient Persian ‘khaya’, meaning ‘egg’, with no mention of fish. And so why not Snail Caviar? But before you go digging around in the garden in a sort of …
Michel Lotito from Grenoble has been eating glass and metal since 1959. At the age of 8 he practiced ‘sophrology’ (the science of a peaceful mind) a form of self-hypnosis and relaxation which helps him control the pain. At the age of 16 he broke a glass when he was drinking , he helps a …
The ancient Romans were famous for their unusual dishes such as ostrich and rats dipped in honey. But did you know that the upper class ate edible dormice as a delicacy? The dormice were kept alive in terracotta pots called gliraria. The dark confined space of the pot prevented the dormouse from doing to much …
IBM has developed an Artificial Intelligence Chef. It’s called Watson and it uses algorithms to come up with new recipes. It has already suggested such wonders as the Austrian Chocolate Burrito, Strawberry Curry and Baltic Apple pie with a layer of pork. Known as ‘cognitive cooking’ Watson uses machine learning to analyse huge amounts of …
Jordi Rocca of Michelin-Starred restaurant El Celler de Can Roca in Spain developed a cigar-flavoured ice cream. He describes how he first came up with the idea: One day, my teacher talked about how the air is important for an ice cream. It is very important that the air is completely clean. So the ice …
Using saliva to make alcohol In Japan Kuchikamizake was still drunk up until the 1930s. It translates as ‘mouth chew sake’. The fermentation process was traditionally started by the spit of a virgin girl. How does it work? The enzymes in the spit break down the carbohydrates in the rice into sugar which is needed …
A U.S. postage stamp contains roughly one-tenth of a calorie per lick, whereas British stamps contain, on average, 5.9 calories. Nutritional information from the United States Postal Service posted on the DietFacts.com
Everyone knows there are 7122 cornflakes in a box but did you know they were originally designed to curb masturbation? In 1894 Seventh Day Adventist John Harvey Kellogg created the breakfast cereal we all know and love by toasting flakes of maize in the hope that hopes that it would reduce dyspepsia and, masturbation and …
Sugaring’ is an easy and effective way to remove hair. Mix sugar, lemon and water to make a gooey paste that you would use much the same way as hot wax. It is reported to be less painful than waxing and is more ecological too! https://www.treehugger.com/organic-beauty/why-sugaring-my-preferred-form-hair-removal.html
In US prisons inmates aren’t allowed alcohol so they make their own. They call it prison wine, ‘pruno’ or toilet wine. To make alcohol all you need is sugar and yeast. Oranges are a popular source of sugar but people have also used tinned fruit cocktail, potatoes, candy, sauerkraut and even collecting up those little …
In Ancient Serbia, China and Greece, old mouldy bread was pressed against wounds to prevent infection. The observed curative powers may have been due to some raw forms of antibiotics produced by the mould growing on the bread. Bonus fact: You can eat mouldy bread as long as you cut off the coloured bits and …
Many ancient societies used mouldy bread to cure infections Read More »
