Now, these food facts might keep you amused, especially for those of you on holiday. Besides, you may find one or two so exciting that you’ll trot them out next time you’re out for dinner, although we are not sure if you may approve of a couple of them.
Facts 1
How’s your love of cheese? Hopefully, you’re vegan and don’t eat it – but if you do. This is going to tickle the back of your throat. Casu Marzu is a cheese found in Sardinia that is purposely infested with maggots. Casu Marzu translates to ‘rotten cheese,’ and it’s classified as the world most dangerous cheese. It’s made from sheep’s milk, soaked in brine, smoked and left to ripen outside in the open, uncovered which allows cheese flies to lay eggs inside it. The eggs hatch into thousands of transparent white grubs, and by feeding on the cheese, they produce enzymes that promote fermentation and cause fats that make the cheese decompose.
Facts 2
When you buy Virgin Olive Oil, you may not be getting exactly what you think. Yup about 70% of the olive oil sold is not pure. It’s not that there is another oil added, but the labels lead you to believe you are getting ‘virgin’ or the initial pressing and that’s the best oil to get. Now, that pure oil has a peppery taste, and so the manufacturers would rather sell you oil that is smooth without the pepper – therefore it needs to be processed more. Sometimes the oil will include Lampante Virgin Olive Oil which is, in fact, the lowest grade of virgin olive oil and not fit for human consumption. It was initially used as lamp oil, but apparently, it takes that peppery taste away. If you want the ‘good stuff’ then you need to do your homework – as for me, I’d instead not use oil at all – it’s still processed food.
Facts 3
Get prepared for this one if you’re from the West. There is an amusement park in Tokyo, Japan that offers Raw Horse Flesh flavoured ice-cream. I kid you not – there are actual chunks of the horse in this ice-cream. And other flavours on offer are cow tongue, octopus and squid.
Facts 4
Did you realize that store-bought 100% ‘real’ orange juice is 100% artificially flavoured to taste like oranges? You see to make orange juice at home you squeeze the oranges right? Well to make it commercially you press the peaches, but then you have to strip out the oxygen, and that’s because you need the liquid to keep for up to a year without spoiling. But now there’s no flavour, so they put the artificial taste back in.
Facts 5
In Brazil one of the most popular pizza toppings is peas. Yes, the little green pea. Well, did you know those peas pack a pretty powerful punch? (lots of p’s) They are not only an excellent protein source, but they’ve got vitamin K, manganese, thiamin, copper, vitamin C, phosphorus, and folate. However, their real superpower is that they have a myriad of potent antioxidants including high amounts of a polyphenol called coumestrol – this may lower your risk of stomach cancer. So don’t just roll those peas around on your plate – dive into them and enjoy their nutritional power.
