Category:
Food
Food
A Whole Sheep in a Can
In 1948, the Continental Can Company ran a series of magazine ads presenting "uncanny" facts about the history of canning. One of these facts was the great technological achievement from 1852 of packing an entire sheep into a huge can.
The ad didn't bother to say who exactly did this, but after a bit of googling I figured out that it was the French inventor Raymond Chevallier-Appert (1801-1892). Before Chevallier-Appert, canned food kept spoiling. He figured out that it needed to be cooked at higher temperatures. Here's the rest of the story from the Stravaganza blog:
Studying the problem, [Chevallier-Appert] decided that higher degrees of heat were needed in cooking. The apparatus called the autoclave, a closed vessel in which steam under pressure gave heat much greater than boiling water, had never been used for cooking food, however, and there was danger of over-cooking, because it lacked apparatus to measure and regulate the heat. Chevallier-Appert equipped the crude autoclave with another crude device, a manometer, which had been used for measuring heat in boilers. It would measure differences of only twenty degrees. He made it an instrument of precision, capable of measuring half a degree, and patented the invention in 1852. With greater heat, and an instrument to measure and control it, the difficulties of canning were overcome to such a degree that in June, 1852, Chevallier-Appert exhibited to scientists a whole sheep that had been cooked and sealed in a huge can in his autoclave four months before.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 17, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Food, Technology, Nineteenth Century
The Bible Diet
The spiritual nourishment was too rich for this boy's system.
Source: Florence Morning News - Jan 9, 1926.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 13, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Food, Religion, Books, 1920s
Meat Glue
Why pay high prices for expensive cuts of meat? Here's how to make a ribeye from cheap scraps... using meat glue.via TYWKIWDBI
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 08, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Food
Frog Fancier
Archie Beesley, frog fancier, liked to eat them live. Just like oysters, he said, they helped with "cleaning out the stomach."
Source: The Ottawa Journal — Jul 15, 1970
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 03, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Food, 1970s
Rock Feast
Last week I paid a visit to the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, and while there discovered they had an exhibit of rocks that look like food, which is a theme we've explored before here on WU (see The Original Rock Dinner and Stone Pie).So in these photos, there's nothing edible. It's all rocks.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jun 26, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Food
Florida Man Beer
I don't think there are many weird-news-themed beers. But back in March, Cigar City Brewing of Tampa created a special batch of Florida Man beer. It's an IPA with hints of grapefruit, mango and passion fruit. However, they made only 3,000 bottles that sold for $9 each at select retail locations in Florida. So probably all gone.Are there any other foods or beverages named after weird-news themes?
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 25, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Food, Inebriation and Intoxicants
Ezekiel Bread
The Bible contains only one full recipe, which is given to Ezekiel by God (Ezekiel 4:9):Take you also to you wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make you bread thereof… And you shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it with dung that comes out of man.
So you gotta bake it with human poop, which means it might not be to everyone's taste. Though God subsequently relented and allowed Ezekiel to substitute cow dung.
This was one of the recipes explored by the Rev. Rayner Hesse and Anthony Chiffolo in their book Cooking With the Bible (it came out in 2006), in which they set out to recreate the various meals and foods that appear throughout the Bible. Apparently they cooked up some Ezekiel bread, as an experiment, and Hesse said it tastes "like moldy bean sprouts." But he added, "You don't want to eat it. Never, ever. Let me emphasize that: Never."
Other treats to be found in the book include Locust Soup, and Locusts and Honey. More info at the LA Times.
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 29, 2015 -
Comments (10)
Category: Food, Cookbooks
Burrito Challenge
Watch model and competitive eater Nela Zisser eat a 2 lb burrito in one minute and 44 seconds. As I watched, all I kept thinking was, "she's gonna bite off her fingers!"via grubstreet
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 26, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Food, Sports
Transportation of Avocados
Every person who transports a commercial quantity of avocados shall cause a statement of ownership to be prepared and retained in his personal possession at all times while transporting said avocados...
"Commercial quantity of avocados" shall mean any quantity of avocados in excess of forty (40) pounds exclusive of the container...
Any peace officer, upon probable cause to believe a person is transporting a commercial quantity of avocados, may stop such person and inspect such avocados, whereupon, the statement of ownership described in Section 10.70.030 shall be presented to said peace officer upon request.
Any peace officer, upon reasonable belief that a person is not in legal possession of a commercial quantity of avocados, may seize such avocados without warrant. Upon seizure the peace officer shall take custody of the avocados and turn the same over to the custody of the Chief of Police.
"Commercial quantity of avocados" shall mean any quantity of avocados in excess of forty (40) pounds exclusive of the container...
Any peace officer, upon probable cause to believe a person is transporting a commercial quantity of avocados, may stop such person and inspect such avocados, whereupon, the statement of ownership described in Section 10.70.030 shall be presented to said peace officer upon request.
Any peace officer, upon reasonable belief that a person is not in legal possession of a commercial quantity of avocados, may seize such avocados without warrant. Upon seizure the peace officer shall take custody of the avocados and turn the same over to the custody of the Chief of Police.
Obviously we take avocados seriously out here. I wonder if the same rule applies to guacamole.
(image source)
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 21, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Food, Government, Regulations
The Entopod
Perhaps you weren't eating bugs because it wasn't easy enough to prepare them. Well, now there's the Entopod. Designed by Edinburgh student Courtney Yule, the Entopod is a "starter kit" for eating bugs. It includes a grinder for making insect flour, detachable containers for heating the insecto-food in the oven, and more! She hopes it will encourage people to experiment with "entomophagy." More info at BBC News.
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 14, 2015 -
Comments (8)
Category: Food, Insects and Spiders
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |