Food facts

Food is something we all are fans of. Knowing facts about it always entertains us. Imagine! You are sitting at a dining table with your old college squad or school friends or even with office colleagues. And, you surprise them with your fantastic knowledge of food facts.

 

Food and journey are similar in some way; one allows you to explore variety, whereas the other lets you explore diversity. Food is supplementary to the journey. It makes the journey delightful and joyous.

 

Though we eat a variety of food, have you ever wondered about the story of different cuisines; their origin, ingredients used, or why a particular dish is named so, etc.? Most of us don’t pay so much attention to such facts.

 

Here We are Presenting 10 Food Facts That are Going to Surprise You:

 

 

1.  Chocolate Which Is Not Chocolate

 

Do you know? White chocolate doesn’t contain any solid chocolate. It is a blend of sugar, milk products, vanilla, lecithin, and cocoa butter. Commercially, white chocolate was first developed in Switzerland in 1936 by Nestle’ as mentioned in the book of Eagranie Yuh’s “The Chocolate Tasting Kit.”


According to The famous tale of white chocolate, the milk powder was produced excessively during World War I, no longer in demand. White chocolate was a way to utilize those milk. 

 

 

2.  Pound Cake; Why Is It Named So?

 

People’s addiction to pound cake dates back to the 1700s. And the story behind its name is in its recipe itself. Traditionally, the pound cake was cooked with one pound flour, one pound sugar, one pound butter, and one pound of eggs.

 

With time, its recipe was updated; People started adding lemons, oranges, or even used maize in place of expensive flour, giving various textures and flavours to the pound cake. It is believed that Originally pound cake originated in Northern European countries and spread to the world.

 

 

3.  Ketchup Has Medical Properties

 

Today’s tomato ketchup also has a mind-blowing story. The word ketchup emerged in 1711 for a fish sauce called “kecap” from Malaysia or China. Although, it is not a universal opinion and an open debate. Whatever! The tomato sauce today we call ketchup came in the early 1800s assumed to have medical properties and used to treat diarrhea and indigestion.

 

In this decade, apart from tomato-based ketchup, there were also Mushroom Ketchup(Still sold in Britain) and Banana Ketchup(famous in the Philippines). The tomato ketchup got famous because the U.S.-based Heinz company started selling it in bottles in 1876.

 

 

4.  Chocolate Had the Same Power as Currency

 

In Mexico and South America, Chocolate was used as a currency during 1900 B.C. A tribe AZtecs believed that cocoa beans from which liquid chocolate is made were the gift of Quetzalcoatl (God of Wisdom). They started trading with Mayans, a Mesoamerican civilization, for cocoa beans.

 

AZtecs could not grow cocoa beans in their areas and were forced to rely on Mayans. Therefore, to fulfill their demand for cocoa beans, they started exchanging clothes and food grains with Mayans.

 

 

5.  The Expiration Date on the Water Bottle Is Not Actually About Water

 

Sometimes, we get confused after seeing expiration dates on water bottles and wonder if water can also expire? Water is a natural resource, stored in different forms for millions of years. How can it expire?

 

The mentioned expiry dates on water bottles are about the plastic bottles in which water is kept. Usually, in 2 years, the packaged water bottle expires. Since the companies of water bottle packaging use the same packaging process, which is used to pack sodas and other beverages, these kinds of packaging include expiration dates.

 


6.  Diamond Can Be Made From Peanut Butter

 

In Germany, at the Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Scientists unearthed a unique entity of peanut butter that can be turned into a diamond. Because peanut butter is so rich in carbon, found in the form of carbon dioxide. If you wish to convert it to diamond, you only need to extract oxygen from the butter and put huge pressure & temperature on the remaining carbon.

 

Attention to that, the resultant diamond will be small and muddy in colour, and you won’t like to use it for your jewellery. However, this food fact is amazing: you don’t need to dig the earth’s surface for diamonds. You can make it from your household things.

 


7.  For Blood Plasma, Coconut Water Can Be Used as an Alternative

 

Since the coconut water lives inside the coconut shell, it is free from bacteria, the same as blood, and can be used for treatment. Human blood contains 55% salty water and 45% cells of Red blood & white blood. This salty water is known as Plasma.

 

Blood Plasma contains high sodium and low potassium levels, just opposite coconut water, which holds high potassium levels and low sodium plasma levels. That means coconut water is certainly not suitable for patients with kidney failure, severe burns, etc. Additionally, Coconut water is much more acidic in comparison to blood plasma. However, after several differences in an emergency, It can be used in place of blood plasma in an emergency.

 

 

8.  Crackers Holes Have Their Story 

 

Crackers come in varieties of flavours, textures, shapes, and sizes, but the tiny holes are common in all. Do you know that these holes are not for decoration, but they have their purpose? These small holes are known as dockers, which help the steam escape during the cooking process. It halts the crackers to not rise like the other biscuits and minimizes the air bubbles on them.

 

Apart from these, the positioning of these holes also matters. These should be placed at an equal distance; otherwise, the baked crackers will be either too hard or too soft. However, the holes are done with the help of a machine called “docker prickle holes.” Cracker dough made of flour, sugar, and salt is rolled flat in sheets kept in that machine to get holes.

 


9.  American Cheese Is Not Even Cheese

 

America produces some finest cheeses such as Humboldt Fog, Moses Sleeper, Bent River, etc. But these are not known by the name of American Cheese. In fact, ‘American Cheese’ or in the language of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, ‘Pasteurized Process American Cheese’ does not even legally come in the category of cheese and is called pasteurized.

 

It is made with a mixture of two or more cheeses, containing high amounts of sodium and fat. Although, it is popular for daily use. Because of its specialty- it melts without turning oily like normal cheese. Besides, it also comes in different varieties of colour, texture, and flavour.

 


10.  Serving Fish Needs Over 2 Years of Training

 

Do you know? Serving a fish called pufferfish or fugu fish requires over 2 years of training in Japan, and even eating this is an adventurous act. The Fugu fish is one of the poisonous fishes found in hundreds of varieties. Each part of these fish is deadly, especially the liver.

 

However, the Japanese have been eating this fish for hundreds of years. Trainees need to pass a test to get the license to serve this fish, and only one-third of them get to pass. It is banned to cook puffer fish at home and can only be prepared by a licensed chef.

 

 

The list of amazing food facts is endless. Similarly, RailRestro offers you a wide range of cuisines to try while travelling on a train. Whether you love to eat South Indian food, Chinese, North Indian, or Gujarati and Punjabi dishes, this e-catering provider has everything to serve you. So, next time you explore India through Indian Railways, don’t forget to explore the story of popular cuisines that you will eat while travelling. 

 

RailRestro e-catering offers huge discounts and offers for group food orders in trains. Serving mouth-watering non-veg food on train is also the specialty of this e-caterer.

 

As much as we have varieties of foods, we have food stories; share your experience with us at care@railrestro.com! We are waiting to hear from you back. 

Recent Posts


Author: Sakshi Kumari