Food Trivia
1
Abalone
• Abalone is a variety of sea snail.
2
Abalone Poisoning
• The viscera of Japanese abalone can
harbor a poisonous substance which
causes a burning, stinging, prickling and
itching over the entire body. It does not
manifest itself until exposure to sunlight - if
eaten outdoors in sunlight, symptoms
occur quickly and suddenly. Skin lesions
may occur on body parts exposed to the
sunlight. It is believed the toxin may come
from seaweed ingested by the abalone.
3
Airline Food
• U.S. Air spends about $3.00
TWA spends about $3.40
Delta spends about $4.10
Continental spends about $4.80
Northwest spends about $4.85
United spends about $7.50
American spends about $8.00
Midwest Express spends about $10.00
• Supposedly, your taste buds are dulled at high
altitude and the cabin pressure in jets, so food
seems to have less flavor.
4
All blue Potato
• The All Blue potato is a
deep-blue skinned, with
consistently blue flesh,
almost purple. Smooth
skinned, shallow eyes
and excellent flavor.
Makes very interesting
french fries and mashed
potatoes, and a must for
the all-American red,
white and blue (and
yellow too) potato salad.
5
Animal Crackers
• In total there have been 37 different
animals since 1902.
• The current crackers are tiger, cougar,
camel, rhinoceros, kangaroo,
hippopotamus, bison, lion, hyena, zebra,
elephant, sheep, bear, gorilla, monkey,
seal and giraffe.
6
Apple Muffin
• The apple muffin is the official state muffin
of New York State
7
Apple Pie
• Folk saying: 'Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a
squeeze.'
In countless surveys, Apple Pie has been chosen the favorite
dessert in the United States. Apple pie has also been a favorite in
England for hundreds of years.
In rural homes in the 19th century, apple and other fruit pie was
often a common item served for breakfast, considered a good hearty
beginning for a hard day's work.
The state of Vermont adopted apple pie as the official state pie in
1999
• There are about 2500 known varieties grown in the US. 56% of the
1999 crop was eaten as fresh fruit and 42% was processed.
8
Applesauce
• The first American to orbit the Earth,
astronaut John Glenn, carried pureed
applesauce in squeezable tubes on his
initial space flight. Ham with applesauce
was served to Gemini astronauts.
9
Artichoke
• Globe artichokes are
the large, unopened
flower bud of a plant
belonging to the
thistle family.
• The many leaf-like
parts making up the
bud are called scales.
Peak season is in
April and May.
10
Bacon
• More than 2 billion pounds of bacon is
produced in the U.S. each year.
11
Banana Cream Pie
• In a survey conducted in 1951 of the U.S.
armed services, banana cream pie was
the favorite dessert. Rice pudding was the
least liked.
12
Banana Split1313
• The banana split was invented in 1904 at
Strickler's Drug Store in Pennsylvania.
• A banana split starts with a banana split
lengthwise, topped with scoops of ice
cream, assorted syrups and finally
whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.
13
Bar Codes
• The bar code, those stripes of varying width that appear
on virtually every price tag or package today, was
invented by Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver.
• They were issued US Patent #2,612,994 on October 7,
1952.
• In 1974 the UPC (Universal Product Code) ‘symbol set’
for bar coding, and the UPC scanner, were first used at
Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
14
Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
• 25% of Baskin Robbins ('31 flavors') ice
cream sales are for plain vanilla.
15
Bell Peppers
• Green, sweet bell pepper have 2 times as
much vitamin C as oranges; red and
yellow bell peppers have 4 times as much.
16
Betty Crocker
• "Betty Crocker" was a fictional
spokesperson created by General Mills in
the early 1920s to answer letters from
consumers.
17
Blueberry Muffin
• The blueberry muffin is the official muffin
of Minnesota.
•
18
Bologna
• This large highly seasoned sausage is
name for Bologna, Italy.
• The true Italian sausage from Bologna is
actually called Mortadella.
• Americans eat 800 million pounds of
bologna annually.
•
19
Bombay Duck
• Bombay duck is really a small (up to 16
inches) edible lizardfish which in India is
sun dried and used as a condiment.
• It is also used as a food fish in many areas
of southern Asia.
• Also known as bumalo and bombila.
20
Borscht
• The original base for this bright red Polish
and Russian soup was the cow parsnip.
• The Russian word 'borshch' means cow
parsnip.
• Today, borscht is a beetroot soup, made
with meat stock, cabbage, and frequently
potatoes and other root vegetables.
21
Boston Cream Pie
• Boston Cream Pie is not a pie, it is a cake
composed of 2 layers of sponge cake with
a layer of custard or cream filling, usually
topped with chocolate. Boston Cream Pie
is the official state dessert of
Massachusetts.
• Boston Cream Pie is not a pie, it is a cake
22
Bouillon Cubes
• Bouillon cubes were first made
commercially in 1882 by Swiss flour
manufacturer Julius Maggi.
• He produced them so the poor living in city
slums (who could not afford meat) would
have an inexpensive method for making
nutritious soup.
23
Boysenberry
• Developed by Rudolph Boysen in the early
1930s, the boysenberry is a cross
between a loganberry, red raspberry and
blackberry.
24
Brains
• The world eating competition for cow
brains is held by Takeru Kobayashi, 17.7
pounds in 15 minutes.
25
Breakfast Cereals
• Post Grape Nuts’ were first made in 1897
General Foods 'Post Toasties' cereal
(1904) was originally called ‘Elijah's
Manna’.
26
Breakfast of Champions
• Trix cereal, introduced in 1954 by General
Mills, was more than 46% sugar.
• Twelve percent of the total quantity of
colas sold are consumed with or instead of
breakfast.
27
Broccoli
• The average person in the United States
eats four and one-half pounds of broccoli a
year.
28
Brown Trout
• The largest brown trout weighed over 40
pounds and was caught in Arkansas on
May 9, 1992.
29
Brownies
• January 22 is National Blonde Brownie
Day
• Okmulgee, Oklahoma, holds the world's
record for largest pecan brownie. The
town holds an annual Pecan Festival each
June.
• Brownies are dense squares of chewy
chocolate cake, usually containing nuts.
30
Brussels Sprouts
• The total annual production of Brussels
sprouts in the U.S. is almost 70 million
pounds.
• Brussels sprouts are very popular in Great
Britain - they grow about six times as
many of them as the U.S.
31
Burger King
• Burger King was founded by James
McLamore and David Edgerton in 1954.
• It was sold to Pillsbury in 1967.
32
Butter
• Butter has been colored yellow since at
least the 1300s. During the Middle Ages it
was colored with marigold flowers.
• The world record for butter eating is 7
quarter pound sticks of salted butter in 5
minutes by Donald Lerman.
33
Butterfinger Candy bar
• The Butterfinger was invented in 1923.
34
Cabbage
• The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg
Address is 286 words, there are 1,322 words in
the Declaration of Independence, but
government regulations on the sale of cabbage
total 26,911 words.
• The world record for eating cabbage is held by
Charles Hardy. He ate 6 pounds 9 ounces in 9
minutes.
35
Canned Food
• Almost 200 billion cans of food are produced in
the world each year.
• The Hormel Company of Austin, Minnesota sold
the first canned ham in 1926.
• Carbonated soft drink canning began in 1940.
Aluminum was introduced in metal can making
in 1957.
Aluminum beverage cans were introduced in
1964, and by 1985 the dominated the beverage
market.
•
36
Carbonated Beverages
• Omar Knedlik of Coffeyville, Kansas,
invented the first frozen carbonated drink
machine in 1961.
• In Hazleton, Pennsylvania it is illegal to
drink a carbonated beverage while
lecturing in a school auditorium.
37
Cardamon
• Cardamom is one of the oldest spices in
the world, and the most popular spice in
ancient Rome was probably cardamom. It
is the world's second most expensive
spice, saffron being the most expensive.
38
Carp
• Carp tongue was considered a delicacy
during the Middle Ages.
• The carp was the mascot of the radio
station WKRP on the TV show 'WKRP in
Cincinnati' which ran from September 18,
1978 to September 20, 1982.
39
Carrots
• Carrots are native to Afghanistan.
• There were originally red, purple and black
varieties of carrots that contained anthocyanin
pigments.
• The yellow, and eventually orange varieties of
carrots were developed in the 16th and 17th
centuries
• The carrot was brought to by colonists to the
New World, where it escaped into the wild and
became Queen Anne's Lace.
40
Catfish
• The largest catfish ever caught, was a
flathead catfish that weighed 123 pounds,
caught by Ken Paulie on the
Withlacoochee River in Florida, May 14,
1998.
• The largest blue catfish caught with rod
and reel weighed 111 pounds. It was
caught in Tennessee on July 5, 1996.
41
Catsup,catchup
• The first record of the word in English was
as 'catchup' in 1690; in 1711 the spelling
'ketchup' appeared, and finally in 1730 the
spelling 'catsup' appeared.
• This was all before the advent of 'tomato
ketchup' sometime near the end of the
18th century.
42
Cheese cake
• There is an all-garlic restaurant in
Stockholm where they offer a garlic
cheesecake.
43
Chefboyardee
• Chef Boyardee was a real chef. Born in
Italy, worked at the Plaza and the RitzCarlton in New York, the Greenbriar in
West Virginia, and the Hotel Winton in
Cleveland.
44
Chitterlings or chit'lins
• Chitterlings or chit'lins are the intestines of
young pigs, cleaned and stewed and then
frequently battered and fried.
45
Cocoa-Cola
• The first Coca-Cola was sold on May 8,
1886 at a soda fountain in Jacob's
Pharmacy in Atlanta, either by Pemberton
himself, or by clerk Willis Venable.
46
Escargot
• Escargot - French - An edible snail,
especially one prepared as an appetizer or
entree.
• The French consume 40,000 metric tons
of snails each year.
• Restaurants serve about 1 billion snails
annually.
•
47
Foie gras
• The original and classic foie gras is made
from goose liver
• Generally the term foie gras is used for
goose liver, although it is also used to refer
to duck liver.
• Goose liver is considered superior by most
people.
48
Gatorade
• Gatorade, the original sports drink, was
created by the University of Florida for
their football team the 'Gators' in 1967.
49
Ostrich Eggs
• One ostrich egg can make an omelet for
10 people. The eggs weigh 3 to 6 pounds
and they would take at least 45 minutes to
hard boil.
50
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was invented
1923.
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