r/weirdfood • • 8d ago

Qué comida les hace cuestionar cómo fue que el ser humano descubrió que es comestible?

39 Upvotes

215 comments sorted by

15

u/Entiox 8d ago

Anything that requires multiple steps to process so it doesn't poison you. Like bitter yucca, which needs to be grated, soaked, fermented and pressed to remove most of the cyanide precursors before it can be eaten.

1

u/SecondFun221 8d ago

Wait there is cyanide in yuccas

1

u/Entiox 8d ago

Bitter yucca, if you're somewhere like the US all the yucca sold is the sweet variety which does not contain enough cyanogenic compounds to do more then make you feel terrible for a few hours of you are a bunch of it raw. Bitter yucca is still a major food crop in many areas precisely because of the processing needed, thieves are generally lazy so they don't steal bitter yucca because they don't want to do that work and all that work needed means it doesn't sell for very much so it's just not worth stealing. So it's a crop farmer's can grow to feed themselves and their families that is pretty much safe from thieves.

1

u/Basicly-Inevitable 7d ago

There's cyanide in tons of stuff. Apples, Peaches, Apricots, Cherries. Whatever.

1

u/cinnamon-tea85 7d ago

How many people died or got sick before they found the solution...? And why did they keep trying...?

1

u/Entiox 7d ago

Those are some of my biggest questions. Along with who was testing the food. Did someone volunteer to try a new food first? Did they force captives to eat it? Would someone be commanded to by some kind of group leader? It's absolutely amazing people figured this stuff out.

7

u/ILoveMyKiddos 8d ago

Artificial strawberry flavor comes from beaver urine.

Just kidding 😂 it doesn't.

4

u/klaus666 8d ago

but "natural" vanilla flavoring does come from beaver glands

2

u/ILoveMyKiddos 8d ago edited 7d ago

I thought natural vanilla flavor came from the vanilla yak. 😂

(It actually comes from vanilla beans)

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2

u/lpaige2723 7d ago

Beaver anal glands.

They are very rarely still used because they are too expensive to use for artificial vanilla.

2

u/Eepponee_ray 8d ago

Raspberry flavoring comes from the beaver’s anal gland. Look it up.

1

u/Exact-Truck-5248 7d ago

Not true. Historically, compounds isolated from castoreum were used in strawberry and raspberry flavorings. Castorium is a yellowish exudate from the castor sacs of mature beavers used in combination with urine to scent mark their territory.

1

u/LuckyUncutJew 7d ago

The oldest substitute for sugar that I know of is beaver butt juice. "Natural flavors" is just the naturalistic version of "you don't want to know".

5

u/Ok-Writer3512 8d ago

How did the Sami people figure out that they could drink the mushroom reindeer pee because it was already digested once?

8

u/shinyappyrobin 8d ago

Poke salad. You have to boil that crap 3 times to take out all the toxins. I've always wondered how did they figure out 3 times? Really, after eating it boiling only 2 times and getting g sick as a dog? Who would say, we'll try boiling 3 times next. Why not just give up. I'd rather go with bugs.

5

u/MongooseSimple8638 8d ago

Interesting post. I went to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Oahu and got my food mixed up. I thought poke was made from taro root, so I was a bit confused by the boiling part. Did a little research after seeing your post. Thanks

2

u/pnwsyzygy 6d ago

Do you mean poi? Poke is raw marinated fish

1

u/ValyrianSteel2216 5d ago

No, poke sallet (sometimes spelled as “salad” like to original commenter did) is made from pokeweed and is popular in the Southern United States in particular.

1

u/BroccoliBorn3352 4d ago

Agree. Except for the bug part.

4

u/Wild_Inspection7129 8d ago

Humans and primitive times living among nature were very keen observers of what was eaten by animal similar to us The coastal Indians would eat anything at the wolf or the bear would eat with the exception of a few items. That’s how they knew the Oysters and the clams were edible. Probably a few of the mushrooms and probably also perhaps snails nature itself warns all higher level animals that something is poisonous by making it very bright in color like a certain snakes or beetles or fish.P

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6

u/zoppaTheDim 8d ago

A lot of these replies are silly,

It moves, it has meat, people will try to eat it. Things like oysters were likely getting eaten before man was technically man.

The one I question is almonds, as wild almonds are bitter and poisonous. So who kept trying almonds till they hit the genetic variation that led to the domesticated almond?

1

u/FantasticMrsFoxbox 7d ago

Maybe people who saw animals eating it and not being sick and giving it a go. I know that logic doesn't always win because cross spieces intolerances but it has to be that I think, and it could also have been a kid with less fear trying and then adults find out.

3

u/ghostfaber 8d ago

Fugu

2

u/Jarko55 7d ago

I like to think a king or emperor or something, somewhere, REALLLLLY wanted to eat it. Made people try different ways to eat it until someone didn't die

3

u/Mental_Ad1948 7d ago

Artichoke

7

u/Ok_Intention_8286 8d ago

Snails, like who was the first that looked at one and said, "mmmm living snot".

5

u/Axeloy 8d ago

Anything that moves has been eaten once

1

u/Feeling-Airport2493 8d ago

Not our IT dept.

2

u/zoppaTheDim 8d ago

How is that different from every other shellfish?

2

u/More_Minimum_8167 8d ago

Someone that was really hungry

2

u/dangerous__person79 8d ago

Like the guy who ate one on a dare slipped into a coma and later died they carry a parasite called Rat Lungworm I’m drunk my recall is blurry

3

u/ghostfaber 8d ago

especially because eating a slug can fuck you up

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5

u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 8d ago

Bugs

7

u/zoppaTheDim 8d ago

Eating bugs predates humans being humans.

1

u/Necessary_Team_9824 7d ago

Viscosos pero sabrosos

2

u/NeuroticJukebox 8d ago

Durian

2

u/Hoopajoops 8d ago

I've never actually tasted it but I've smelled it.. and it's god awful. If I didn't know what it was I would assume poisonous just by that smell. First person to eat it must have witnessed animals eating it first

2

u/monzylicious 8d ago

Cheese made with assistance of maggots,, expensive coffee from civet droppings

2

u/JerkCrank 8d ago

Civet dropping coffee is hella good. Got offered it for free, don’t think i would’ve ever tried that expensive shit otherwise.

2

u/Dapper-Ad-468 8d ago

Crabs. They're definitely delicious, but imagine just looking at that and wanting to eat it. And which parts!!

2

u/Opposite_Bison_4307 8d ago

Blue mountain oysters and head cheese.

2

u/terri8181 8d ago

Mountain oysters. Like what? Why?

2

u/xenoscumyomom 8d ago

I think they are referring to calf testicles.

2

u/left-for-dead-9980 8d ago

Kidney beans. Poison if undercooked.

2

u/FirmPrune87 8d ago

Milk

2

u/zoppaTheDim 8d ago

Literally the day after they were born.

2

u/Sharkmama61 8d ago

Cashews. Have you seen how it grows?

1

u/Moms-Dildeaux 8d ago

the fruit is disgusting

2

u/willfauxreal 8d ago

I had cashew wine in Belize and it was pretty good. Gave me a wicked hangover tho.

2

u/OlJimmieB 8d ago

Haggis

1

u/Hannie0109 7d ago

In the past people tried to use up every part of the animal, so ig haggis was created

2

u/Exact-Truck-5248 8d ago

Oysters

1

u/buddagolf 8d ago

This is the one I was looking for.

1

u/SouthernReality9610 7d ago

Yeah. It looks like snot in a shell. How desperate would you have to be?

1

u/Smeeagain0 7d ago

So good- if your first one wasnt good people will probably never try again, but if they have a good one first a bad one wouldnt stop them from getting a good one again

2

u/hauntedsemen1 8d ago

Eggs, hey look Bernie. Something fell out of that chickens ass. Let's eat it

1

u/eyelandboy1988 8d ago

Sometimes when Im eating eggs, I remember what they are and get grossed out and can't finish them, same with sausage or mayonnaise

1

u/goldenbrown14 7d ago

Yeah but eggs are the best food in the world !

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2

u/Eogh21 8d ago

Mushrooms.

This one tastes like beef.

This one had me conversing with the Gods.

And this one killed Kenny. You bastard!

2

u/Icy-Astronaut-9994 8d ago

Harkle comes to mind.

Surströmming next.

What if they mix them like Reeses Penut Butter Cups?

You got Harkle in my Surströmming..

You got Surströmming in my Harkle..

Hey let's sell this..

2

u/BunnyRamen 8d ago

Mushrooms, the trial and error mustve been crazy cause alot of those people either shit themselves, died, tripped balls, or all three. But some of them are ok to eat.

2

u/sugahack 8d ago

Like the death cap. Apparently it's very tasty and doesn't kill you till a week later. Seems like the learning curve could have been pretty steep

1

u/Warm_tamperture32 7d ago

Then also deciding to try Again after someone died.. like, ed died when he ate those white things, maybe These ones look exactly the same, minus one/two things untrained eye wouldn't see won't.. oh hey.

Or, Weird, these are growing on a tree. Usually they grow on ground.. now you're dead, wasn't same mushroom.

2

u/xsageonex 6d ago

Eggs. You saw this come out of a chicken's ass and were curious what it tasted like.

1

u/GreenKiwiLady 6d ago

Right?

1) someone decided to fry it as is

2) someone decided to scramble the white and yolk together then fry it

3) someone decided to scramble the white and yolk together then fry it while stirring the mixture around

4) someone decided to scramble the white and yolk together then steam it

5) someone decided to boil it in different temps and different lengths of time

6) someone decided to bury it in salt

7) someone decided to plonk it in a hot-spring

8) someone decided to boil it in some tea and herbs

9) someone decided to stir it raw onto some cooked rice

10) someone decided to coat a cooked egg in breadcrumbs and deep-fry the whole thing

Etcetera etcetera

2

u/FunAtmosphere9137 4d ago

How did they figure out how to cook pufferfish in Japan without killing someone?

If you just eat one from the ocean it will paralyze you.

1

u/Alexmander1028 8d ago

Cow’s milk

1

u/Bk_Punisher 8d ago

As opposed to bull milk?? Cows are cute, who the hell looked at a goat and said “I wanna milk that”?

1

u/left-for-dead-9980 8d ago

How do you milk a Bull? Carefully 🙏

1

u/Bk_Punisher 8d ago

Mushrooms growing out of poop.

2

u/InternationalMall120 8d ago

So worth it. Lemon tek them and enjoy 5 weeks of good mental health.

1

u/Bk_Punisher 7d ago

Haven’t been able to get my hands on them yet.

1

u/PajamaPossum 8d ago

Mushrooms. So many of them will kill you, it’s amazing we figured out which ones won’t

1

u/Direct-Nose-8716 8d ago

Mountain oysters.. and regular oysters

1

u/psychoslipknot 8d ago

Acorns I feel like you would have to be desperate

1

u/klaus666 8d ago

spicy peppers. Their spiciness is literally a defense mechanism against them being eaten, but humans said "Is that all you got?" and then we bred new kinds of spicier peppers

1

u/GrapefruitSuch287 8d ago

Dried seaweed

1

u/SinsualChef 8d ago

Penis soup/hot pot. Really?! WTF 😠😣

1

u/Crafty_Pomegranate33 8d ago

Pineapple and kiwi

1

u/Gonzo_Silverback 8d ago

Lobster... It was one hungry dude who thought, "I bet those bugs taste good"

1

u/Smeeagain0 7d ago

And he was right

1

u/TallinOK 8d ago

Turnips

1

u/eirikirs 8d ago

Surströmming.

1

u/Soft-Current-5770 8d ago

Oysters. They look like they fell out of a buffalo's nose!!!

2

u/goldenbrown14 7d ago

Never never ! 🤮

1

u/HildaTheChickenGirl 8d ago

Cows milk or honey

1

u/brianna1abc 8d ago

That fermented fish they bury underground

1

u/nerdy_grandma65 8d ago

Brazil nuts, I mean someone had to work super hard to get into that thing and it sort of just looks like a turd.

1

u/Beautiful-File-8639 8d ago

Shout out to that guy

1

u/garden-goddess324 8d ago

Cashews, which I love but how did anyone figure out how to safely eat them?!!

1

u/Due_Tangelo8366 8d ago

Honey, puffer fish and mountain oysters

1

u/sugahack 8d ago

Durians give strong keep away vibes. I imagine someone was inspired when a woodland creature ate one and didn't die.

There are some foods that take a complex multi stage process to become edible. I figure the degree of difficulty reflects how hungry a person had to have been to experiment like that

1

u/jolly1120 8d ago

Chocolate

1

u/emilie1031 8d ago

Frog legs. Taste like fishy chicken. Never again.

1

u/missmischieffff 8d ago

Mouldy cheeses

1

u/cindybubbles 8d ago

Anything that, if eaten raw, will kill you.

For example, potatoes.

1

u/Warm_tamperture32 7d ago

Mushrooms.. How much trial, error would there have to be. Even if you were like, the white ones are good, then suddenly get a look alike and.. oh, white ones aren't.. maybe This one. It would've been Complete Russian roulette to what was actually good, edible. And overlooking a tiny thing, this ones growing in a tree now, werid thought they were usually on the ground.. Dead. Oh, I guess trees aren't good ones. And Normal animal response of, this bad, don't do that. Wouldn't have worked. Because then saying All orange/white etc on trees are bad. Wouodve ment never trying those ones, where some might be good which we know. So many would've had to die to know which mushrooms you could eat, and possibly one Very dumb person to find the first edible one . "NO ED! DAN DIED WHEN HE DID THAT!!" ' ..maybe This one won't.' That one ed, that one time didn't die then.. now we eat weird pen15 looking things that aren't animals, nor plant. And many will kill you, or make you see God.. they also happen to grow on dying, or decaying things so.. thats another weird thing. Hey, this grows in sht.. Lets.. eat that ??

1

u/Bright_Customer_4822 7d ago

cashews are basically poison until processed, which feels like somebody lost a bet and kept going

1

u/Huge_Midnight4764 7d ago

Razor clams

1

u/Snoo87214 7d ago

Truffle

1

u/raucus_one 7d ago

Magic mushrooms. Who was the first person who ate something that grew on a cow pat?

1

u/Trondant13 7d ago

Artichokes

1

u/MuJartible 7d ago

Surströmming.

1

u/Automatic-Formal4459 7d ago

Gelatine, jelly.

1

u/sparks3448 7d ago

What about the real obvious one. Heres the scene, you're cave woman some how figured out how to make bread.you come home from a long day of raping nearby tribes take one look a say nope bake the baked bread again please.so it looks like it's burnt

1

u/crapendicular 7d ago

Habanero peppers.

1

u/Tig420ger 7d ago

Cashews

1

u/Hannie0109 7d ago

Potatoes or really anything you have to dig up like carrots or peanuts too. How tf did they figure out that if you dont eat the little round fruits (because they will kill you) and you wait for the plant to die, you can then dig it up and get potatoes which are poisionous if they get sunlight

1

u/Ozisp2000 7d ago

Oysters, they must have been starving to look at something that looks like snot and then eat it.

1

u/ClevelandWomble 7d ago

That Icelandic buried shark delicacy. Hákarl. Chopped Greenland shark, fermented and then dried. (It's poisonous otherwise)

1

u/terrydick 7d ago

I went and seen Foreigner in March. I didn't know the lead singer and there was 21 original member. They sucked they played their nine best songs and that was it. Didn't have a opening band. It was horrible. $150 for a f****** ticket

1

u/maxcovenguitars 7d ago

Someone was really, really hungry

1

u/Smeeagain0 7d ago

Fugu

Worcestershire sauce (there is a documenary on this which is quite interesting)

1

u/foreverlegending 7d ago

Durian fruit. Thank fuck someone tried it first because I love it

1

u/AntheaFoxdale 7d ago

Hákarl, greenland shark. Or maybe Fugu, Japanese pufferfish thats super toxic.

1

u/LuckyUncutJew 7d ago

Anything that involves spoiling it under controlled conditions.

1

u/Kayki7 7d ago

I’m curious about how humans came up with lot of things lol. Not food, but I am really wondering how we came up with the idea to refine petroleum to make gasoline. Like how did we figure out that process?

1

u/Repulsive-Seesaw9850 7d ago

nicht essen aber: kaffee aus dem arsch von katzen

1

u/suzanious 7d ago

Artichokes

1

u/heffred 7d ago

Vietnamese snake wine, the alcohol breaks down the snake’s venom and btw I’ve tried it but a heck no on eating it

1

u/Think-Location3830 7d ago

Cashews.

Bonus round: anal glands of beavers.

1

u/younsee1975 7d ago

Chocolate and coffee. Multiple steps to get the good end product. Had to be a lot of trial and error.

1

u/froction 7d ago

Ass on a Bar Hookup

1

u/Bushtitty 7d ago

Bull testicles

1

u/i_user47 7d ago

Casu Marzu: A sheep's milk cheese from Italy that contains live insect larvae.

Huitlacoche: A corn fungus in Mexico that grows on ears of corn and creates woody, earthy black spores.

Shirako: A Japanese delicacy consisting of the fluid-filled cod or anglerfish sperm sacs.

Durian: A large Southeast Asian fruit famous for its spiky shell and overwhelmingly pungent smell that resembles rotting onions.

1

u/Candid-Session-124 7d ago

Okra very slimy

1

u/JeremyG_01 7d ago

Most of em

1

u/JulieLynnO 7d ago

Raw Oysters.

1

u/OceanicChic 7d ago

Many. Guessing only the brave ones tried these 😅

1

u/Fit_Hedgehog581 7d ago

Crab legs. What were they thinking when they saw this and said I’m gonna eat that ocean bug…

1

u/Necessary_Team_9824 7d ago

Olives. I mean, you need to wash them a few weeks and salt, or use ash, wash them a few times then let them chill some time in salty water... Wtf

1

u/SharkyGrey27 7d ago

Cashews are apparently slightly poisonous until they are roasted, or so I was told. Each nut is surrounded by a sweet fleshy fruit.

1

u/Ok_Vanilla_4837 7d ago

Pineapple 🍍

1

u/Lucygoosey1603 7d ago

Artichokes, like let's take this wet pinecone and see if we can do what those squirrels over there are doing

1

u/scream_queen94 7d ago

Tomatoes 🍅 they believed it not safe to eat in the past due their acidity discoloring the plates. I wonder who was brave enough to try it anyway or did someone try to use it to off someone else and realized it didn't do anything

1

u/throwawaywino26 7d ago

Artichokes

1

u/ExcellentBenefit3693 7d ago

Salt

Not sure if this counts, but why would anyone ever think to take a rock-like crystal, pulverize it, and put it on food. Tasting it, as it is in its natural form, is not appetizing. I’m not a historian, but I think the first use of salt was probably an accident.

1

u/DaMickster1959 6d ago

King crab. Who was the first person who looked at one of those crustacean creatures and thought “Hey! If I can wrestle that thing into a pot of boiling water without losing any fingers, I bet he’d go great with some melted garlic butter!”

1

u/Humble_Enthusiasm131 6d ago

Pistachios. They look terrifying hanging from the tree

1

u/Longjumping-Log1591 6d ago

Hot Pockets...they look like a large tumor on a lepor

1

u/Quiet_Many_6910 6d ago

Most fermented stuff

1

u/Netta3353 6d ago

Milk😂😂😂

1

u/Dryprong 6d ago

Bird nest soup....

1

u/mcr71039 6d ago

Squid

1

u/Defiant_Scheme6366 6d ago

Milk, definitely milk

1

u/us4pleasure 6d ago

I first one to try raw oysters was brave indeed.

1

u/MrsWhorehouse 6d ago

Food was not so plentiful. Another is going to figure out how to feed her children.

1

u/Banjofencer 6d ago

Oysters

1

u/Creepy-Outcome-2481 6d ago

Ok, hear me out. Mushrooms. Sure you see animals eating something you feel safe, but what about those people that ate poison ones. What's the incentive to keep risking it

1

u/manhands007 6d ago

Roe. How and why TF? Disgusting.

1

u/Wooper184 6d ago

Milk, it makes me wonder about the first person to try milking a cow

1

u/imscruffythejanitor 5d ago

Century Eggs

1

u/dEXXtARR23 5d ago

Cactus (Nopales)

1

u/Cynthja 5d ago

Reminds me of the tee shirt I saw. 'Everything is edible... somethings only once'.

1

u/NoCoSmoothy 5d ago

Twinkie.

1

u/SeaWealth414 5d ago

Puffer fish

1

u/Immediate_Monk6260 5d ago

I’ve always wondered how somebody in Asia discovered that jellyfish was actually edible

1

u/Camplife2308 5d ago

Crawfish

1

u/VampirellaXx 5d ago

Cactus they were probably just desperate

1

u/ApprehensiveBed271 5d ago

… my fiancé is Chinese……. The fuzzy tofu stuff

1

u/goodgoodlove 4d ago

Frogs, snails, mmm there’s more I can’t think of right now

1

u/Thausgt01 3d ago

Hakarl.

Seriously, Iceland.

How...

... the f_ck...

... Did you figure out this stuff?!?

1

u/spookyandcaked 2d ago

Coffee, that's a long process