5 ms·

That is one fantastic rule of thumb and a great perspective on the way we were that I’ve never heard before.

a_bonobo 4y ago
There's a story from the introduction of the potato into Germany. People would not eat the 'new' potatoes as dogs would not eat them. >The things have neither smell nor taste, not even the dogs will eat them, so what use are they to us? https://www.berlinexperiences.com/did-frederick-the-great-introduce-the-potato-to-germany-mythbusting-berlin/ https://www.berlinexperiences.com/did-frederick-the-great-in...
- beebmam 4y ago
  Seems to me like a pretty unscientific way to conclude whether a food is edible (or good for you). But it makes sense of course, if you didn't have access to modern science due to poverty or era.
  - ehnto 4y ago
    Even modern grain infrastructure relies on delcarations of chemical usage and not itemized testing. Real time testing equipment is prohibitively expensive and lab testing takes too long to do it before mixing a load of grain into a silo. On site tests are done but for indicators of moisture spoilage, protein deterioration and disease, but not chemical contaminants.
- perryizgr8 4y ago
  Haha reminds me of the time Tintin mixed in an anti-alcohol drug into the Picaros' meal, and they wouldn't eat it until snowy did.
  - smdyc1 4y ago
    Haha one of my favourite scenes, apart from Captain Haddock losing his taste for whisky at the start!!!
  - vintermann 4y ago
    There is such a drug, sort of: Disulfiram. Though the effect isn't technically to make alcohol taste foul, it's to make consuming it give an almost instant, terrible hangover. Some inkcap mushrooms which are otherwise edible have a mycotoxin with the same effect, coprine. There are persistent rumours that other mushrooms can contain some of it too, not verified as far as I know but there's enough poorly understood variation in mushrooms that I wouldn't dismiss the possibility.
- philshem 4y ago
  Great read! > One of the most oft-repeated stories about Frederick’s relationship with the potato concerns the ingenious tactic of reverse psychology the King embarked on to increase interest in potatoes: rebranding it as a ‘royal vegetable’. By ordering his soldiers to plant potatoes in royal fields and lightly guard the crops, allowing the locals to sneak in and pillage the vegetables – the Prussian king would conclude: what is worth guarding is also worth stealing. This reminds me of Rory Sutherland's "Lessons from an ad man" where he tells this story, and then follows-up with another myth-like story about Ataturk wanting to modernize Turkey, but rather than ban head coverings for women, he required prostitutes to wear one. full video (which is definitely worth a watch): https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc 3:20 is where the story starts: https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc?t=200 https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc?t=200
  - 4gotunameagain 4y ago
    The story about lightly guarding potatoes seems to be common European trope, I've heard it in many countries. Variations include the one you mentioned, and one where potatoes were placed in a warehouse with increased security, in order to attract the attention of the peasants who were allowed to steal them.
    - mcv 4y ago
      I just came across the Frederick the Great story somewhere else this morning. That version also claimed he even told the guards to accept bribes from people trying to steal the potatoes.
- vintermann 4y ago
  That they could see that it was a plant in the nightshade family probably also didn't help matters.
somenameforme 4y ago
Another really interesting one is about eggs. If you buy eggs from a supermarket in the US they will usually need to be refrigerated. But if you go buy eggs straight from a farm (or in many places outside the US) they'll be fine outside for weeks. When eggs are first laid they have a protective outer coating on them, called either the bloom or cuticle. The external cleaning process mandated by the FDA results in the destruction of the bloom, which leaves the eggs vulnerable to all sorts of nasty stuff. Moving abroad one of the weirdest things was seeing eggs, on occasion a bit 'dirty', stacked at room temperature for days to weeks. Turns out it's perfectly safe!
- mcv 4y ago
  It's one of the few foods that comes in its own super convenient packaging. Why wouldn't you take advantage of that?
  - nemo44x 4y ago
    Because it could be covered in salmonella and other things. Even just washing them might not be enough if you’re not careful to not cross contaminate. Washing them and keeping them cold works great.
    - mcv 4y ago
      As others have pointed out, just washing them is exactly the wrong thing to do. But if you don't wash them, you don't need to keep them cold. Not washing them works great too.
      - nemo44x 4y ago
        But they could be covered in poison. So we clean the poison off which has the side effect of requiring they be put in the fridge. They stay fresh longer too. I don't know why much of Europe is OK with having poisonous eggs. There are hundreds of Salmonella outbreaks in Europe because of eggs every year.

There's a story from the introduction of the potato into Germany. People would not eat the 'new' potatoes as dogs would not eat them. >The things have neither smell nor taste, not even the dogs will eat them, so what use are they to us? https://www.berlinexperiences.com/did-frederick-the-great-introduce-the-potato-to-germany-mythbusting-berlin/ https://www.berlinexperiences.com/did-frederick-the-great-in...

beebmam 4y ago
Seems to me like a pretty unscientific way to conclude whether a food is edible (or good for you). But it makes sense of course, if you didn't have access to modern science due to poverty or era.
- ehnto 4y ago
  Even modern grain infrastructure relies on delcarations of chemical usage and not itemized testing. Real time testing equipment is prohibitively expensive and lab testing takes too long to do it before mixing a load of grain into a silo. On site tests are done but for indicators of moisture spoilage, protein deterioration and disease, but not chemical contaminants.
perryizgr8 4y ago
Haha reminds me of the time Tintin mixed in an anti-alcohol drug into the Picaros' meal, and they wouldn't eat it until snowy did.
- smdyc1 4y ago
  Haha one of my favourite scenes, apart from Captain Haddock losing his taste for whisky at the start!!!
- vintermann 4y ago
  There is such a drug, sort of: Disulfiram. Though the effect isn't technically to make alcohol taste foul, it's to make consuming it give an almost instant, terrible hangover. Some inkcap mushrooms which are otherwise edible have a mycotoxin with the same effect, coprine. There are persistent rumours that other mushrooms can contain some of it too, not verified as far as I know but there's enough poorly understood variation in mushrooms that I wouldn't dismiss the possibility.
philshem 4y ago
Great read! > One of the most oft-repeated stories about Frederick’s relationship with the potato concerns the ingenious tactic of reverse psychology the King embarked on to increase interest in potatoes: rebranding it as a ‘royal vegetable’. By ordering his soldiers to plant potatoes in royal fields and lightly guard the crops, allowing the locals to sneak in and pillage the vegetables – the Prussian king would conclude: what is worth guarding is also worth stealing. This reminds me of Rory Sutherland's "Lessons from an ad man" where he tells this story, and then follows-up with another myth-like story about Ataturk wanting to modernize Turkey, but rather than ban head coverings for women, he required prostitutes to wear one. full video (which is definitely worth a watch): https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc 3:20 is where the story starts: https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc?t=200 https://youtu.be/audakxABYUc?t=200
- 4gotunameagain 4y ago
  The story about lightly guarding potatoes seems to be common European trope, I've heard it in many countries. Variations include the one you mentioned, and one where potatoes were placed in a warehouse with increased security, in order to attract the attention of the peasants who were allowed to steal them.
  - mcv 4y ago
    I just came across the Frederick the Great story somewhere else this morning. That version also claimed he even told the guards to accept bribes from people trying to steal the potatoes.
vintermann 4y ago
That they could see that it was a plant in the nightshade family probably also didn't help matters.

somenameforme 4y ago

Another really interesting one is about eggs. If you buy eggs from a supermarket in the US they will usually need to be refrigerated. But if you go buy eggs straight from a farm (or in many places outside the US) they'll be fine outside for weeks. When eggs are first laid they have a protective outer coating on them, called either the bloom or cuticle. The external cleaning process mandated by the FDA results in the destruction of the bloom, which leaves the eggs vulnerable to all sorts of nasty stuff. Moving abroad one of the weirdest things was seeing eggs, on occasion a bit 'dirty', stacked at room temperature for days to weeks. Turns out it's perfectly safe!

mcv 4y ago
It's one of the few foods that comes in its own super convenient packaging. Why wouldn't you take advantage of that?
- nemo44x 4y ago
  Because it could be covered in salmonella and other things. Even just washing them might not be enough if you’re not careful to not cross contaminate. Washing them and keeping them cold works great.
  - mcv 4y ago
    As others have pointed out, just washing them is exactly the wrong thing to do. But if you don't wash them, you don't need to keep them cold. Not washing them works great too.
    - nemo44x 4y ago
      But they could be covered in poison. So we clean the poison off which has the side effect of requiring they be put in the fridge. They stay fresh longer too. I don't know why much of Europe is OK with having poisonous eggs. There are hundreds of Salmonella outbreaks in Europe because of eggs every year.