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They came up with fermentation because they needed a way to keep foods from spoiling. Same with salting, smoking, or dying out. The interesting part to me is t
by wil421 3y ago
They came up with fermentation because they needed a way to keep foods from spoiling. Same with salting, smoking, or dying out.
The interesting part to me is the first person who tried the fermented food or the animal meat that fell into the ocean and brined.
- andrewflnr 3y agoThey were probably really, really hungry. That expands your horizons for what's edible.
- someuser2345 3y agoThey might also have just been bored.
- andrewflnr 3y agoEh, maybe their rowdy teens, but being bored enough to eat something that may actively harm you is a luxury that I don't think a lot of early hominids had. Living off the land with primitive tools is a lot of work even when it's going well.
- moi2388 3y agoNot in winter. That was sitting in the cold and dark for 12 hours a day
- andrewflnr 3y agoThat depends on where you live, and doesn't include many (any?) of the places in Africa where humans were evolving in the relevant time period for starting to eat fermented food. And I bet there was plenty of work to do anyway, even in winter in places where it is cold and dark, enough that hunger is still a more likely motivator than boredom. I'd be interested to see hard facts on this, though.
- buovjaga 3y agoIt's not only about avoiding spoiling, but making some plants edible in the first place [1] or making them more digestible [2]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava#Preparation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava#Preparation 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization
- excitom 3y agoAnother example: Olives