Collection of Insane and Fun Facts
The instant noodle was invented during a period of food shortages in Japan following WWII. After the Japanese health ministry supplied the population with wheat flour and asked them to make bread, Momofuku Ando instead decided on making noodles (which were more familiar) that would last.
There’s a restaurant in New York that doesn’t employ chefs; they employ grandmas. Every day, a different grandma from around the world designs her own menu.
When Tater Tots first hit store shelves in 1956, people did not buy them because they were very inexpensive and there was no perceived value. When the price was raised by stores, people began buying the product.
If you’re ordering and paying for extra ingredients at an U.S. restaurant you’re paying on the average a 426% mark-up for extra sour cream, 417% for cheese on a burger, and 525% for any ingredients on a pizza. An unidentified pizza chain has a 636% mark up for meat in their “meat-laden” pizza.
In 2013 police busted a meat packing plant in Guangxi, China that was selling 20 tons of chicken meat slaughtered in 1967. It had been treated with hydrogen peroxide to make it look presentable in markets and stores.
Rats are sometimes eaten in parts of France. In Bordeaux, there is a recipe that calls for the use of alcoholic rats who live in wine cellars. The rats are skinned and eviscerated, brushed with a thick sauce of olive oil and crushed shallots, and grilled over a fire of broken wine barrels.
Eggs from hens raised on pastures “contain twice as much vitamin E and long-chain omega-3 fats, 2.5-fold more total omega-3 fatty acids, and less than half the ratio of omega-6:omega-3 fatty acids” than eggs from commercial hens.
Fish and chips is historically so important to the UK that in WWI, the British government made safeguarding supplies of them a priority and during WWII, Churchill refused to ration the dish.
Chef Boyardee of canned Ravioli fame was awarded both the Gold Star order of excellence from the US War Dept. & the Order of Lenin from Russia for supplying rations to allied troops during WWII.
The broccoli in the movie ‘Inside Out’ was changed to bell peppers in the Japan version because they are more universally hated by Japanese children.