How many times have you been at gatherings and all sort of interesting questions arise, such as which was first, the chicken or the egg?

Here are some interesting facts about food, beverages and recipes. They do not answer the question about the chicken but you’ll be amazed how knowledgeable you will feel once you’ve read them all.  

Why do we use utensils to eat our food instead of fingers and daggers? Because Catherine de Medici brought with her, when she married Prince Henry of France in 1533 (he became King Henry in 1547), forks and several master cooks. She also introduced spinach, aspics, sweetbreads, artichoke hearts, truffles, ice cream and zabagliones.

Sweetbreads are neither sweet nor bread. This is a dish made up of the pancreas or the thymus gland of a calf or lamb.

Truffles, a fungus, grow below ground and are one of the world’s most expensive foods costing $800-$1,000 per pound. They are harvested by female pigs that sniff them out of the ground. 

In one year Americans consumed more than 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate, almost half of the total world’s production, yet the Irish eat more than we do. We spend approximately $25 million each year on beer and we spend an estimated $209 billion annually eating out.

Aunt Jemima pancake flour, the first ready-mix food sold commercially, was created in 1889. The popsicle was invented in 1905 by an 11-year-old boy in California. Because the law prohibited the sale of soda on Sunday the ice cream sundae was invented in 1875 in Illinois; the ice cream soda was invented in 1874 in Philadelphia. Swiss steak, chop suey, Russian dressing and a hamburger all originated in the U.S.A. In 1976 the first eight Jelly Belly flavors were introduced.

During the Alaska Klondike gold rush (1897-98), potatoes were worth their weight in gold. Miners traded gold for them. In this country a pound of potato chips costs two hundred times more than a pound of potatoes. Potato chips were invented in 1853. When potatoes first appeared in Europe in the 17th century they were blamed for outbreaks of leprosy and syphilis. As late as 1720 in America, eating potatoes was believed to shorten one’s life.

John Glenn was the first man to eat in space in 1962. Fried chicken is the most popular meal ordered in sit-down restaurants in the U.S. The vintage date on a bottle of wine indicates the year the grapes were picked, not year of bottling. Herring is the most widely eaten fish in the world. To determine the percentage of alcohol in a bottle of liquor divide the proof by two. The hottest chili in the world is the habanero. Rice is the staple for more than one half of the world’s population.

An etiquette writer of the 1840s advised, “Ladies may wipe their lips on the tablecloth but not blow their noses on it.” Godey’s Lady’s Book advised U.S. women to cook tomatoes for at least 3 hours. If you can’t get reservations at any restaurants try calling China’s Beijing Duck restaurant. It can seat at least 9,000 at one time.

Note: Information was taken from “Categorical Trivia Collection” and “Food Facts and Trivia.”