Did You know?

The most dangerous cheese in the world

The most dangerous cheese in the world, casu marzu is an Italian delicacy defined by its illegal status and the maggots that infest it. It comes from the charming Italian island of Sardinia, located in the Mediterranian Sea. The cheese is made from sheep’s milk. Casu marzu takes some time to make (What kind of quality cheese doesn’t?), but the process itself is easy. When it’s finished, a casu marzu cheese should roughly contain thousands of maggots.

Edible bird’s nests are a huge market in Asia and are becoming more popular in the United States, with diners around the world eager to cook a traditional bird’s nest soup.

Crackers have holes in them for a reason.

Surprisingly, it turns out the holes are there for a reason, not just for decoration or for convenience in some manufacturing process, as one might expect.  In actuality, without these holes, crackers wouldn’t bake correctly.  These holes allow steam to escape during cooking.  This keeps the crackers flat, instead of rising a bit like a normal biscuit as the steam tries to escape; these holes also help to properly crisp the crackers.

When crackers are made, dough is rolled flat in sheets.  These sheets then travel under a mechanism containing “docker” pins that end up putting the holes in the dough.  The hole’s positioning and number varies depending on the size and shape of the cracker.  If the holes are too close together, the cracker will end up being extra dry and hard, due to too much steam escaping.  If the holes end up being too far apart, parts of the cracker will rise a bit forming little bubbles on the surface of the cracker, which is undesirable in most types of crackers.

The most expensive pizza in the world costs $12,000 dollars.

Concocted by Italian master pizza chef Renato Viola, the tiny 8-inch Louis XIII pizza is topped with mozzarella, three types of caviar, imported lobster from Norway, and pink salt collected by hand from the Murray River in Australia, but the real kicker is how the whole thing is prepared.

When you order the $12,000 pizza, three food artisans—a pizza-maker, a sommelier, and a separate chef to cook all the ingredients—will fly to your house from Italy and prepare the pizza in your very own kitchen, making it the world’s most expensive order-in pizza. Anyone for Pizza Hut?

Popsicles were invented by accident.

The details are debated, but the general story is that in 1905, an 11-year-old kid stirred togther some soda and water mix. He forgetfully left the glas out in the cold and discovered a frozen treat when he tried to pull out the stir stick.

He originally called it an “Epsicle” (his last name was Epperson) and started making them for his friends. Later, when he had kids, they started calling it “Pop’s ‘Sicle” and the new name was born.

The red food dye for Skittles is made from boiled beetles.

Red food dye — the beloved chemical that gives your Skittles, Starbursts, and red-colored pastries their deep, delicious hue — isn’t as harmless as you might think. Manufacturers dry the cochineal beetles and crush them into a powder that, when mixed with water, turns red.

According to a petition, you’ve likely consumed over one pound of this red dye in your life, which adds up to a staggering 70 000 cochineals. Look for the keywords carmine, cochineal extract, or carminic acid on food labels to spot the red powder.

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”

― Orson Welles