Trivia
FUN FOOD TRIVIA
YET ANOTHER MYTHCONCEPTION Although legend has it that the apple was
the forbidden fruit offered by Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden, archaeologists tell us
that’s not probable. You see, apples didn’t grow in the Middle East when Genesis
is thought to have been written. Indeed the Bible’s words describing the tree of
knowledge are not at all specific: " . . . good for food and pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise." For all we know, the fruit of temptation
might more likely have been a luscious apricot.
THERE’S NOTHING LIKE EXCESS! Myriad folks have been wild about broccoli since the vegetable was first discovered, but some take it too far. For instance, the Roman emperor Tiberius' son, Drusus Caesar, so loved broccoli that he ate little else for more than a month and only stopped when his urine turned green. Maybe that old axiom should be changed from pea green with envy" to "pee green with broccoli."
EPICURIOSITY
Ever wonder just what differentiates an epicure from
a gourmet?
Epicures not only have refined taste, but cultivate the knowledge and
appreciation of fine food and wine. The word "epicure" is
derived from the Greek philosopher Epicurus, the founder of Epicureanism, a
philosophy which, among other things, declared that the highest good is
pleasure. Epicurus, however, referred not to hedonistic indulgence, but to
tranquility.
Gourmets have discriminating palates and are considered
connoiseurs of fine food and drink.
Gastronomes are the same as gourmets, only harder to
pronounce.
Gourmands are those who appreciate fine food, but often to
indiscriminate excess.
Gluttons have a gargantuan appetite for both food and drink,
often without regard to quality.
ANAGRAMATICALLY
CORRECT The word
"melons" has several anagrams, two of which are solemn and lemons—which,
when linked, is an oxymoronic phrase since everyone knows all lemons are lively. I know of
at least one more anagram for melons—here’s a hint: An island of
northeast
Greece (the answer’s at the bottom of this page, but no fair peeking until you
guess).
DEVIL BREAD! Pumpernickel bread gets
its name from the obsolete German word pumper ("breaking wind") plus
the German Nickel ("demon" or "goblin").
WHEN ISN’T A PEAR A PEAR? When it’s a prickly pear, which is actually a pear-shaped and sized cactus fruit. This fruit's prickly skin can range in color from green to purplish-red. Its light yellow-green to golden flesh is soft and porous with a melonlike aroma and a lightly sweet flavor. A pear also isn't a "pear" when it’s an alligator pear, which is actually another name once used for the avocado.
PEA GREED! King John of England so loved the flavor of
green peas that he died from an attack of overindulgence at dinner—after consuming
seven bowls of peas!
COFFEE
TO DIE FOR Oscar Wilde (known to his mum as
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde) once said, "Moderation
is a fatal thing . . . . Nothing succeeds like excess." Of course, much of what this
witty Irishman said was tongue in cheek, but his philosophy was dead wrong for the great
French writer Honoré de Balzac, who purportedly died from caffeine poisoning because of
his excessive consumption of over 50 cups of coffee a day! One wonders . . . would
Balzac have written so brilliantly if he'd preferred tea?
THE MYTHICAL BERRY Legend tells us that raspberries were definitely food for the
gods—and not just any deity but Greek mythology’s
ultimate god, Zeus. As the fable goes, raspberries were once all white until the day
when a nymph was picking raspberries to soothe the crying baby Zeus, she pricked her
finger on one of the bush’s many thorns. The sweet nymph’s blood stained
the berries and they’ve been a brilliant red ever since.
HUMBLE IS AS HUMBLE DOES The term "humble pie" has long referred to words or deeds
one had to recant. But did you know that there really was such a thing as humble
pie? It was a popular 17th century English dish in which deer innards—including
heart, liver and kidney—were mixed with apples, currants, sugar and spices and baked
as a pie. While the gentry dined on the venison, the servants supped on
"numble" (deer innards) pie, which eventually transliterated into humble pie.
APPLE TALK
Apple cheeks: Cheeks
that have a healthy, rosy-red appearance.
Appleknocker: American slang for an unsophisticated country person; a fruit picker.
Apple of discord: A golden apple inscribed with "For the fairest," thrown
by Eris, the Greek goddess of discord, among a gathering of the gods. Paris gave this
infamous apple to Aphrodite because she offered him the most beautiful woman in the
world, Helen of Troy, whose abduction by Paris caused the Trojan War.
Apple of (one’s) eye: A person who’s treasured above others.
Apple-pie bed: One that’s been short-sheeted; also called simply "pie
bed."
Apple pie order: Neat, ordered and everything in its place.
Apple polisher: One who fawns over someone in hopes of gaining favor or an
advantage.
Bad apple: A person who’s dishonest or a malcontent.
Full of applesauce: One who’s full of hot air, nonsense or similar rubbish.
Love apple: A name once used for the tomato.
Upset the applecart: To ruin someone’s plans.
Wise apple: A smart alec.
HOW SWEET IT IS! Sugar
was once so rare and expensive that only the exceedingly wealthy could
afford it, which is why it was appropriately referred to as "white gold."
But the first sugar wasn’t white at all—it came in large, solid, light brown to
cream colored loaves and was commonly used as medicine. Even though sugar cane was
being cultivated in Persia and ancient Arabia in the 4th century B.C., sugar wasn’t
introduced to the Western World until the year 711, when the Moors conquered the Iberian
peninsula—that was definitely the start of sweet things to come. Today, sugar is easy
to come by, which is sweet news to those with a sweet tooth or a sweet-tempered
sweetheart who likes to be sweet-talked with sweetmeats.
Answer to Anagramatically Correct about melons: LEMNOS is the third anagram for "melons"
BON APPÉTIT!
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