Buzz
The concept of food discovery might seem peculiar, yet there was undoubtedly a moment when someone first tasted a new food. Whether driven by bravery or necessity, imagine the bold individual who first looked at an oyster and decided, 'Yes, I’m eating that.' While some food origins are shrouded in myth due to their ancient history, others have well-documented stories of how they came to be.
Below are ten fascinating tales behind the discovery of everyday foods and beverages.
10. Tea
Tea ranks among the world’s most beloved beverages. With its gentle caffeine levels, it offers a perfect balance of energy and relaxation without causing overstimulation. But how did the leaves of the tea plant become such a treasured resource?
According to a Chinese legend, the Emperor of China, Shen Nong, discovered the properties of tea in 2737 BC. While sitting beneath a tree, he was boiling water when a breeze blew some leaves into the pot. As the leaves steeped, a fragrant aroma filled the air, and Shen Nong drank the first recorded cup of tea. Thankfully, no birds were perched in the tree, or we might have a very different beverage today.
It’s more plausible that tea was initially recognized for its medicinal benefits and integrated into traditional Chinese medicine before becoming the popular drink it is today. The Chinese legend isn’t the only origin story. In an Indian tale, the Buddhist monk Bhodidharma vowed to meditate for ten years without sleep. After nine years, he dozed off and, in frustration, tore off his eyelids. Where they fell, tea plants sprouted, providing monks with a way to stay awake during long meditations.
9. Coffee
Given caffeine’s addictive nature, it’s no surprise that tea and coffee have become daily essentials. While coffee’s true origins are shrouded in mystery, the legends surrounding its discovery are quite energizing.
One Ethiopian legend tells of a goatherd named Kaldi, who first noticed the effects of coffee beans. While tending his goats, he observed them eating berries from a particular plant and becoming unusually energetic, leaping around. The goats also stayed awake all night. When Kaldi shared his discovery with local monks, they found that coffee helped them stay alert during late-night prayers.
An Islamic tale recounts how an exiled man from Mecca, starving in the desert, discovered coffee. After chewing on bitter coffee berries to stave off hunger, he tried roasting the beans, only to find them too hard. When he boiled them to soften the beans, the water transformed into a flavorful beverage, marking the birth of coffee as a drink.
8. Popsicles
Popsicles are a quintessential treat for sweltering summer days. The concept seems simple: take vibrant, flavorful juice, insert a stick, and freeze. One might assume they’ve been around forever, but their origin can be traced to a specific moment in history.
In 1905, a young boy named Frank Epperson attempted to make soda by mixing powdered drink with water and stirring it with a wooden stick. Distracted, he left the mixture outside overnight. By morning, the drink had frozen solid, and the stick provided a convenient handle.
Epperson named his creation the Epsicle and later patented it as a 'frozen confection of attractive appearance, which can be conveniently consumed without contamination by contact with the hand and without the need for a plate, spoon, fork, or another implement.'
The name Epsicle didn’t resonate with many, so it was rebranded as the Popsicle. When Epperson struggled to profit from his invention, he sold the concept to a company, which added a second stick, creating the iconic, breakable frozen treat we enjoy today.
7. Sweeteners
While sugar has recently been criticized as one of the unhealthiest foods, artificial sweeteners were once considered far worse. Today, most sweeteners have undergone rigorous scientific testing and are deemed safe. Interestingly, the discovery of some sweeteners resulted from a lack of laboratory safety protocols.
Aspartame was discovered by accident when scientist James M. Schlatter, working on an anti-ulcer drug, licked his finger to turn a page in a book. Though such practices are discouraged in modern labs, Schlatter noticed an intensely sweet taste on his finger, leading to the creation of aspartame.
Cyclamate, a now-banned sweetener, was discovered in 1937 when Michael Sveda paused his work on a fever medication to smoke in his lab—a practice acceptable at the time. He noticed his cigarette tasted sweet, realizing he had stumbled upon an artificial sweetener.
6. Maple Syrup
While trees are typically associated with fruit as a food source, maple syrup is an exception—it’s essentially the result of humans tapping into a tree and extracting its sap. How did humans discover that maple trees contain this sweet, edible liquid?
Long before European settlers arrived, Indigenous peoples in North America were already producing maple syrup. The sap doesn’t emerge from the tree in the thick, syrupy form we know. Instead, it starts as a watery liquid that must be boiled down to achieve its rich consistency. Interestingly, Indigenous methods didn’t always involve boiling; they often left the sap in shallow containers, allowing the water to freeze and separate, leaving behind the concentrated syrup.
One legend attributes the discovery to Prince Glooskap, who noticed his people neglecting their work to drink syrup directly from the trees. To prevent this, he diluted the sap with water, ensuring it only flowed abundantly in spring. Another version credits NenawBozhoo, a deity who made maple syrup less accessible by altering its natural form.
A more practical origin story involves Moqua, who, while cooking moose meat for her husband, ran out of water. She substituted maple sap, which boiled down into a thick syrup. Surprisingly, the resulting syrup paired exceptionally well with moose meat.
5. The Sandwich
Sandwiches are a lunchtime favorite for many. For centuries, bread has been a dietary staple, providing the bulk of calories for countless people. A typical meal might consist of a loaf of bread paired with something to enhance its flavor.
While the first person to slice bread and place food between the pieces remains unknown, the individual who popularized the concept is well-documented. John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, lived in 18th-century Britain, a society obsessed with gambling. The aristocracy spent hours at gaming tables, often losing fortunes. For the Earl, even a brief pause to eat was a waste of time. To avoid interruptions, he instructed his cook to prepare a meal he could eat without leaving the table.
The result was slices of bread with fillings in between, allowing him to eat without greasy hands or utensils. This innovation kept the gambling uninterrupted. While the true origin of the sandwich is debated, the Earl’s version remains his most enduring legacy.
4. Tofu
Tofu, a seemingly bland ingredient, has a surprisingly vibrant history spanning at least 2,000 years. At some point, soy milk was combined with a coagulant to create a cheese-like substance. The exact method of this discovery remains a topic of debate.
One theory suggests that impure sea salt, containing seaweed or magnesium salts, was added to soy milk for flavor, causing it to curdle. While plausible, this explanation lacks the intrigue of alternative legends surrounding tofu’s origin.
A popular legend credits Liu An, a Han dynasty prince and scholar, with the invention of tofu. Liu An, known for his love of soybeans, reportedly created soy milk to help his grandmother, who struggled to chew whole beans.
Liu An’s experiments with immortality and alchemy allegedly led to the creation of tofu. While most would celebrate inventing a meat substitute, Liu An supposedly achieved more—some accounts claim he grew younger, sprouted wings, and ascended to immortality after consuming tofu. A compelling way to promote tofu consumption!
3. Cornflakes
If you’ve scoured the internet, you might have heard that Kellogg’s Cornflakes were created as part of a campaign against masturbation. However, like many online claims, the truth is far more intricate and bizarre.
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the creator of cornflakes, was indeed a physician, nutritionist, and devout man with unconventional beliefs. In his writings, he blamed masturbation for ailments ranging from epilepsy to poor posture. His proposed remedies included bland diets and extreme measures like inserting silver wires or applying carbolic acid. While cornflakes may have aligned with his anti-masturbation agenda, they were never marketed as such.
The actual origin of cornflakes is equally fascinating, even without the focus on self-control. The Kellogg brothers operated a sanatorium in Battle Creek. While experimenting with easily digestible foods for patients, they cooked corn but left it out overnight, causing it to go stale.
Resourceful and health-focused, the brothers attempted to salvage the stale corn by pressing it into biscuits. This failed but resulted in thin, flavorless flakes that they found appealing. The bland cereal became a success, though its impact on masturbation remains unverified.
2. Worcestershire Sauce
English cuisine often faces skepticism abroad, and the story behind Worcestershire Sauce doesn’t help its case. This pungent, robust sauce is crafted from ingredients like anchovies, vinegar, onions, sugar, garlic, and spices. According to Lea and Perrins, the original creators, the first batch was as unappetizing as the ingredient list sounds.
The tale goes that Lord Sandys, a former British governor of Bengal, returned to England with a craving for Indian flavors. He approached Lea and Perrins, two chemists, to recreate the sauce he desired. Their initial attempt was so unpalatable that they discarded it. However, they had prepared two barrels and only threw one away. The other was left forgotten in their cellar for several years.
When the chemists eventually needed storage space, they rediscovered the abandoned barrel. Curiosity led them to taste the aged, murky liquid—and to their surprise, it was delicious. Today, Worcestershire sauce is a staple in British households.
1. Champagne
True champagne can only come from France’s Champagne region; anything else is merely sparkling wine. Given the prestige associated with the name, it’s no wonder myths and legends about its origins have bubbled up over time.
For generations, vineyards in the Champagne region struggled to produce white wine from red grapes until Dom Pierre Perignon, a Benedictine monk, refined the process. However, his wine had an unexpected feature—bubbles. Legend has it that Perignon exclaimed to his fellow monks, 'Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!' upon discovering the effervescence.
Contrary to popular belief, Dom Perignon spent much of his career attempting to eliminate the bubbles from his wine. Another enduring myth is that the champagne coupe’s shape was inspired by the breasts of Marie Antoinette or Madame de Pompadour.
One of the biggest misconceptions about champagne is that it was the first sparkling wine. Homebrewers know that unintentional bubbles can often form in bottled wine. Historical records show that the English were intentionally creating sparkling wine at least 30 years before Dom Perignon’s celebrated discovery.
'Our wine coopers of recent times use vast quantities of sugar and molasses to all sorts of wines to make them drink brisk and sparkling and to give them spirit.'
