Food and Drink trivia

» In 1765, the sandwich was invented by John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who gave the food its name. The Earl used to order roast beef between pieces of toast for a snack while he was at the gaming tables, it allowed him to keep one hand free to play while he ate.

» Caviar, or fish eggs, contain the same healthful omega-3 fatty acids as salmon.

» In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented at St. Joseph, Missouri, was the first self-rising flour for pancakes and the first ready-mix food ever to be introduced commercially.

» Celery has negative calories — it takes more calories to eat and digest a piece of celery than the celery has in it initially.

» Cellophane noodles must typically be soaked before using, as must dried porcini mushrooms and most dried beans.

» Centuries ago, men were told that the evil effects of coffee would make them sterile; women were cautioned to avoid caffeine unless they wanted to be barren.

» Nutella is a hazelnut spread made with skim milk and cocoa. It is virtually unknown in America, but European children have happily smeared it on breakfast croissants for decades.

» Of about 350 million cans of chicken noodle soup of all commercial brands sold annually in the United States, 60 percent is purchased during the cold and flu season. January is the top-selling month of the year.

» Of all cheese customs, one of the more unusual was that of the "groaning cheese." Years ago in Europe, a prospective father would nibble on a huge chunk of cheese while awaiting the home birth of his child. Instead of pacing outside the bedroom door, the father would eat from the center of the cheese until a large hole had been gnawed out. Later, his newborn infant was ceremoniously passed through the hole.

» In 1893, Milwaukee's Pabst beer won a blue ribbon at the Chicago Fair, and was sold thereafter as Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

» Of all the major brewing nations, England remains the only one in which ale is the primary beer consumed. This is in contrast to lager, which is the world's overall dominant beer style.

» In 1918, Welch's developed its first jam product called "Grapelade." The initial quantity of Grapelade was purchased in its entirety by the U.S. Army. It was an immediate hit in the military lower ranks, and became a demanded product by doughboys when they returned to civilian life.

» Of all the potatoes grown in the United States, only 8 percent are used to make potato chips. Special varieties referred to as "chipping potatoes" are grown for this purpose.

» In 1928, William Dreyer and Joseph Edy opened a small ice cream factory at 3315 Grand Avenue in Oakland, California. "Grand" has been part of the Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream company name ever since: as a memento of the company's birthplace on Grand Avenue and a declaration of the magnificence of their ice cream.

» Official FDA guidelines allow whole pepper to be sold with up to 1 percent of the volume made up of rodent droppings.

» In 1938, a comic strip was used to advertise Pepsi-cola. It was titled "Pepsi and Pete."