1 The Whole Shabangs
“The Whole Shabangs” potato chips are available almost exclusively only in US Prison system commissaries. Ex-cons consider these chips to be the best chip out there, and a high-point of their incarceration. Many end up dismayed and disappointed at their lack of availability “on the outside.”
2. Due to the “fajita effect,” when the first order of fajitas comes in, cooks at Chilis begin prepping for the several orders that always come soon after. Hearing and smelling the first dish causes a cascade of orders among patrons.
3. Salmon sushi is not a Japanese dish. It was created by the Norwegian salmon industry in the early 90s to sell Atlantic salmon to Japan. Because Pacific salmon is known to carry parasites, it took a decade for Japanese people to trust the dish.
4. Broccoli is a human innovation and a man-made food, being a result of the selective breeding of wild cabbage plants which started around 6th century B.C.
5. Sannakji is a Korean dish that features a young live octopus cut into small pieces and served immediately. It must be eaten very carefully as the octopus’ legs are still moving when consumed. About six people die each year by choking on the suction cups.
6 Buko pie
The Philippines has its own version of apple pie made from coconuts and condensed milk. Buko pie is believed to be invented by Soledad Pahud. She discovered apple pie while working as a maid in the United States. When she returned to the Philippines, the lack of apples led her to invent a coconut based recipe.
7. Nutella has very few hazelnuts and is actually 58% sugar and is 32% fat, most of which is palm oil.
8. Pistachios are expensive because the pistachio trees take up to 20 years to reach peak production, and are “biennial-bearing”, meaning a light harvest every other year. These nuts used to be dyed red to hide stains caused by handpicking. Most pistachios nowadays are machine picked and dyeing is unnecessary.
9. The sandwich was popularized by the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who ordered that meat be placed between two slices of bread for easy consumption. He, therefore, was able to gamble and eat at the same time.
10. There is a dish called “bang bang chicken” (bàng bàng jī) in China, which takes its name from the fact that the chicken is tenderized using a hammer or a big stick.
11 Nachos
Nachos are named after their inventor, Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya. The dish was originally called “Nacho’s especiales,” and eventually the apostrophe disappeared and it was shortened to just “nachos.”
12. “Snow Cream” is a southern U.S. dish traditionally made with canned evaporated milk, vanilla, sugar, and a bowl full of freshly fallen snow.
13. The pickled ginger served with most sushi is meant to cleanse your palate between different pieces and can be offensive to the chef if used as a topping.
14. “Persian” is a kind of pastry that’s available only in the Canadian city of Thunder Bay. Its recipe is a tightly guarded secret to the point that people don’t actually know what kind of berry is used for its topping.
15. In the early/mid-1900s, a dish called “candle salad” was popular. It involved a banana stuck through a pineapple wheel with whipped cream dripping off. It looked exactly like you’d imagine.
16 Sausages
Sausages have been commonly referred to as “dogs” since the 1800s due to a belief that sausage makers used dog meat in their sausages. Consumption of dog meat was common in Germany up to the early 1900s so this suspicion was “occasionally justified.”
17. The reason that cashews are expensive is because they grow individually on a apple like fruit and must be removed manually. Their shells are also toxic.
18. One medium McDonald’s milk shake contains 630 calories, the same as a whole average dinner meal. One milkshake also contains 90 grams of sugar which is more than your daily maximum recommended sugar intake of around 75 grams.
19. Avocado Toast is not a new dish but has been consumed in San Francisco for 135 years.
20. Garum is a type of fish sauce that the Romans adored. It smelled so bad that Garum factories could only be found outside the city walls, but it was still the ancient world’s favorite topping, which accompanied most of their foods.
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21 ChiChi
ChiChi is a dish created by inmates prisons across USA. It consists of Ramen, Cheese, Rice, Beans, Honey, BBQ sauce, which are all the items commonly found in commissaries. It is cooked in secret using an extension cord connected to nail clippers. Most prisons have their own unique recipe.
22. The Germans have a party food called ‘Mettigel’. It’s a hedgehog made of raw pork, with olives for eyes and onion quills.
23. 95%-99% of the Wasabi you eat at American sushi restaurants is actually horseradish dyed green. You are not getting the real thing.
24. Pepperoni is an American food. In Italy, “pepperoni” refers to bell peppers, and there is no Italian salami by that name.
25. Vindaloo curry originated from Portuguese sailors’ dish carne de vinha d’alhos (“meat in garlic wine marinade”). The basic structure of the dish was “preserved” raw ingredients, packed in wooden barrels of layers of pork and garlic, soaked in red wine. This was “Indianized” by the local Goan cooks.