Food and Drink

Bizarre Fact #321:
Did you know...
Soy milk, the liquid left after beans have been crushed in hot water and strained, is a favorite beverage in the East. In Hong Kong, soy milk is as popular as Coca-Cola is in the U.S.

Bizarre Fact #322:
Did you know...
Spam stands for Shoulder Pork and hAM.

Bizarre Fact #323:
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Spinach is native to the area of Iran, but didn't spread to other parts of the world until the beginning of the Christian era.

Bizarre Fact #324:
Did you know...
Spirit of proof strength was the technical standard by which strength was measured until 1st January, 1980. Hundreds of years ago, spirit of this strength was proved when Whiskey and gunpowder were mixed and ignited. If the gunpowder flashed, then there was enough Whiskey in the mixture to permit ignition. Such Whiskey was held to have been proved - i.e. "tested". If the spirit was weaker than this, then ignition did not take place and the Whiskey failed the "test". The amount of black powder used was the same amount as was, and indeed still is, used to "proof" the barrels of smooth-bore fire-arms.

Bizarre Fact #325:
Did you know...
Strawberry Pop Tarts may be a cheap and inexpensive source of incendiary devices. Toasters which fail to eject Pop Tarts cause the Pop Tarts to emit flames 10-18 inches in height.

Bizarre Fact #326:
Did you know...
Table salt is the only commodity that hasn’t risen dramatically in price in the last 150 years.

Bizarre Fact #327:
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The "last meal" for Death Row inmates has became embedded in the American death-penalty ritual. Reporters have dutifully recorded the last meal menus: John Wayne Gacy had fried chicken and strawberries; Ted Bundy passed on steak and eggs; James Smith, executed in Texas in 1990, requested a "lump of dirt" (request was denied); Missouri inmate Lloyd Schlup asked for venison and hare (request was granted).

Bizarre Fact #328:
Did you know...
The average McDonald's Big Mac bun has 198 sesame seeds on it.

Bizarre Fact #329:
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The cashew is part of a fruit that grows in tropical regions called 'a cashew apple'. After harvesting, the cashew apple keeps for only 24 hours before the soft fruit deteriorates. The cashew apple is not commercially important since it spoils quickly, but local people love the fruit. To harvest the nut, the ripe apple is allowed to fall to the ground where natives easily gather it. The apple and nut are separated.

Bizarre Fact #330:
Did you know...
The Chinese developed the custom of using chop sticks because they didn't need anything resembling a knife and fork at the table. They cut up food into bite-sized pieces in the kitchen before serving it. This stemmed from their belief that bringing meat to the table in any form resembling an animal was uncivilized and that it was inhospitable, anyway, to ask a guest to cut food while eating.