Remember Mikey? You know, the kid in that old Life Cereal commercial where two young boys push a cereal bowl over to little Mikey to try the new, “healthy” cereal, only to be stunned when Mikey dives in, and one blurts out, “He likes it!”
So who was the Mikey who determined that you can enjoy a nectarine or apple skin, but not an avocado or orange covering? Who went out and brought back the “right” salad mushrooms…the ones that didn’t make you high, or kill you?
Someone decided to allow papaya to ripen and tossed the orange rind, but later on someone decided to shave an unripe fruit’s inside and turned it into a delectable salad? Just how long was the trial-and-error period to settle on cooking artichokes at medium heat for 55-minutes so that those delectable leaf bottoms are tooth-pliable? Who smartly opted to shave off those prickly leaf ends? Artichokes, sure; cacti, no.
Why would someone li hing mui things? Sure, it all worked out and perhaps was a neat preservative 150-years ago, but sweet, sour, AND salty together?! Genius! And how did a plum with spices become “crack seed”? Of course, back in the day, Yick Lung was voted most likely to “suck seed” (get it?).
And who knew that some fish must be cooked, some can be eaten raw, some are great when poke-d, and some should be completely avoided (trunkfish, stonefish, poorly handled blowfish- who made that call!). Would you order blowfish if told the regular chef was off that night, but Jimmy, the dish cleaner, was handling blowfish carving duties?! And why must some restaurants insist that I choose my lobster? I mean, they don’t allow me to pick my cow for a filet mignon.
Undercooked meat might seem to be a delicacy for some, but undercooked pork or chicken- not ready for prime time. Someone(s) figured this out… and lived to tell about it. Nuts, you say!? Er, cashews? Great… but raw- not so good (i.e.- possibly toxic).
And who figured what “edible” flowers to garnish meals with? Surely someone chomped on oleander or plumeria… And that’d ruin a baby luau. In old Rome, they allegedly used food tasters. Court jesters- funny. Court tasters- not so much. Not a real secure career choice. Some undoubtedly learned by watching what animals eat. Not foolproof, sometimes logical, but surely food for thought.
Think about it…