🍯 #3 answers: Food Through Time

Archaeologists digging in ancient Egyptian tombs have found pots of honey thousands of years old that hadn't spoiled.

Honey is so sugary, low in water and acidic that microbes can't survive in it.

“Modern archeologists, excavating ancient Egyptian tombs, have often found something unexpected amongst the tombs’ artifacts: pots of honey, thousands of years old, and yet still preserved.”

Peanuts aren't really nuts at all: botanically they are legumes, part of the same family as peas and beans.

They grow in pods underground, which is a big clue to their bean-family roots.

“The peanut (Arachis hypogaea), also known as the groundnut, goober (US, via Kikongo), goober pea, pindar (US, via Kikongo) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds, contained in underground pods.”

The word 'ketchup' probably comes from a Chinese word for the salty brine of pickled fish or shellfish.

Early ketchups were made from things like mushrooms, oysters and walnuts before tomatoes took over.

“Both pronunciations of the same word (膎汁, kôe-chiap / kê-chiap) come from the Quanzhou dialect, Amoy dialect, and Zhangzhou dialect of Hokkien, respectively, where it meant the brine of pickled fish or shellfish (膎, 'pickled food' (usually seafood) + 汁, 'juice').”

The sandwich is named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, an aristocrat in 18th-century England.

Sandwich is a town in Kent; the earl's title made it a household word.

“The sandwich is named after the inventor of a certain roast-beef sandwich in 18th-century England, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.”

Archaeologists in China found a bowl of noodles about 4,000 years old at a site called Lajia.

They are the oldest physical evidence of noodles found so far.

“The oldest physical evidence of noodles was from 4,000 years ago in China. In 2005, a team of archaeologists reported finding an earthenware bowl that contained 4,000-year-old noodles at the Lajia archaeological site, made by the Qijia culture.”

Chewing gum made from birch bark tar, about 5,000 years old and still showing tooth marks, was found in Finland.

People have chewed tree tars and resins since the Stone Age.

“5,000-year-old chewing gum made from birch bark tar, with tooth imprints, has been found in Kierikki in Finland.”

Instant noodles were invented in Japan by Momofuku Ando, the founder of the Nissin Foods company.

He launched them in 1958; Cup Noodles followed in 1971.

“Instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando of Nissin Foods in Japan.”

Food was being sealed in tin cans for decades before anyone patented a can opener to get it out again.

Early cans were opened with knives, chisels or even hammers.

“Although preservation of food using tin cans had been practiced since at least 1772 in the Netherlands, the first can openers were not patented until 1855 in England and 1858 in the United States.”

The ancient city of Cyrene relied so heavily on a plant called silphium that most of its coins showed a picture of it.

Silphium later vanished, possibly the first extinction in recorded history.

“It was an essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore an image of the plant.”

Ancient corn cobs used for popping, dating as far back as 4,700 BCE, have been found at sites on the coast of Peru.

Popcorn is one of the oldest snacks in the Americas.

“Between 2007 and 2011, evidence as early as 4,700 BCE for popping corn was discovered as macrofossil cobs at the Paredones and Huaca Prieta archaeological sites on the northern coast of Peru.”