‘What were they thinking?’: 20+ Wildest Foods People Still Don’t Understand How Humans Discovered

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Apr 20, 2024 6:00 AM EDT

Even if you were not a fan of history class in school, you have to admit that history and stories about people who lived in the same places we live right now are pretty interesting. My version of history class today as an adult is videos about how people used to get by, mainly explaining small house tasks such as laundry, cleaning, and of course, cooking.

Now the cooking part is the one thing I never got to wrap my head around. I mostly question how people figured out what they can or cannot eat. How does one look at flour and get from it to making bread? How many food items did people combine together to try and make something to eat? How many people hurt themselves while trying to eat something that is completely unedible? So many questions…

I am not the only one with this question, as the subject was asked on AskReddit and a lot of people raised some really interesting points. Scroll down to read the full and funny discussion. After that, click here for a collection of funny Friends memes.

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  • 01
    What is a food that makes you think, "How did humans discover this was edible?"
    via u/needmoresleeep
  • 02
    AnakinCaesar There's a fruit in Brazil that needs to be cooked around 7 days, otherwise it's toxic.
    via u/AnakinCaesar
  • 03
    Leeser Almost every edible mushroom. Lots of trial and error there, I bet.
    via u/Leeser
  • 04
    ItsAWonderfulFife There are old foragers and there are bold foragers. There are no old and bold foragers.
    via u/ItsAWonderfulFife
  • 05
    Austinstart All mushrooms are edible. Some just once.
    via u/Austinstart
  • 06
    Onepopcornman Chocolate. I mean don't get me wrong I get why they were playing around with the plant and all. The sheer process of getting to Chocolate as a
    via u/Onepopcornman
  • 07
    product is so weird and bizarre and kinda gross...and then it comes out as the lovely candy we know and love.
    via u/Onepopcornman
  • 08
    Vanilla_Neko The amount of effort you have to go through to make cashews edible The I did someone figure that out.
    via u/Vanilla_Neko
  • 09
    midunda Cheese is weird. Hey ogg, that milk you were storing has gone weird and lumpy, should I throw it out? Nah, it's still good, pass it here
    via u/midunda
  • 10
    HakimEuphrates Ever think about coffee beans? Hey, I'm gonna roast this seed, smash it up and drown it in hot water. Bet it tastes great.'
    via u/HakimEuphrates
  • 11
    Majestic-Macaron6019. The legend is that a goat herder saw his goats eat the coffee berries and then get all hyper.
    via u/Majestic-Macaron6019
  • 12
    Savior-_-Self The first person to eat an oyster - how hungry was that ? "Hey guys, I found a loogie in this slimy rock! Want some?"
    via u/Savior-_-Self
  • 13
    zerbey I imagine a lot of food discoveries came down to: "Do I eat this weird looking thing or starve to doh?". Then they enjoyed it and told their friends.
    via u/zerbey
  • 14
    sparta981 What the was bread guy doing? What compelled him to collect tiny pieces of grain, dry them out, smash them into a powder, get them wet again (but not too wet), and then put the whole thing over fire?
    via u/sparta981
  • 15
    Magimus Cashews and chocolate are my big two how did you all figure it out and why. So many steps
    via u/Magimus
  • 16
    Onlyhereforthelaughs That blowfish stuff. The kind that they have to be super careful when preparing. How'd they figure out being good enough to prepare it?
    via u/Onlyhereforthelaughs
  • 17
    MyTVC_16 My favourite! "Sorry, your uncle just do after eating that fish you prepared.." "Hmm, maybe if I cut it differently.."
    via u/MyTVC_16
  • 18
    Narf234 Blue cheese...someone left that out for too long, looked at it, shrugged their shoulders and went for it.
    via u/Narf234
  • 19
    genetic_ape Honey. Let's follow these highly territorial mor flies to their stronghold and eat their vomit.
    via u/genetic_ape
  • 20
    nipplesaurus I'm just going to reach my hand into this ball of pain and get some sweet stuff
    via u/ni**lesaurus
  • 21
    Dyrogitory Green Olives? P❤on until soaked in brine? How did that get figured out?
    via u/Dyrogitory
  • 22
    Ok_Acanthisitta5022 I'm pretty sure everything started with one teenage boy daring another to eat it
    via u/Ok_Acanthisitta5022
  • 23
    zerbey Humans are curious creatures. Food is no exception.
    via u/zerbey

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hilarious people history funny stories learning askreddit humans sweet funny people gross food silly food Reddit funny weird animals historic
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