What goes with what

[Kazz]

This thought came to me today so I thought I would ask......how do you think people found that certain foods complimented others so well. I mean who decided that you could fry eggs...or that they would go well with bacon....or that strawberries go with cream......who decided you could stuff a chicken??????????

[angieh]

Such an interesting question Kazz - how on earth did anyone decide to combine flour, butter and eggs to make a sponge mix? All down to the elusive "they" - !

What about odd combinations - such as strawberries and black pepper?

How many people died before someone decided which fungi were safe to eat????? I'm afraid I have more questions than answers.

[Kazz]

Thats what I mean.............I mean who decided that the same mixture that makes pancakes makes yorkshire pudding did they try everything first and who are "they"

[dandysmom]

Good questions, no answers here! Reminds me of the saying "It was a brave man who first ate an oyster" .
Suppose it was trial and error over the millennia.....if enough people died after eating the red mushroom with white spots, but the brown ones were OK ... and so forth.
And speaking of stuffing, think of those awful medieval banquet dishes: a peacock stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a quail stuffed with a dove....how did anybody eat that, much less carve it?

[angieh]

This is quite interesting ..... (sorry don't mean to sound like Stephen Fry - no pun intended either!)

http://www.geocities.com/napavalley/6454/history_part1.html

[dandysmom]

That was fascinating, Angie! Who would have thought yeast went back to 4000 BC !!
Thanks for that link!