Food Related Myths?

[Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew]

@Captain_Carrot

Huh? I thought it was the other way around: skins taste crappy, but have all the nutrients.

Nope. Cecil has addressed the potato skin scam.

[Leiko]

People used to tell me, “Don’t let the mushrooms soak, they’ll absorb the water!” I never figured out why that would be much of a problem: if you’re eating them raw, they’ll be firmer, and if you’re cooking them beyond a certain point, they’re going to release their own moisture anyway, so an extra few milliliters of water isn’t going to hurt.

@overlyverbose

My grandfather used Listerine to clean vegetables sometimes. I think, for him, it was the Jewish version (or just the crazy, not-religiously-affiliated version) of Windex from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. He also washed his hair in Listerine because he was convinced it prevented dandruff.

Listerine is antiseptic and I think astringent, so it can be helpful against certain kinds of dandruff, or just when your hair is too oily. I don’t think I’d ever want to wash vegetables with it.

[KneadToKnow]

@Leiko

People used to tell me, “Don’t let the mushrooms soak, they’ll absorb the water!” I never figured out why that would be much of a problem: if you’re eating them raw, they’ll be firmer, and if you’re cooking them beyond a certain point, they’re going to release their own moisture anyway, so an extra few milliliters of water isn’t going to hurt.

Regardless, Alton smashed this one. His testing found that while, yes, mushrooms absorb a certain amount of water rather quickly, that amount does not increase significantly with time (as in soaking).

[Indyellen]

@even_sven

Many cultures, from Latin America to East Asia, have a system of hot/cold food. Basically every food is either “hot” or “cold” (and it doesn’t always make sense. I believe in Mexico all soups are “cold”) and there are all kinds of dangers awaiting the person that mixes hot and cold food wrong.

Actually, this likely has to do with Humorism, or the “Four Humours”. It’s a medical theory from ancient and medieval Europe, but there is also a variation in Ayurvedic Medicine, also.

I didn’t realize a lot of it still carried over, though.

[VinylTurnip]

Canola oil, aspartame, and sucralose are all deadly poisonous to humans.

[rjk]

@longPath

If you eat aged Cheddar Cheese before bed you will have nightmares.

Hmmm. I must have slept through them.

[Lust4Life]

@lost4life

Check the Join Date pal!

I did,no offence meant to you but you’ve got to admit it IS kind of spooky.

[Caricci]

@FriarTed

I would be very much surprised if that is part of the theology of even the most extreme Orthodox sect.

I will admit the “pork -> Hell” thing may be part of some extreme versions of Islam, tho.

Forgive me for not using a smiley. I do know you won’t actually go to hell; I was just going along with the spirit of your original post on the subject.

So, anyway:

[Arglefraster]

One I heard from my husband and his family, is that eating ice cream after you eat crabs will upset your stomach. The odd thing is, I have yet to find anyone else who had heard this myth. Initially I though this was a Maryland-based myth (I met my husband shortly after moving to Baltimore from Indiana, and his family are all born-and-raised Baltimoreans), but I’ve talked to other born-and-raised Baltimoreans who have never heard this. May be related to the fish and milk thing that previous posters have mentioned tho.

[lost4life]

@Lust4Life

I did,no offence meant to you but you’ve got to admit it IS kind of spooky.

I sometimes read your posts and for a second think “When did I write that???”

Seems I made a post about your name, but can’t find it right now. Anyway, I don’t make enough noise around here to be noticed .

l4l