Sometimes I like to think about how people were able to find out what we can eat...

Sometimes I like to think about how people were able to find out what we can eat, and in some cases the process in which how it has to be made safe to eat.

Also applies with spices.

Other urls found in this thread:

wikihow.com/Test-if-a-Plant-Is-Edible
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

> can we eat that?
> tries
> either dies or don't

next time you smoke the devils lettuce don't go around makin threads user

i can't smoke the devil's lettuce bc my work does randoms.

I'm actually drinking right now

>thinking people just randomly ate shit that could potentially kill them
You're the dumbass here, friend.

>tfw you just lost your job and now you have to stop smoking dank lettuce because jobs always have a drug test before starting a new one

Ain't you never heard of trial and error?

Error sometimes resulted in death. and with food, it was often painful

wikihow.com/Test-if-a-Plant-Is-Edible

No, i mean thousand's of years ago.

what are you implying here? that people didn't try out new sources of food that sometimes resulted in death or disease?

Looks like it.

Someone had to eat a death cap or two.

they did the same thing

Necessity mostly, along with the human desire to explore and try new things. Some people are natural born tinkerers.

Also, there's money in it.

>feed to pig
>pig doesn't die
>smell it
>smells okay
>rub it on skin
>skin looks fine
>taste a bit then spit it out
>don't die, don't get sick, tasted good
>eat a bit
>don't die
>eat more
>don't die
>incorporate into food

I've thought that about the asshole nomads thousands of years ago that walked around smoking random plants until they found ones that made them dizzy

Yeah pretty much this. But you left out.
>see pig (or other animal) eating a plant
>wonder if you can eat it as well
or
>Making fire to cook food
>Not much around so you use some strange twigs
>Notice that one twig with the leaves makes the fire smell good and the food taste a bit better

People back in the day didn't just walk around eating random things, but they did watch animals and some times stumbled upon spices/herbs.

i think about this too, and i've concluded it's:
1. very close observation of what birds and other animals can eat
2. ancients and prehistory ppl had shamans who would make it their obsession to find out what herbs/spices are edible and what medicinal qualities those had. and anyone who died during the process, well, thats just bad luck for them.most of human history developed from small tribes, families, tight-knit hunting groups. they shared info and weren't niggardly like present-day fags who have patents and shit like that.

>People back in the day didn't just walk around eating random things
Not quite, but they'd go through regular cycles of population growth and famine, and when you're starving you're willing to eat anything that isn't guaranteed to kill you.

>and when you're starving you're willing to eat anything that isn't guaranteed to kill you.
Point made, I had over looked starvation as a discovery tool.

For example, that's how Cambodians discovered that they can eat spiders.

...

>regular cycles of population growth and famine
>that's how cambodians discovered that they can eat spiders

Um, you should probably do yourself a favor and google, "Khmer Rouge".

making bread is stupidly convoluted ,like how the fuck did oog came with it?

>plant seeds
>plant develops
>harvest grain
>grind it into dust
>mix dust with water(at least)
>exposse it to fire for a decent amount o f time

You don't know how bread is made, do you?

But there are lots of toxic plants and other foods that are only edible through the right preparation.

>thousands of years ago they went on the internet on looked up methods for testing the edibility of plants on wikihow

What part wasn't doable thousands of years ago? The scientific method as it's now called isn't new.

It's pretty much made like that. You can use wild grains if you didn't come up with agriculture yet, but you still have to make flour, turn it into dough and cook it.

I think that user is saying they used similar processes to those described there on wikihow, not that they somehow used wikihow despite the internet not having been invented. I'd guess that they'd learn said processes from their elders, who ultimately learned that this sort of thing worked when those who didn't do it frequently died of poisoning.

>if activated charcoal is available
how do i activate my charcoal?

yes and the statement you replied to doesn't exclude that, deadly nightshade is still toxic no matter what way you cook it

can you imagine how many japs died trying to get that puffer fish right?

That's probably what was referring to.

Haha. I always think that. To be fair they probably didn't just through stuff in a pipe to test it. They probably just threw different plants on the fire and gauged the smoke they gave off. If it was nice, they kept doing it,

A lot of stuff I assume people watched animals eating it, realised it didn't kill them, and gave it a shot, if it was nice they kept eating it.
Plus with spices particularly, I think a lot of the deal was they were always looking for different preservatives. cover the meat with this ground up plant, see if it stops it rotting. Might work, otherwise you just find a new flavour

Grain is the craziest food really. Changed everything when we started grass essentially

*eating grass

Steeping (tea's) play a big part in all the weird and wonderful herbs/spices we have.
They put a plant/seed etc. in hot or cold for a while, see what flavours come into the water, some are tasty, others are foul

A ton. Or that giant gross fermented shark in Iceland or Greenland or whatever. Creative folks

This is OP. I’m alive and the stirfry was tasty. Thanks guys.

>applying for jobs that do drug tests

Must suck being bottom of the barrel in the work force.

People just threw shit at the wall and found out what sticks through trial and error. Remember, there wasn't much to do back then as far as recreation

what's that blue shit?

There's an arrow next to the post. Click it, click "image search", it will reverse search the image on google.

Also
>ultra_anal_warrior 597 points 2 years ago
>I believe it is a dye called Egyptian Indigo