Whaddya Think, Doctor Fink?

Giovanni Stanchi Dei Fiori, 1600s, compliments of Wikimedia Commons What is more delicious than ice cold watermelon on a scorching summer day? Mark Twain said it best in his 1894 novel, Pudd’nhead Wilson. “When one has tasted watermelons, he knows what angels eat.” The food that angels eat has been with us for a long time. An image of a watermelon was discovered in the ancient remains of an Israeli mosaic. A 4,300-year-old painting in an Egyptian tomb included a

  No, it’s not Rice Krispies. How about Dribble or Funny Cake? Mincebek, Nysebek, or Zalabia? There are so many names for this humble, popular treat most of us call funnel cake. Basically, it’s fried dough – a sweet that’s been around for thousands of years. Jeff Barto reported in Timonium that “some sources [believe] that fried cakes were consumed in China and Egypt” up to 10,000 years ago. It evolved with the invention of pottery and the stone grinder

  The stories are as yummy as the dogs. Which was first? Perhaps the ancient Egyptians who invented deep frying over 7,000 years ago? The corn dog we know today is a far cry from the ancients. Bar S speculated that modern “corn dogs are such a great idea, more than one person thought of it.” Huh? What’s a corn dog anyway? Basically, it’s a hot dog or sausage dipped in batter, and fried. There’s usually a stick attached for

  It’s totally American. Head back to the 1920s when Girl Scouts spent time outdoors, often huddled around a cozy campfire. They invented a gooey treat made with only three ingredients – graham crackers, toasted marshmallows, and a slab of chocolate. The story claims that the scouts always wanted “some more” of the delicious treat. Loretta Scott Crew, troop leader, published the recipe below in the 1927 edition of Tramping and Trailing With the Girl Scouts. 16 graham crackers 8

  He was creepy. The hairy man with yellowed teeth smelled awful – a mix of cigars, beer, and sweat. He didn’t talk, only grunted. He pursed his lips, glared, and heaved a scarred wooden crate onto his shoulder. The seltzer man scared me. He wasn’t the candy man or the smiling mailman. He didn’t bring bakery cupcakes or milk from the dairy. He brought seltzer in heavy clear, green, and blue bottles to my home in Queens, New York

  Are you a foodie? Do you have royal tastes without Fort Knox to back you? Or are you food-picky: know exactly what you like and don’t like? Either way, eat like a one-percenter virtually. Discover some of the most outrageous and expensive foods in the world. Read on. Let’s start with dinner – maybe a juicy ribeye steak? It’s pricey. Even supermarkets charge $12-$15 per pound. Most people believe that Wagyu or Kobe beef are the true Kingly (more

  Are you furious at the inflated price of eggs? How about a $5 Happy Meal or a $6 bag of potato chips? It’s just pennies to a one-percenter. One-percenters are the top richest people, earning more than 99 percent of the rest of us (below). Their world is filled with the power and luxury of great wealth. In America, one-percenters earn over $820,000 a year. While you might struggle with the cost of a gallon of milk, one-percenters feast

  Would you eat eggy bread for breakfast? Names are us. There are hundreds of millions different names in the world. They tell us who we are, how we’re related to the past, and if we reflect our times. Think Finnian vs Finn, Benedict vs. Benji, or Kordula vs. Katlin. What’s that have to do with eggy bread? Would you eat it if it was called torrejas, the romantic pain á la romaine, or French Toast?  It’s basically all the

  Turn back the clock eight thousand years. You’re a young Indian living in the Andes Mountains in South America. In the distance are wild llamas. They’re eating. You creep closer and see that the critters are munching on a bitter, slightly poisonous tuber. You watch. The animals lick clay before they eat. They’re all safe. Maybe they know something that you don’t? You report back to the tribe. Michele Debczak wrote in Mental Floss that people “started dunking their

  Who doesn’t love a croissant? You can find them in London and France, South Africa and Tel Aviv . . . just about anywhere you go. Are they really all “French”? There are a lot of legends but none have been proven. That means you can choose the story – like the type of croissant – which is most pleasing to your palate. It was 1683 and the city of Vienna was surrounded by attacking Ottoman soldiers. Gareth Busby