20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 1

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’

Have you ever thought about how humans discovered that some mushrooms were edible or how they came up with the complicated process of making bread or coffee?

Today, we have all the information we need available on the internet, so it’s easier to figure things out, but imagine not knowing what’s poisonous and what’s not and yet being able to discover what to eat and how to eat them. A Redditor recently wondered , “What food made you think how the frick did our ancestors found out this was edible?” Scroll below to see some interesting responses to his question.

More info: Reddit

#1 Bread

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 2

Bread! Like how did someone put all the ingredients together to make the bread!! I think about it all the time.

#2 Chili Peppers

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 3

Chili peppers.

Like imagine finding this pepper, taking a bite, and then feeling your entire mouth feel like it is on fire. Then you decide it’s actually really good though and start including it into dishes to add spice.

#3 Mushrooms

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 4

Some mushrooms that require special preparation. Eat it raw or cook it like most other shrooms and you end up dead. Boil it 3-5 times however, and it’s fine.

Edit: An example of a mushroom requiring this procedure is Gyromitra esculenta.

#4 Honey

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 5

Honey. When something is guarded by swarms of easily pissed off insects with poisoned a*s darts, you would think that would be enough of a deterrent that nobody would f**k with it.

#5 Coffee

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 6

Coffee. Can’t eat the beans as-is; gotta roast ‘em first. Whoops, not yet; gotta grind ‘em. Hmm, not quite right yet, let’s pour water over them and drink the water. Hmm .. let’s try using hot water. Perfect!

#6 Oysters

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 7

Oysters.

Someone looked at that snotty looking thing from a shell and thought “yeah I’m gonna put that in my mouth”

#7 Puffer Fish

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 8

Puffer fish; only a small part of the fish is edible and the rest is deadly poisonous, so how did they find out which bit was edible.

#8 Rice

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 9

Rice, who looked at a piece of thicc grass and thought: “yeah, I’ll dry it out, bash it about then polish it and boil it just before it turns into a sloppy mess”

#9 Nopales

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 10

Nopales, a kind of cactus, and it’s fruit have been a staple in Mexico for millennia. I’ve always wondered what went through our ancestors’ heads. “That plant and it’s fruit is covered in thorns…I bet they’re delicious”.

#10 Durian

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 11

Durian! It’s super spiky, it seems like it’d be tough to open (though I’m not 100% sure) and apparently it smells rank.

#11 Truffles

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 12

anon said:

Truffles

ElectricErik replied:

If the pigs are eating it, it must be f*****g delicious

#12 Lobster

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 13

Lobsters. “Well this looks horrifying, i think I’ll taste it. “

#13 Gympie-Gympie Plant

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 14

The fruit of the gympie-gympie plant. It is also known as the suicide plant because its sting is so painful that there have been reports of people and animals taking their own life to escape the pain, which can last for days or even years. The sting is delivered by tiny hairs that cover the whole plant, yet someone was able to discover that if you painstakingly remove each hair from the fruit, it is edible.

#14 Cassava

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The cassava…

“However, cassava is poisonous unless it is peeled and thoroughly cooked. If it is eaten raw or prepared incorrectly, one of its chemical constituents will be attacked by digestive enzymes and give off the deadly poison cyanide. As little as two cassava roots can contain a fatal dose.”

#15 Snails

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 16

Snails. Our ancestors must have been friggin’ starving!

#16 Castoreum

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 17

Castoreum. A sweet-tasting exudation that comes from glands near a beaver’s a*****e. “Damn this beaver a*s smells great, wonder what it tastes like?”

#17 Yogurt And Cheese

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 18

Yogurt and cheese. It’s like first of all they start drinking cow juice from cow titties. Then they save some for later. It goes off. Voila cheese

#18 Maple Syrup

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 19

Maple syrup. “Let’s poke a hole in this here tree, collect the sap, boil it for three days and see what happens”

#19 Sea Urchin

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 20

Sea urchin

#20 Heart Of Palm

20 Puzzling Foods That Might Make You Think ‘How The Frick Did Our Ancestors Find Out This Was Edible?’ - 21

Heart of palm

“Ugh, i’m bored… I’m gonna eat this tree now”

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Saumya Ratan

Saumya is an explorer of all things beautiful, quirky, and heartwarming. With her knack for art, design, photography, fun trivia, and internet humor, she takes you on a journey through the lighter side of pop culture.