Random Thursday

It looks like this week's selection of factoids from Leslie Gilbert Elman's Weird But True Facts are geared towards cooking and food! Hopefully this won't disgust me from certain foods now! LOL!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

In England in the 14th century, if bakers were caught tampering with the purity of their bread, they were punished by being led to the pillory with a loaf of bread tied around his neck. If it happened a second time, he might be beaten or have his oven destroyed. Should he do it a third time, he would be run out of town.

I shudder to think what they might actually be doing to their bread!

(image borrowed from Healthline)

In medieval times there was a German tavern owner and his wife who tried to sweeten their wine by mixing roasted pears with it. They were punished by being sent to the pillory with, you guessed it, pears hung around their neck.

Man...you were pretty much punished by wearing a necklace of whatever you were tampering with!

(image borrowed from Spice Jungle)

Pepper didn't use to be so common. At one point it was actually a prized commodity. In the 5th century when the Visgoths sacked Rome, they demanded 3,000 pounds of pepper (among other riches) for it's release.

Fun Fact: In the Middle Ages, pepper was sometimes included in dowries.

I rarely even use pepper on my food! That's interesting!

(image borrowed from The Spice Guy)

In Scandinavia a single woman or man over 30 is called a "pepper madien/man" repectively. This goes back to the 14the century when German merchants worked in Scandinavia but weren't allowed to marry there. Those tradesmen--many of which sold spices--were the only older single people around. Today in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, it's common for a friend's 30th birthday who is still single to receive peppermills as a gag gift.

(image borrowed from Amazon)

In the US the probability of a woman being married by age 30 is 74%. A man being married by age 30 has a probability of 61%.