Is absinthe really hallucinogenic? No, absinthe is not really hallucinogenic. There are many stories of absinthe making people hallucinate. It is often associated with artists and creative people. There is a chemical in it called thujone, which has been cited as the reason why it is hallucinogenic and as the reason why it is harmful. […]
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How does roasting coffee beans change their flavor? Roasting the coffee beans changes their flavor because they lose a lot of water and they start to caramelize. When you buy coffee in a shop, you will most likely be buying roasted beans. You can buy unroasted coffee beans, but you have to seek them out.
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Why can some people tolerate spicy food better than other people? The people who are more able to tolerate spicy food either have fewer taste receptors because of genetics or have desensitized the taste receptors that they do have. We find food that has capsaicin in it spicy. These are foods such as chili peppers
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Did the spice trade change the world? The spice trade changed the world because it not only allowed people to flavor bland or not quite fresh food, but it also allowed for the exchange of wealth and ideas and encouraged exploration. It was the first step on the path to globalization. When you are cooking
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What is a salt road? A salt road is a road that was used in ancient times to transport salt from where it was produced to where it was needed. We don’t think about salt so much these days. Maybe if our meal is a bit bland we might reach for the salt cellar and
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What is vegetable oil? Most vegetable oil is oil extracted from the seeds of plants, and sometimes from the plants themselves. Vegetable oil is an accurate name for the product in that the oil comes from plants, but they are not all technically vegetables. The name was chosen partly because the word “vegetable” conjures up
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Are pasta and noodles the same thing? No, they aren’t, although it is a very ambiguous topic. Pasta doesn’t contain enough egg to be classified as a noodle. You might often hear pasta being called “noodles”, although you almost never hear of noodles being called pasta. What is the difference? It is very unclear for
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Why are many mushrooms dangerous? This is a little bit tricky because not all mushrooms are dangerous, but a lot of them contain toxins that can be harmful or fatal. A lot of plants are also toxic, but they can have edible parts. If you get lost in the wild, the general advice is to
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How do weight loss drugs work? There are different kinds of weight loss drugs, but the most common ones work by suppressing appetite and slowing down how fast the stomach is emptied. A large percentage of people in developed countries are becoming seriously obese. There are many reasons for this. The prevalence of ultra-processed food
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Do Brazil nuts come from Brazil? They do, but there are several other countries that produce them as well. Depending on the year, Bolivia is often a larger producer of Brazil nuts than Brazil is. Before we talk about why Brazil nuts are called Brazil nuts, we need to acknowledge the fact that they are
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