burning questions
ok, so they may not be burning you, but for me they have all been driving me crazy for some time, so i’ve been collecting them. comment with your own and any answers you have…
- what the hell is m.s.g.? yeah, cool, there’s the nomsg folks but what was it before, like what actual stuff do they have to mess with to make it into m.s.g.?
- same with baking soda and baking powder. do they mine that stuff from a mountain somewhere? is it really really really ground up vegetable or mineral matter? the difference between the two is simple enough, but it’s this weird white powder! what the fuck was it before?
- being a fan of italian soda (like you make in the cafe with torani syrup), i didn’t know what the orgeat flavor was. yes, it’s almond. mix with hazelnut for a deliciousity to remember. or something.
- why do playing cards have a diamond, a spade, a club and a heart? there’s a very impressive and scholarly and more extensive answer than you prolly want to read, but it has to do with chinese domino-like thingies, way back, being transmuted into spanish games, etc. long before your mama’s mama’s mama was born.
- i’ve long wondered how many of us out there are afflicted with ACHOO (Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst Syndrome). hannah holmes, a frequent columnist for discovery online has an interesting piece on it, that says about 20-30% of us.
- how big is betelgeuse? fuckin big. my sister told me it was basically the size of the earth’s orbit around the sun. still trying to get my brain around that, i saw at that site that it will probably shrink down to the size of the earth, in its post-kablooey state. zow.
October 13th, 2002 at 10:58 am
Re MSG: msg facts
Re Baking Soda:
from arm & hammer
What is Baking Soda? Baking Soda, a sodium bicarbonate, is a naturally
occurring substance that is present in all living things–it helps living things
maintain the pH balance necessary for life. Baking Soda is made from soda ash,
also known as sodium carbonate. The soda ash is obtained in one of two ways: it
can be manufactured by passing carbon dioxide and ammonia through a concentrated
solution of sodium chloride (table salt). In our case, it is mined in the form
of an ore called trona. Whether the soda ash is mined or processed, it is
dissolved into a solution through which carbon dioxide is bubbled, and sodium
bicarbonate precipitates out, forming ‘Pure, Safe and Natural” ARM & HAMMER®
Baking Soda. It is pure enough (more than 99%) to be listed in the United States
Pharmacopoeia (USP) since 1848.
See how stuff works
for the lowdown on baking powder.
October 13th, 2002 at 10:59 am
i always thought msg was like the crack of the food world. now i know. thanks, jt!