Bad smells in your fridge can be effectively absorbed by placing a sideplate of freshly ground coffee in there overnight.
The pistachio nut is known as the ‘smiling nut’ in Iran and the ‘happy nut’ in China. It is considered lucky in both of these countries if you happen to be sitting under a pistachio tree and hear the shells snapping open.
During the Siege of Paris (1870-71), starving French citizens headed to the zoo for food after the city zoo announced it could no longer feed the animals. You could have your zebra, giraffe, elephant and gnu roasted, sautéed, poached or grilled – no one would touch the hippos though.
9.5bn cups of coffee are drunk each year in Italy, enough to fill the Colosseum twice!
You know that 100% orange juice, ‘not from concentrate’ that you buy from the supermarket? Well it’s still completely artificially flavoured. The juice is stored in huge vats and the oxygen is removed, which removes the flavour so the manufacturers use fragrance companies to create the smell and taste of oranges.