Of the many outrageous entries in the Guinness Book of World Records, food stories are perhaps some of the most entertaining. People around the world boast about foods of all kinds and sizes, from giant novelty-sized snacks to million dollar meals.
Although there are many food-related world records that exist, Guinness World Records has banned new entries that involve eating or drinking. This restriction was enforced to prevent potential record seekers from causing themselves harm by ingesting dangerous amounts of food or drink. In some cases, before the rule was enforced, there were even people who swallowed inedible items like trees and bicycles! Luckily, these records have been removed from the "Guinness Book of World Records" since 1991.
In particular, things like sword swallowing have been strictly banned because the current world record holders have already surpassed what is considered safe levels for humans to tolerate. In addition, Guinness World Records has also stated that all oversized food items produced in the quest to obtain a world record must be entirely edible and distributed to willing consumers after the event is over, in order to reduce food waste.
Do you like sandwiches? If you do, you might want to plan a trip to Lebanon.
The longest sandwich ever made was assembled in Lebanon in 2011 and measured 735m!
The sandwich started in one part of town and ended on a different street. In total, it took 136 people to prepare and cook the sandwich, and another 639 volunteers to fill it! The entire process took about 22 hours. For the chefs behind this masterpiece, there was one crucial puzzle to solve; how could they find an oven big enough in which to bake a 735m-long loaf of sandwich bread?
The answer was very innovative. In order to set this world record, four movable ovens were built especially to cook the bread in one long continuous piece. After the pieces of dough were joined together, the movable ovens rolled over the bread, cooking it as they passed.
As for what the sandwich tasted like, only the lucky participants who helped fill it can tell you. All we know is that the list of ingredients is very long indeed; chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayonnaise, red vinegar, salt, mustard, white pepper, lemon juice, spices and coriander.
If you're not a big fan of sandwiches, perhaps you're more of a pizza person.
The largest circular pizza ever baked was made in Norwood, South Africa in 1990. It weighed 12,194kg! The pie measured more than 37m in diameter and contained, among other ingredients, 4,500kg of flour. That's about the weight of four elephants!
After a heavy meal of sandwiches and pizza, you'll probably be looking for dessert. Where better to go, than to Merida, Venezuela, home to the Coromoto ice cream shop? After all, this is where you will find the largest number of ice cream flavours in the world.
Upon entering the shop, you will soon discover that Coromoto is not only home to the most ice cream flavours in the world, but also perhaps some of the most unusual. In addition to chocolate or strawberry, Coromoto also serves original creations like tomato, garlic, and cream of crab.
On any given day, Coromoto has about 60 flavours on offer, but it was their total flavour count of 860 that won them the world record. Customers love coming into the shop to try new flavours and combinations. The house special is called 'Pabellon Criollo' and combines the flavors of the traditional Venezuelan meal of beef, rice, plantain, cheese, and black beans.
Perhaps because of the sheer number of flavours, customers often have a difficult time choosing and opt to go for a combination instead. Avocado and corn, spaghetti and beef...the options are endless!
If you really have trouble making up your mind, you may just give Dimitri Panciera a run for his money.
In 2012, he set the world record for having the most ice cream scoops balanced on one cone; 71 scoops!
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