Remember the story of Jack and the Beanstalk--that happy tale about a wayward juvenile delinquent who commits burglaries involving coins, a harp, and an auric-oocyte-laying goose and then follows it up with a felony murder when the homeowner attempts to regain his stolen property?
If so, then you will recall the catchy phrase bellowed by the giant of:
"Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum!
I smell the blood of an Englishman.
Be he 'live, or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread."
This utterance always seemed a little weird to me. However, that was before I heard through mental_floss that bakers in England in the 1600s were accused of cutting their bread dough by the addition of ashes and bones. In that context, the rhyme makes perfect sense.
Contrary to these rumors, the bakers probably did not actually employ ashes and bones to dilute the flour; however, they did use alum, which can be bad for you if you eat too much of it. Where did they get the alum? From urine.
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