If you want a snack that really wo n’t go defective , consider the fruitcake . Conservationists working with artifacts from Cape Adare , Antarctica , just discovered a unco well - preservedfruitcakedating back a full hundred , according toGizmodo .
The fruitcake dates back to Robert Falcon Scott’sdisaster - plaguedTerra Nova outing , which began in 1910 . Documentation proves that Scott fetch tins of the same Huntley & Palmers fruitcake with him to Cape Adare , about 1700 mile south of New Zealand .
The 106 - year - old crackpot tin is rusted and its paper wrapper damaged — though still largely intact — but the patty itself “ was in fantabulous condition , ” as apress releasefrom the New Zealand - basedAntarctic Heritage Trust , whose researchers break the tin , describes . The liberation says it “ looked and smelt ( almost ) eatable , ” which is a glowing follow-up for a food for thought that see back to William Taft ’s presidency .
Why fruitcake ? “ It ’s an idealistic in high spirits - energy intellectual nourishment for Antarctic shape , and is still a favored item on forward-looking trips to the Ice , ” according to the AHT ’s project handler for artifacts , Lizzie Meek . Four AHT conservators have been working to preserve almost 1500 artifacts from Cape Adare , where Norse Internet Explorer Carsten Borchgrevink erected the first buildings in Antarctica . ( Scott ’s expedition later used the same hutch . ) They ’re still standing , and the AHT ’s next projection will be preserving the structures .
The Cape Adare internet site is an Antarctic Specially Protected Area , and the trustfulness is exploit under a permit that postulate its curator to return any artifacts to the huts after they ’ve been restored , meaning Scott ’s fruitcake will finally go back to where it was obtain .
Surprisingly , this is not the first fruitcake that has stayed edible for more than a 100 . Fidelia Ford made a holiday fruitcakein 1878 , and it ’s still in the family . It ’s not quite fresh , though . One of Ford ’s descendants reviewed it thusly : “ Not much of a preference , no , and not good . ” Given that Scott ’s fruitcake is set to hark back to Cape Adare finally , it ’s doubtful that anyone will get a taste . We ’ll just have to use our mental imagery .
[ h / tGizmodo ]
All images courtesy Antarctic Heritage Trust
