When I was a kid and visiting Belgium over the summer

[conuly]

I had a lot of trouble eating ice cream neatly. For some reason I had it in my head that you should eat your cone from the bottom up. (Tip I found out on the internet: If you're using cones that are slightly open at the bottom you can plug up the gap with a marshmallow.)

That same summer my grandmother told me one day that soup was better in hot weather (not that it ever gets that hot in Wavre) because you sweat and that cools you down. I don't know if my grandfather expressed agreement, or if he even was in the room, but I'm certain he didn't disagree.

"Hot food for hot weather" is a widespread folk-ism. My grandmother of course was Walloon, and my grandfather's family was... from... idk, somewhere in Tsarist Russia's general sphere of influence. I don't know if it's entirely true, but people from regions where it's widespread certainly do believe it.

Has anybody ever really mapped where it's found, though? People will say that the grandmothers here or there believe it, but has anybody actually sat down and recorded where this belief is most widespread, and among whom? Or when it started?

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Comments

[reynardo]

In the heat of Australian summer (100 F or 38 C is not uncommon) my Dad always insisted that hot tea made you sweat and cooled you down.

[fred_mouse]

I should have read further down the comments -- I mentioned tea in Australian summer in reply to a comment above, although I don't remember the 'because it makes you sweat'.