A Mystery Solved

We’ve had a large bag of what we once thought was baking soda sitting on our shelf for about 4 months. The reason it was sitting on the shelf (and not being used) was because we weren’t sure what it was. That was until yesterday, when a chemical engineer was eating lunch at our house and Brin asked him his opinion. Now we know the truth…

It all started when I couldn’t get my pancakes to rise. I went on a quest for baking soda. After an internet search, I learned it is call bicarbonato here. It seemed all the grocery stores were out of bicarbonato. I went to a restaurant supply store (or at least that’s what I think it was) and was able to buy about 4 pounds of bicarbonato. I excitedly made pancakes the next day. As we were eating the pancakes there seemed to be a very strong chemical smell to them. My desire to eat pancakes overcame my aversion to the odor and even my concern that we were eating something that had a strong chemical smell.

That was the first and last time we cooked with my special bag of bicarbonato. Later, we were able to find bicarbonato at the grocery store and so the big bag was retired to the shelf, where it remained until yesterday. We were having lunch with one of Brin’s English students, who happens to be a chemical engineer at a local soft drink factory. If we got the translation right, what we thought was baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) was actually ammonium bicarbonate. Judging from the way he and his wife were laughing at us when we told them we ate the pancakes, I don’t think it is harmful. Now we’re thinking we will just use it in some science experiment, maybe a volcano or something. Stay tuned to hear about more adventures of the mysterious bag of bicarbonato!