149 Food and Drink Trivia Questions and Answers
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Easy Food and Drink Trivia Questions
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What does ABV mean on a drink label?
Alcohol by volume
ABV expresses the percentage of a beverage's volume that is pure alcohol, making it a standard way to compare drink strength.
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What does al dente literally mean in Italian cooking?
To the tooth
Al dente describes pasta that is cooked through but still offers a slight resistance when bitten. The phrase literally refers to the tooth because the texture is judged by eating it.
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Red Bull GmbH, the company behind the energy drink, was founded in which country?
Austria
Dietrich Mateschitz set the company up in Austria in 1984 with Chaleo Yoovidhya, after tasting the Thai tonic Krating Daeng on a business trip, and put the reworked, carbonated version on sale in 1987.
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In a BLT sandwich, what do the three letters stand for?
Bacon, lettuce and tomato
The BLT became a diner standard in the United States once year-round lettuce and tomatoes were widely available.
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What cooking process gives a traditional bagel its chewy crust?
Boiled before baking
Traditional bagels are boiled before baking, giving them their characteristic chewy crust.
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Creaming butter and sugar lightens a cake. What actually does the lifting?
Air beaten into the fat
Sugar crystals act like tiny blades, cutting thousands of small air pockets into the butter as the two are beaten together. Those pockets later expand in the oven as gases and steam form, giving the crumb its open, light structure instead of a dense one.
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What common kitchen ingredient is sodium bicarbonate?
Baking soda
Baking soda is the common kitchen name for sodium bicarbonate, a leavening ingredient.
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What type of food is biryani?
Rice dish
Biryani is a South Asian dish of long-grain rice layered with spiced meat or vegetables and steamed slowly in a sealed pot, usually with saffron and whole spices such as cardamom, cloves and bay.
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Which plant part is dried to make black peppercorns?
Unripe berries
Black pepper comes from unripe berries of the Piper nigrum vine, dried with their skins intact. The same fruit can produce white pepper when the outer layer is removed.
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What major processing difference distinguishes black tea from green tea?
Full oxidation
Black tea leaves are allowed to oxidize extensively before drying, producing their darker color and fuller flavor. Green tea is heated sooner to limit oxidation.
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What starch traditionally gives bubble tea pearls their chewy texture?
Tapioca starch
Tapioca starch comes from cassava and forms the chewy balls often called boba. The pearls are usually boiled and soaked in sugar syrup before being added to the drink.
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Which country is poutine traditionally associated with?
Canada
Poutine originated in Quebec and is traditionally associated with Canada.
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What three ingredients traditionally make up a cappuccino?
Espresso, steamed milk, and foam
A traditional cappuccino combines espresso, steamed milk, and a layer of milk foam. Its name comes from the Capuchin friars, whose brown robes resemble the drink’s color.
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Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil in the colours of the flag - this salad is named after which Italian island?
Capri
A caprese salad pairs tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil in the colors of the Italian flag. Its name means it comes from Capri, an island in the Bay of Naples.
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Which part of the cardamom plant is commonly used as a spice?
Seed pods
Cardamom pods contain many small aromatic seeds. The pods may be used whole, but the seeds provide most of the characteristic flavor.
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The finest cinnamon has thin pale quills and a delicate sweetness, unlike the darker cassia sold as cinnamon. Which country is it traditionally from?
Sri Lanka
Known as Ceylon until 1972, Sri Lanka grows Cinnamomum verum, the species botanists call 'true cinnamon', with the bark peeled from young shoots and dried by hand into tight quills.
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Which compound is chiefly responsible for the heat of chili peppers?
Capsaicin
Capsaicin is the compound chiefly responsible for the heat of chili peppers. It triggers TRPV1 receptors that normally detect high temperatures, making the brain perceive a burning sensation.
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A duck air-dried, glazed and roasted until the skin crackles, then carved at the table. Which country's dish is that?
China
Peking is the old English spelling of Beijing, where the dish was developed for the imperial court. Cooks pump air between the skin and the meat before roasting so it blisters into a thin, crisp shell. It is then carved tableside into pancakes with scallion, cucumber and hoisin sauce.
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How is a churro traditionally cooked?
Deep-fried
Churro dough is piped through a star-shaped nozzle straight into hot oil, which gives the finished stick its ridges, its crisp shell and its soft centre. It is usually rolled in sugar and cinnamon and dunked in thick hot chocolate.
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Which part of a cinnamon tree is dried to make cinnamon sticks?
Bark
Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of several trees in the Cinnamomum genus. As the bark dries, it naturally curls into the familiar quills.
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Which spirit is used in a classic margarita?
Tequila
A classic margarita combines tequila with lime juice and orange liqueur. It is commonly served over ice or blended, often with a salted rim.
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Which spirit is used in a classic mojito?
Rum
A classic mojito combines rum with lime, mint, sugar, and soda water. White rum is the usual choice because it lets the fresh mint and citrus stand out.
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What plant ingredient is fermented and processed to produce chocolate?
Cacao beans
Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree, which are fermented in their pulp for several days, then dried, roasted and ground into a paste. Carob, often sold as a chocolate substitute, comes from a completely different tree and is never fermented.
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What grain product is traditionally used to make couscous?
Semolina
Traditional couscous consists of small steamed granules made from semolina, usually durum-wheat semolina.
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Which city in Burgundy is historically associated with a mustard style named after it?
Dijon
Dijon is the Burgundy city historically associated with Dijon mustard. Traditional Dijon mustard was made with verjuice, the juice of unripe grapes, instead of vinegar.
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How is dulce de leche made?
By slowly cooking sweetened milk until it browns and thickens
Dulce de leche is sweetened milk cooked low and slow for hours until its sugars and proteins brown into a thick, spreadable caramel. A tin of condensed milk simmered unopened in water is the classic shortcut. It is a fixture across Latin America and Spain, spooned into alfajores, pancakes and cakes.
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Which citrus fruit supplies the signature flavor of Earl Grey tea?
Bergamot
Earl Grey is black tea scented with oil from bergamot, a fragrant citrus fruit that resembles a small, rough-skinned orange.
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Mayonnaise belongs to what mixture class?
Emulsion
Mayonnaise is an emulsion, with tiny oil droplets dispersed throughout a water-based mixture. Egg yolk helps stabilize the blend so it stays smooth instead of separating.
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What kind of food is falafel?
Chickpea fritter
Falafel is a fritter traditionally made from ground chickpeas or fava beans and herbs.
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What two substances does yeast typically produce from sugar?
Alcohol and carbon dioxide
Yeast typically converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide through fermentation. The carbon dioxide is what makes bread dough rise.
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Feta cheese is traditionally associated with which country?
Greece
Traditional Greek feta is a brined cheese commonly made from sheep's milk, sometimes blended with goat's milk.
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Gastronomy and gastroenterology come from the same Greek root for the stomach. What does gastronomy study?
Food and the culture around eating
Gastronomy is the study of food and culture: how dishes are made, why a region eats what it eats, and how meals are enjoyed. It joins the Greek gaster, stomach, with nomos, rules. Gastroenterology, from that same root, is the branch of medicine covering the digestive tract.
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Which country is ratatouille traditionally associated with?
France
Ratatouille is a traditional vegetable dish from Provence in France.
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Which botanical must provide gin's predominant characteristic flavor?
Juniper
Gin may contain many botanicals, but juniper is the defining one. Its berries give gin its piney, resinous aroma.
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What type of dish is Italian gnocchi?
Potato dumplings
A familiar Italian form of gnocchi is made as small potato dumplings, often served with sauce.
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Breakfast cereal takes its name from Ceres. What was she the Roman goddess of?
Grain and the harvest
Ceres was the Roman goddess of grain, agriculture and the harvest. The Latin adjective cerealis, 'of Ceres', described grain crops, and English took cereal from it.
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Which legume is the main ingredient in classic hummus?
Chickpeas
Classic hummus combines cooked chickpeas with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. The Arabic word hummus means chickpeas.
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Which country is goulash traditionally associated with?
Hungary
Goulash is Hungary's national dish. The name comes from gulyas, the word for a cattle herdsman, who simmered the beef in a kettle over an open fire; the paprika that gives it colour and heat reached Hungary during Ottoman rule.
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What does IPA stand for in the name of a beer style?
India Pale Ale
IPA means India Pale Ale. Modern IPAs are often recognized for prominent hop bitterness and aroma, although the style has many variations.
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Arthur Guinness signed the lease on the St James's Gate brewery in 1759 for how many years?
9,000
The rent was fixed at 45 pounds a year for the entire term. Guinness was only 34 when he signed the deal on New Year's Eve 1759, taking on roughly four acres of buildings, malthouses and stables at the gate in Dublin.
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Nutella was created by a confectioner in which country?
Italy
Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker in Alba in Piedmont, stretched scarce post-war cocoa with the hazelnuts growing around him. His paste went on sale in 1946 and was reworked and renamed Nutella in 1964.
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Which country is carbonara traditionally associated with?
Italy
Pasta carbonara is a traditional Italian dish associated with Rome.
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Which country is lasagna traditionally associated with?
Italy
Lasagna is a classic dish of Italian cuisine.
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Which country is tiramisu traditionally associated with?
Italy
Tiramisu is a classic Italian dessert.
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Which country is sushi traditionally associated with?
Japan
Sushi is a defining traditional food of Japan.
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Which country's traders and missionaries introduced the batter-frying technique that became tempura?
Portugal
The technique arrived with 16th-century Portuguese Jesuits, who fried fish and vegetables in batter during Lent and other fasting periods when meat was forbidden. The name likely comes from the Latin 'tempora' (fasting days) or the Portuguese 'tempero' (seasoning).
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What kind of food is traditional kimchi?
Fermented vegetables
Traditional kimchi is made by fermenting vegetables, commonly napa cabbage or radish, with seasonings.
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What liquid is traditionally fermented to make kombucha?
Sweetened tea
Kombucha begins as sweetened tea fermented by a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, often called a SCOBY. The finished drink is typically tart and lightly fizzy.
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Beans, lentils, and peas belong to which broad plant-food family?
Legumes
Beans, lentils, and peas are legumes, a group of plants whose seeds grow in pods. Many legumes also enrich soil by partnering with bacteria that convert nitrogen into a usable form.
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Which fruit is the essential base of traditional guacamole?
Avocado
Mashed avocado gives guacamole its creamy texture and mild, buttery flavor. Lime, onion, chile, and cilantro are common additions, but recipes vary by region.
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What sets marmalade apart from jam?
It includes the citrus peel
The word traces back to the Portuguese 'marmelada', a thick quince paste, since quince was the fruit first preserved this way. English cooks later shifted the term to bitter Seville oranges, whose thick-cut peel gives the preserve its characteristic shreds and bitterness.
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Which nut is the main ingredient in traditional marzipan?
Almonds
Marzipan is a sweet paste of finely ground almonds and sugar, often flavored with almond extract or rosewater. It is used for candies, cake decorations, and molded figures.
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What is matcha made from?
Powdered green tea leaves
Matcha is made by grinding specially shade-grown green tea leaves into a fine powder. Unlike steeped tea, the drinker consumes the leaf itself.
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Which country is the taco traditionally associated with?
Mexico
Tacos are a traditional and emblematic food of Mexico.
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What type of seasoning is miso?
Fermented soybean paste
Miso is a Japanese seasoning made by fermenting soybeans with koji and salt. Some varieties also include rice or barley, which changes their flavor and color.
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What grain gives traditional mochi its chewy texture?
Glutinous rice
Mochi is made from glutinous rice that is steamed and pounded into a sticky, chewy dough.
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On a food label, what does MSG stand for?
Monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid that occurs naturally in tomatoes, cheese and mushrooms.
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Heineken lager was first brewed in which country?
Netherlands
Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought the Haystack brewery in Amsterdam in 1864 and switched it to lager brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast.
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Which of these foods carries no dietary fibre at all?
Cheese
Dietary fibre exists only in plant cell walls, the part of a plant's structure that digestive enzymes cannot break down. Cheese is made from milk, curdled and pressed, an animal product from the start, so it contains no fibre no matter how it is aged or processed.
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Paella originated in which Spanish region?
Valencia
Paella developed in the rice-growing area around Valencia on Spain's eastern coast. Traditional Valencian versions often include rabbit, chicken, and green beans rather than seafood.
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Parmigiano Reggiano is a protected cheese from which country?
Italy
Parmigiano Reggiano is produced in specific provinces of northern Italy and aged to develop its firm, crystalline texture.
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What basic treatment defines pasteurization of milk?
Gentle heating
Pasteurization uses controlled heating for a specified time to reduce harmful microorganisms while preserving the food's essential qualities.
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Which herb is the traditional green base of pesto alla Genovese?
Basil
Classic Genovese pesto combines basil with pine nuts, garlic, hard cheese, and olive oil. Other herbs can make different sauces, but not the traditional version.
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Which country's Douro Valley gives its name to a sweet wine fortified with grape spirit?
Portugal
Port is linked especially with Portugal's Douro Valley and the port city of Porto. Fortification adds distilled grape spirit during production.
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What is a potato botanically classified as?
Tuber
A potato is a swollen underground stem that stores nutrients for the plant. True roots, legumes, and bulbs are different botanical structures.
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What kind of meat is prosciutto?
Cured ham
Prosciutto is an Italian ham that is commonly dry-cured and served in thin slices.
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What fruit is dried to make raisins?
Grapes
Raisins are grapes that have been dried until much of their water is removed. Different grape varieties produce raisins with different sizes, colors, and sweetness.
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What grain is the main ingredient in risotto?
Rice
Risotto is made primarily from rice, typically a starchy short-grain variety that creates its signature creamy texture as it cooks.
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Rum is distilled from products of which crop?
Sugarcane
Rum is made from sugarcane juice, syrup, or molasses, a by-product of sugar production. The choice of source and aging method creates major differences among rum styles.
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Which grain is used to brew traditional sake?
Rice
Sake is brewed from rice, water, yeast, and koji mold rather than distilled like a spirit. Koji converts the rice starch into fermentable sugars while yeast produces alcohol.
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Sake is a traditional beverage from which country?
Japan
Sake is brewed from rice with koji mold and yeast. Its parallel fermentation process differs from the usual brewing process for beer.
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Which green fruit is commonly used in Mexican salsa verde?
Tomatillo
Mexican salsa verde commonly uses tomatillos, green fruits related to tomatoes, as a key ingredient.
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Which pantry ingredient has long been used to preserve meat and fish?
Salt
Salt preserves meat and fish by drawing out moisture, making it harder for many spoilage bacteria to grow. This preservation method is called curing.
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What makes sourdough rise?
Wild yeast and bacteria
Sourdough rises because wild yeast ferment sugars and produce carbon dioxide, while bacteria create acids that give it its characteristic tangy flavor. The bubbles in an active starter are a sign that these microbes are working.
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Which country is bibimbap traditionally associated with?
South Korea
Bibimbap is a traditional Korean mixed-rice dish.
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What are most "baby carrots" in supermarket bags actually made from?
Cut mature-carrot pieces
Most bagged baby carrots are mechanically peeled and shaped from ordinary mature carrots. The processing gives them a uniform size and smooth appearance.
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Absolut vodka is distilled in which country?
Sweden
Every bottle comes from a single distillery at Ahus in the far south of Sweden, using winter wheat grown nearby. Lars Olsson Smith introduced the original spirit in 1879 and the export brand launched in 1979.
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What gas creates the characteristic holes in many Swiss-style cheeses?
Carbon dioxide
During fermentation, bacteria release carbon dioxide. Bubbles of that gas become the holes, or eyes, in the cheese as it ripens.
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Nestle was founded in which country?
Switzerland
Henri Nestle, a pharmacist working in Vevey on Lake Geneva, developed a milk-and-cereal food for infants there in 1867 and built the company around it.
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Which country is cheese fondue traditionally associated with?
Switzerland
The earliest known recipe for melting cheese with wine appeared in a 1699 Zurich cookbook, but the dish stayed confined to French-speaking regions until the Swiss Cheese Union promoted it nationwide in the 1930s to boost sagging dairy sales.
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What is the main herb in traditional tabbouleh?
Parsley
Traditional tabbouleh is a Levantine salad in which finely chopped parsley is the main herb, with bulgur, tomato, and other ingredients.
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What is the main ingredient in tahini?
Sesame seeds
Tahini is a smooth paste made from ground sesame seeds. It is a key ingredient in hummus and many sauces from the eastern Mediterranean.
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What legume is traditionally fermented to make Indonesian tempeh?
Soybeans
Tempeh is made by fermenting cooked soybeans into a firm cake held together by a white mold. Fermentation gives it a nutty flavor and dense texture.
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What is a sommelier responsible for in a restaurant?
The wine list and wine service
A sommelier chooses the wines, writes the list, advises diners on what to order and serves the bottles. The word comes from an Old French term for the servant in charge of a household's provisions.
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What does the Italian dessert name tiramisu literally mean?
Pick me up
Tiramisu combines tira, meaning pull or pick, with mi su, meaning me up. The name suits a dessert built around coffee, cocoa, mascarpone, and ladyfingers.
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Tofu is traditionally made by curdling milk from which legume?
Soybeans
Tofu is made from soy milk that has been coagulated and pressed into blocks. The process is comparable to making cheese from dairy milk.
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Which compound gives tonic water its characteristic bitterness?
Quinine
Quinine is an alkaloid historically obtained from the bark of cinchona trees. Modern tonic water contains much less quinine than medicinal preparations did, but it retains the distinctive bitter taste.
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Which grain is traditionally ground to make masa for Mexican tortillas?
Maize
Masa is made from maize that has been simmered and steeped in an alkaline lime solution, a process called nixtamalisation. It loosens the skins, lets the kernels grind into a dough that holds together, and frees the niacin in the grain so the body can absorb it.
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What type of beverage is traditional kefir?
Fermented milk drink
Traditional kefir is made by fermenting milk with kefir grains containing bacteria and yeast. The result is a tangy, slightly carbonated cultured drink.
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Which taste is associated with savory foods such as mushrooms and aged cheese?
Umami
Umami is the savory taste produced largely by glutamate and related compounds in foods including mushrooms, aged cheese, and broth.
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The ice cream brand Haagen-Dazs was created in which country?
United States
Reuben Mattus began selling Haagen-Dazs from the Bronx, New York, in 1960. He invented the name to sound Scandinavian: it means nothing in any language, and Danish does not even use the umlaut.
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In US customary cooking measurements, how many cups are in one gallon?
16
A US gallon contains four quarts, each quart contains two pints, and each pint contains two cups, giving 16 cups total. This is the US customary gallon, not the larger imperial gallon.
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In US cooking measures, how many teaspoons make one tablespoon?
3
In US customary measures, one tablespoon equals three teaspoons.
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Vanilla comes from the fruit of what type of flowering plant?
Orchid
Vanilla is produced by orchids of the Vanilla genus, especially Vanilla planifolia. The familiar vanilla bean is actually a cured fruit pod containing many tiny seeds.
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Which country is pho traditionally associated with?
Vietnam
Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup.
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Citrus fruits are especially rich in which nutrient?
Vitamin C
Citrus fruits are well-known sources of vitamin C. The alternatives are also real vitamins but are not especially associated with citrus fruits.
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Which protein network gives wheat dough much of its stretch and elasticity?
Gluten
Gluten forms when wheat proteins are hydrated and mixed, creating an elastic network that can hold fermentation gases. That network is why wheat bread can rise into a chewy loaf.
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Which grain-kernel parts are removed during refining?
Bran and germ
Refining removes the bran and germ, leaving mostly the starchy endosperm. Since bran and germ contain much of a grain’s fiber and nutrients, some refined grains are enriched with certain vitamins and minerals afterward.
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Which acid gives yogurt much of its characteristic tang?
Lactic acid
Yogurt cultures convert lactose, the sugar in milk, into lactic acid. That acid lowers the pH and creates yogurt's tart flavor.
Medium Food and Drink Trivia Questions
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What is the Italian name for gelato topped with a shot of hot espresso?
Affogato
Affogato means drowned in Italian: a scoop of gelato drowned in a shot of hot espresso, so the ice cream is already melting by the time it reaches the table.
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What is a bain-marie?
A water bath
A bain-marie surrounds a cooking container with hot water, providing gentle, even heat for delicate foods such as custards.
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Which liquid is the traditional base of béchamel sauce?
Milk
Béchamel is milk thickened with a pale roux of butter and flour, usually infused with onion, bay and a little nutmeg. It is one of the French mother sauces, and the base of dishes from lasagne to croque monsieur.
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Which French port city is famous as the home of bouillabaisse?
Marseille
Bouillabaisse began as a fisherman's stew in Marseille, using bony rockfish that were difficult to sell. Modern versions are usually served with broth, fish, and rouille sauce.
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What storage vessel is required for Bourbon under U.S. rules?
New charred oak barrels
Bourbon must be stored in charred new oak containers under U.S. standards; straight bourbon additionally requires at least two years.
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What filling traditionally goes inside a Sicilian cannolo?
Sweetened ricotta
A Sicilian cannolo is traditionally filled with sweetened ricotta, often made from sheep’s milk. The creamy filling may also include candied citrus, chocolate chips, or pistachios.
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What is the defining preparation of ceviche?
Citrus-cured seafood
Ceviche is made from seafood cured in acidic citrus juice rather than cooked by heat.
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Which part of the clove plant is used as the spice?
Flower buds
Cloves are dried unopened flower buds of a tropical evergreen tree. Their strong aroma comes largely from the oil eugenol.
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Which elongated French pastry is made from choux dough and typically filled with cream?
Éclair
An éclair is an elongated French pastry made from choux dough, filled with cream and topped with icing. Croissants are laminated yeast dough; madeleines and financiers are small butter cakes.
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What is the crema on a freshly pulled espresso?
A tan foam layer
Crema is the tan, creamy foam that forms on top of a freshly pulled espresso. It develops as carbon dioxide and coffee oils are released under pressure during extraction.
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What does the Italian pasta name farfalle refer to?
Butterflies
Farfalle means butterflies in Italian, and the pasta is pinched in the middle to create a bow-tie or butterfly shape. The thicker center stays pleasantly chewy when cooked.
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What does it mean to flambé a dish?
Igniting alcohol
Flambéing briefly ignites alcohol in a pan, producing a visible flame and often leaving behind a concentrated flavor after some alcohol burns off.
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On food packaging, what does GMO stand for?
Genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism has had DNA altered using genetic engineering rather than by conventional breeding.
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The soft drink Fanta was invented during the Second World War in which country?
Germany
Wartime trade restrictions cut Coca-Cola's German bottling business off from its syrup, so the man running it, Max Keith, blended a new drink in 1940 out of what he could still get, including whey and apple pomace.
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Which vegetable is commonly used as the base of baechu kimchi?
Napa cabbage
Baechu kimchi is the well-known Korean variety made primarily with napa cabbage and seasonings.
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What process gives seared meat and toasted bread their browned flavors?
The Maillard reaction
The Maillard reaction is a browning reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gets going at high heat, generating hundreds of new aroma compounds and the brown crust on steak, bread and roasted coffee. Unlike caramelization, which is sugar breaking down on its own, it needs protein as well, and it stalls in a wet pan because the surface has to climb past the boiling point of water first.
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What French culinary term means gathering and preparing ingredients before cooking?
Mise en place
The phrase literally translates to 'putting in place.' Culinary schools treat it as a foundational discipline: ingredients are measured, chopped, and arranged within reach before the stove is even turned on, so a cook can execute orders quickly once service begins.
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What fruit part is grated to produce the spice nutmeg?
Seed
Nutmeg is the dried seed of the fruit of Myristica fragrans, an evergreen native to the Banda Islands. The lacy red web wrapped around that seed is dried separately and sold as a second spice, mace.
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Which field covers the science of wine and winemaking?
Oenology
Oenology, from the Greek oinos for wine, deals with fermentation, blending, ageing and the chemistry of the finished bottle. Growing the grapes is a separate discipline called viticulture, and wine schools normally teach the two side by side.
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Botanically, an olive is what kind of fruit?
A drupe
An olive is a drupe: a fruit with a fleshy layer wrapped around a single hard stone, putting it in the same class as cherries, peaches and mangoes. Traditional milling crushes the whole fruit, stone included, into a paste before the oil is separated out.
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What does the Italian pasta name orecchiette mean?
Little ears
Orecchiette are small, round pasta pieces with an indentation that resembles an ear. The shape is strongly associated with Italy's southern Puglia region.
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Paneer is made by curdling hot milk with which kind of ingredient?
An acid such as lemon juice or vinegar
Once the milk is hot enough, acid curdles the proteins almost instantly, so the curds can be strained and pressed within minutes. Because it never develops the enzymes that ripen aged cheeses, paneer stays fresh and firm and does not melt, which is why it holds its shape when fried or simmered in a curry.
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What does the Italian name panna cotta literally mean?
Cooked cream
Panna cotta literally means cooked cream in Italian. The dessert is a sweetened cream mixture set with gelatin and often served with fruit, caramel, or another sauce.
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Rioja wine comes from which country?
Spain
Rioja is a major Spanish wine region along the Ebro River. Tempranillo is one of its best-known grape varieties.
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What two ingredients form the basic foundation of a roux?
Flour and fat
Cooking flour in fat removes its raw taste and creates a thickening base for sauces such as béchamel, velouté, and gravy.
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Which part of the crocus flower is harvested to make saffron?
Crocus stigmas
Saffron consists of the three red stigmas of each Crocus sativus flower. They must be picked by hand, which helps explain why saffron is one of the world's costliest spices.
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How does steaming actually deliver heat to the food?
Steam condensing on the food's surface
When steam meets the cooler surface of the food it turns back into water, and the latent heat it took to boil off in the first place is dumped straight into the food. That is why steaming cooks so much faster than dry air at the same temperature, and why a scald from steam is far worse than one from boiling water.
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Which type of agave must be used to make tequila?
Blue Weber agave
Tequila must be made from Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety, under the applicable Mexican standard.
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What does the scientific name Theobroma cacao mean?
Food of the gods
The name reflects cacao's sacred and elite status in Mesoamerican cultures. Cacao was used in religious ceremonies and royal settings long before modern chocolate bars.
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Which plant do black, green, white, and oolong teas all come from?
Camellia sinensis
Black, green, white, and oolong teas are made from Camellia sinensis leaves. Differences in processing create their distinct styles.
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What kind of drink is vermouth?
Fortified wine
Vermouth is wine strengthened with spirit and flavored with botanicals. Dry and sweet vermouth are common cocktail ingredients.
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Which fat is essential to white chocolate?
Cocoa butter
Cocoa butter is the fat extracted from cocoa beans and gives white chocolate its smooth, creamy texture. Unlike dark and milk chocolate, white chocolate contains no cocoa solids.
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Which English city is reflected in the name of a famous fermented sauce?
Worcester
The sauce was commercialized in Worcester, England, in the nineteenth century. Its savory flavor comes from a fermented blend that traditionally includes vinegar, anchovies, tamarind, and spices.
Hard Food and Drink Trivia Questions
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Which nut is traditionally used in pesto alla Trapanese?
Almonds
Pesto alla Trapanese, the Sicilian version from Trapani, combines almonds with tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil rather than the pine nuts of the Genoese original.
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Which fish is fermented in traditional Worcestershire sauce?
Anchovies
Worcestershire sauce is matured with fermented anchovies, which supply its savoury depth alongside vinegar, tamarind, molasses and spices.
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Which rice variety is traditionally used for Spanish paella?
Bomba
Bomba is a short-grain Spanish variety grown in Valencia and Catalonia that absorbs about three times its volume in liquid while holding its shape. Arborio and Carnaroli are Italian risotto rices.
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Under United States rules, what minimum percentage of a bourbon mash must be corn?
51%
US law requires the grain bill of a bourbon to be at least 51% corn, which is what gives the spirit its sweetness. The rest is usually rye, which adds a peppery bite, or wheat for a softer style, plus a little malted barley to help turn the starch into sugar.
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Which cooking technique helps prevent a sauce from curdling when eggs are added?
Tempering
Tempering gradually brings eggs toward the sauce’s heat before combining them, helping prevent curdling.
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What is the Italian name for the puffy outer rim of a Neapolitan pizza?
Cornicione
Cornicione, from cornice meaning ledge or frame, is the raised outer edge left free of sauce and cheese. A cornetto is a breakfast pastry, a crostino a small toast, and a grissino a breadstick.
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What is cachaça traditionally distilled from?
Fresh sugarcane juice
Cachaça, the Brazilian spirit in a caipirinha, is fermented and distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice. That is what separates it from most rum, which is made from molasses.
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What liquid base is used in a traditional drinking shrub?
Fruit-infused vinegar
A shrub is a sweetened fruit-and-vinegar syrup, originally a way of preserving fruit, mixed with water or soda to make a tart drink or used in cocktails.
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Which Piedmontese confection combines chocolate with hazelnuts?
Gianduja
Gianduja is a smooth Turin confection of chocolate blended with finely ground hazelnuts, created when Napoleonic-era blockades made cocoa scarce and local hazelnuts cheap.
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How does a ristretto differ from a standard espresso?
It is a shorter, more concentrated extraction
A ristretto uses the same dose of coffee but stops the shot early, so less water passes through and the drink is smaller and more concentrated. A longer shot is a lungo.
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What Japanese fermentation term refers to grain cultivated with the mould Aspergillus oryzae?
Koji
Koji is rice or barley inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae; its enzymes break down starch and protein, making it the starter for miso, soy sauce, mirin and sake. Natto is soybeans fermented with a bacterium instead.
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What French cooking term describes a mixture of diced onion, carrot, and celery?
Mirepoix
Mirepoix is the classic French aromatic base of onion, carrot and celery used to flavour stocks and sauces. A roux is flour cooked in fat, a bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs, and duxelles is a mushroom mince.
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Which country helped popularize orange carrots in the 16th and 17th centuries?
The Netherlands
Orange carrots became widespread through cultivation in the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries. The popular story linking their color to the House of Orange is not established as the breeding motive.
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Which substance helps traditional fruit jam set into a gel?
Pectin
Pectin is a plant polysaccharide, abundant in apples and citrus peel, that forms a gel network in the presence of sugar and acid. Lecithin is an emulsifier and gluten a wheat protein.
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Which specialty of Nice is a chickpea-flour flatbread?
Socca
Socca is a thin savoury pancake of chickpea flour, water and olive oil baked in a copper pan, sold by the slice in Nice. Pissaladière is the local onion and anchovy tart.
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Which component gives red wine much of its drying sensation?
Tannins
Tannins, extracted mainly from grape skins, seeds and oak, bind to proteins in saliva and create the astringent, drying feeling that gives red wine much of its structure.
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Which grain is traditionally used to make Ethiopian injera?
Teff
Injera is traditionally made from teff, a tiny gluten-free grain native to the Horn of Africa, fermented for several days before the batter is cooked into a spongy flatbread.
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