TouchéGet the appFood & Drink trivia questions
Ten questions to try. Pick an answer to see why.
01Which vegetable do pickles come from?Try itHide
Answer: Cucumber
WhyDuring World War II the US government sent 40 percent of the country's pickle production to the armed forces. Cleopatra is said to have credited pickles in her diet for her beauty.
02What do you call an egg cooked in water without its shell?Try itHide
Answer: Poached
WhyA whirlpool helps. Stir the water into a spin before the egg goes in, and the white can wrap around the yolk.
03Which cheese melts on a classic pizza?Try itHide
Answer: Mozzarella
WhyIts name means "cut off," from the Italian verb mozzare, for the way portions are separated from the stretched curd. Fresh mozzarella squeaks when you chew it.
04A bread knife has what kind of edge?Try itHide
Answer: Serrated
WhyThe teeth touch the loaf at only a few small points, which raises the pressure at each one. That is how they break through a firm crust without crushing the soft crumb.
05Which plant do green, black and oolong teas all come from?Try itHide
Answer: Camellia sinensis
WhyWhat separates them is how far the leaves are allowed to oxidize. Green tea is unoxidized, oolong is partly oxidized, and black tea is fully oxidized, which is why Chinese calls black tea "red tea."
06What do bakers call the last rise of shaped dough?Try itHide
Answer: Proofing
WhyThe word has a second job. Bakers also proof yeast to check that it is alive: drop it in warm water with a little sugar, and a layer of foam means it is feeding. In Britain the dough rise is called proving.
07A dish topped with browned cheese or crumbs is called what?Try itHide
Answer: Au gratin
WhyGratin comes from the French gratter, "to scrape," because the browned crust had to be scraped out of the dish. The word did not appear in English until 1846, though the method is older.
08Mayonnaise is an example of which kind of mixture?Try itHide
Answer: Emulsion
WhyThe egg yolk does the holding. Its lecithin is an emulsifier that lets oil and lemon juice or vinegar stay mixed, and in egg sauces like mayonnaise the egg does not set the way it does in a custard.
09Which herb is the main ingredient of tabbouleh?Try itHide
Answer: Parsley
WhyTraditional Levantine tabbouleh has more herbs, mainly parsley, than bulgur, while Western versions tend to flip that ratio. Lebanon has a National Tabbouleh Day, held on the first Saturday of July since 2001.
10In French, "sauté" literally means what?Try itHide
Answer: Jumped
WhyThe food is meant to jump. Cooks toss it with a sharp jerk of the pan, so the pieces hop around in a thin film of fat. Crowd the pan and the steam cannot escape, so the food stews instead of browning.
That was 10 of 200.
The rest are in the app, each with the story behind the answer.