Culinary Quiz - 5/6
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TinkerBelz · 05-06-2007, 11:36 AM

So get out a pen and paper - number it from 1-10 and see how many you can get right. Then tell us how many you aced and how many you....well, missed!

QUESTIONS (Answers are below)

1) This item was so expensive up until the 1500s that it was used in small amounts in medicines, but not in food.
[a] saffron; [b] vanilla; [c] sugar

2) Which of the following are mentioned in the Old testament and are among the earliest cultivated foods?
[a] almonds and dates; [b] rice and wheat; [c] basil and saffron

3) Those with thyroid problems should avoid eating large amount of these foods.
[a] salt and lemons; [b] cabbage and cauliflower; [c] asparagus and broccoli

4) There are 3 varieties of this cheese, a 'white', a 'red' and a 'blue veined'. It is the oldest named cheese made in the British Isles.
[a] Stilton; [b] Caerphilly; [c] Cheshire

5) What are the 3 major fruits native to North America?
[a] apples, blueberries, Thompson seedless grapes; [b] cranberries, Concord grapes, apples; [c] blueberries, Concord grapes, cranberries

6) This large vegetable is best eaten when about 18 inches long, although they can grow to twice that size. They are related to the black eyed pea, and are popular in China. Name this vegetable.

7) These fungi are common on plant leaves and in the intestinal tracts of warm blooded animals. They are also found in the soil and in saltwater. Some are also used in food and vegetable production. Name this fungi.

8) The seeds and leaves of these evergreen trees and shrubs contain poisonous alkaloids that stop the heart of an animal so quickly that no symptoms are seen; the animal just drops dead. The flesh of the berries are the least poisonous parts. These trees were sacred to the Druids, and wood from the trees was formerly used to make long bows. Name this tree.

9) What is a deep dish (casserole or souffle dish) fruit pie (peach is most common) with only a top biscuit dough crust?

10) This black, bulbous fungus is considered by most U.S. farmers as a plant disease. The Aztecs considered it a delicacy, and it is still prized in Mexican cuisine.

ANSWERS

1) [c] Up until the 1500s, sugar was so expensive that is was used in small amounts as medicine and to sweeten wine, but not in food.

2) [a] Historians generally agree that almonds and dates, both mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, were among the earliest cultivated foods.

3) [b] Those with thyroid problems should avoid eating large amounts of cabbage or cauliflower. They both interfere with the body's absorption of iodine, needed by the thyroid gland.

4) [c] Cheshire cheese is the oldest cheddar type cheese, and the oldest named cheese in the British Isles. There are 3 varieties, a white, a 'red' (actually yellow in color) which is dyed with annatto, and a blue-veined variety originally considered undesirable when it occurred accidently.

5) [c] Cranberries are one of only three major fruits native to North America. Concord grapes and blueberries are the others.

6) Yard long beans, also known as Asparagus bean, dow gauk, Chinese long beans, Peru bean, and Snake bean.

7) Yeast.

8) The Yew. Native Americans used the bark and twigs of the Canadian Yew to make a tea used to treat influenza, and the Pacific Yew is currently being studied as the source for a drug to treat some cancers.

9) A Cobbler.

10) Corn smut is a black, bulbous fungus which causes corn kernels to swell to many times their size. Most U.S. farmers consider it a disease, and destroy infected plants. However, the Aztecs considered it a delicacy, and it is still prized in Mexican cuisine. Also known as Mexican truffle, huitlacoche, cuitlacoche, and maize mushroom. It
can be found in gourmet markets fresh, canned and frozen. It has a sweet, smoky flavor.