80 Food Trivia Questions and Answers

Food trivia questions: 8 rounds

Start with familiar ingredients, take a trip around the menu or save dessert for last. Each round has ten questions to read aloud or play with the cards above.

Easy food trivia

Keep shaking a jar of heavy cream long enough and it separates into liquid and which familiar spread?#1Show Answer

Butter

What builds up inside a hot popcorn kernel until its shell bursts?#2Show Answer

Steam — water inside the kernel heats up and creates pressure

Which leafy herb gives classic green pesto its color and much of its flavor?#3Show Answer

Basil

Which golden spice helps give American-style yellow mustard its bright color?#4Show Answer

Turmeric

Those tiny marzipan fruits aren't made of fruit. Which nut is their main ingredient?#5Show Answer

Almonds

The edamame pods beside your meal contain the young version of which beans?#6Show Answer

Soybeans

What crunchy vegetable is grated or chopped into the yogurt dip tzatziki?#7Show Answer

Cucumber

Polenta can be served creamy or cooled and sliced. Which grain is ground to make it?#8Show Answer

Corn, also called maize

For a traditional meringue, do you whip the egg whites or the yolks with sugar?#9Show Answer

The egg whites

A jar of tahini looks a little like nut butter. Which seeds are ground to make it?#10Show Answer

Sesame seeds

Before it reaches your plate

A truffle shaved over pasta isn't a chocolate. Is it a fungus or a root vegetable?#11Show Answer

A fungus

Before capers go into a jar, are they unopened flower buds or tiny olives?#12Show Answer

Unopened flower buds

Which spice is made from a tree's inner bark and often sold in curled sticks?#13Show Answer

Cinnamon

Saffron threads are carefully picked from which part of a crocus flower?#14Show Answer

The stigmas — the red, threadlike parts of the flower

We often call it ginger root. Botanically, is the part we grate a root or an underground stem?#15Show Answer

An underground stem, called a rhizome

Photos show cranberries floating at harvest time. Do the berries actually grow underwater?#16Show Answer

No — they grow on low vines, and growers can flood the beds to collect the floating berries

Cacao pods look heavy. Do they grow directly on the trunk and large branches, or dangle from thin twigs?#17Show Answer

Directly on the trunk and large branches

The little green beads in a broccoli head are mostly what unopened parts of the plant?#18Show Answer

Flower buds

Nutmeg has a second spice wrapped around it. What is that lacy outer covering called?#19Show Answer

Mace

Do Brussels sprouts grow as loose little cabbages on the ground or along a tall central stalk?#20Show Answer

Along a tall central stalk

Talk like a cook

A cook promises pasta al dente. Should you expect it to be mushy or slightly firm when you bite?#21Show Answer

Slightly firm to the bite

What is the name for flour cooked with fat to thicken a sauce?#22Show Answer

A roux

If you julienne a carrot, what shape should the pieces be?#23Show Answer

Thin matchsticks

A recipe asks for a bain-marie. What surrounds the dish as it heats?#24Show Answer

Hot water — it is a water bath

You measure and prepare everything before cooking. What French phrase names this habit?#25Show Answer

Mise en place

You add stock to a hot pan to loosen the browned bits. What is this called?#26Show Answer

Deglazing

When a pie recipe says to blind-bake the crust, what is missing from it during that bake?#27Show Answer

The filling — the crust is baked empty, often with weights to hold its shape

A classic French mirepoix combines carrots, celery and which bulb vegetable?#28Show Answer

Onions

When you cream butter and sugar, are you adding cream or beating them together?#29Show Answer

Beating them together until lighter and fluffy

Éclairs and cream puffs start with the same cooked dough. What is it called?#30Show Answer

Choux pastry, or pâte à choux

Dishes around the world

In a wide pan of Valencian paella, which grain takes center stage?#31Show Answer

Rice

Bibimbap brings rice, vegetables and toppings together in a bowl. Which cuisine is it associated with?#32Show Answer

Korean cuisine

Which tiny grain is traditionally used to make injera, the spongy flatbread eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea?#33Show Answer

Teff

Pierogi can hold potato and cheese, meat or even fruit. What kind of food are they?#34Show Answer

Filled dumplings

In Peruvian ceviche, raw fish is marinated with juice from which type of fruit?#35Show Answer

Citrus fruit, usually lime or lemon

Fries, cheese curds and gravy arrive together on your plate. What Canadian dish have you ordered?#36Show Answer

Poutine

Is Spanish tomato gazpacho usually served hot or cold?#37Show Answer

Cold

Which Japanese fermented soybean paste is used to flavor a soup of the same name?#38Show Answer

Miso

What Korean food is made by salting and fermenting vegetables such as cabbage or radish?#39Show Answer

Kimchi

What are the crisp balls or patties made with ground chickpeas and herbs, often tucked into pita, called?#40Show Answer

Falafel — some versions use fava beans instead

Room for dessert

Baklava has many fine layers around its nut filling. What thin pastry makes those layers?#41Show Answer

Filo pastry, also spelled phyllo

Which soft Italian cheese makes the filling in a classic tiramisu rich and creamy?#42Show Answer

Mascarpone

Macaron or macaroon: which spelling names the chewy coconut cookie?#43Show Answer

Macaroon — with two o's

What do you tap with your spoon to crack through the top of a crème brûlée?#44Show Answer

A thin layer of caramelized sugar

Traditional mochi gets its chewy texture from what staple grain?#45Show Answer

Glutinous rice, also called sticky rice

To make a simple chocolate ganache, what dairy ingredient is mixed with the chocolate?#46Show Answer

Cream

Order an affogato and a scoop of ice cream gets a hot drink poured over it. Which drink?#47Show Answer

Espresso

Classic churros get their crisp outside from what cooking method?#48Show Answer

Deep-frying

Which dairy ingredient is slowly cooked with sugar to make dulce de leche?#49Show Answer

Milk

Which chilled Italian dessert is made from sweetened cream set with gelatin and has a gentle wobble?#50Show Answer

Panna cotta

What's in your cup?

Arabica and Robusta are two familiar types of what drink's main ingredient?#51Show Answer

Coffee

Despite their name, coffee beans are what part of the coffee fruit?#52Show Answer

Seeds

Which Japanese green tea is a fine powder whisked into water rather than leaves steeped and removed?#53Show Answer

Matcha

Earl Grey tea gets its distinctive citrus scent from the oil of which fruit?#54Show Answer

Bergamot

Do green tea and black tea come from the same plant species or different ones?#55Show Answer

Both come from Camellia sinensis — the leaves are processed differently

Does decaf coffee mean absolutely no caffeine, or just much less?#56Show Answer

Much less — decaf coffee can still contain some caffeine

To make espresso, a machine forces what through finely ground coffee under pressure?#57Show Answer

Hot water

Rooibos grows naturally in which country: South Africa, Japan or Brazil?#58Show Answer

South Africa

A mango lassi is creamy even without ice cream. What cultured dairy food is blended into it?#59Show Answer

Yogurt

What starch gives traditional bubble tea pearls their familiar chewy texture?#60Show Answer

Tapioca starch

Kitchen mysteries

When butter turns nutty and brown in a pan, which little particles at the bottom are browning?#61Show Answer

The milk solids

What stretchy protein network traps gas in wheat bread dough as it rises?#62Show Answer

Gluten

Besides yeast, which group of tiny organisms helps give a sourdough starter its sour flavor?#63Show Answer

Bacteria, including lactic acid bacteria

Which named reaction between sugars and amino acids helps give toast and seared meat their brown color and savory aromas?#64Show Answer

The Maillard reaction

A sliced apple starts turning brown. Which gas in the air is involved?#65Show Answer

Oxygen

Add vinegar to purple cabbage juice: does it shift toward pink-red or green-blue?#66Show Answer

Pink-red — the pigments change color in acidic conditions

What gas does yeast release that inflates bread dough?#67Show Answer

Carbon dioxide

Mayonnaise holds tiny oil droplets in a watery mixture. What is this kind of mixture called?#68Show Answer

An emulsion

Quick pickles get their tang without a long fermentation. Which acidic pantry liquid is usually added?#69Show Answer

Vinegar

What substance naturally present in fruit helps jam and jelly set?#70Show Answer

Pectin

Not quite what they seem

Orzo looks like rice, but what are you actually eating?#71Show Answer

Pasta

Classic couscous is made from semolina. Does that come from wheat or rice?#72Show Answer

Wheat — usually durum wheat

Many familiar gnocchi recipes start by mashing which vegetable?#73Show Answer

Potatoes

Arborio and Carnaroli are rice varieties often chosen for which creamy Italian dish?#74Show Answer

Risotto

Which spice consists of dried, unopened flower buds: cloves or cumin?#75Show Answer

Cloves

Are true yams and sweet potatoes simply two names for the same plant?#76Show Answer

No — they belong to different plant families, although some US stores label sweet potatoes as yams

Black, white and green peppercorns: three different plants or different treatments of fruit from the same species?#77Show Answer

The same species, Piper nigrum — harvest timing and processing make the difference

A pineapple develops from one flower or from many flowers whose fruits fuse together?#78Show Answer

Many flowers — their fruits join into one larger structure

A cashew tree grows fleshy cashew apples. Does the nut sit inside the apple or hang from its end?#79Show Answer

It hangs from the end, inside its own shell

In US cooking, cilantro names the leaves of a herb. What name do its seeds go by in the spice rack?#80Show Answer

Coriander