Which country is the pizza from?
Answer : Italy
Pizza was born in Naples, Italy; the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiolo has been on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list since 2017.
Questions and answers: Gastronomy
Revise Gastronomy: here is a selection of questions of every level, with the answer and an explanation. To test yourself without seeing the answers, play the quizzes.
Play the Gastronomy quizzesVery easy
What is the main ingredient of guacamole?
Answer : Avocado
The word guacamole comes from the Nahuatl ahuacamolli, 'avocado sauce': the mashed flesh is seasoned with lime, onion and coriander.
In which country is sushi a traditional specialty?
Answer : Japan
The word sushi originally refers to vinegared rice topped with raw fish or other ingredients; the modern dish developed in Edo, today's Tokyo, in the early 19th century.
Which cheese tops a Margherita pizza?
Answer : Mozzarella
According to tradition, the Margherita dates from 1889: mozzarella, tomato and basil echo the white, red and green of the Italian flag, in honour of Queen Margherita.
Which country is famous for the baguette?
Answer : France
The baguette, a long thin loaf, is a symbol of France; the artisan know-how of French bakers has been on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2022.
Which ingredient is the base of bread?
Answer : Flour
Bread is made from flour, water, salt and yeast or sourdough; it is the wheat flour that builds the structure of the crumb thanks to gluten.
Chocolate is made from which bean?
Answer : Cocoa
Chocolate comes from the beans of the cacao tree, which are fermented, dried, roasted and ground into a cocoa paste; coffee and vanilla come from other plants.
Which insects produce honey?
Answer : Bees
Bees collect flower nectar and turn it into honey in the hive, where it serves as their food reserve for the winter.
Easy
In which country did paella originate?
Answer : Spain
Paella was born in the Valencia region; the traditional version combines rice, rabbit, chicken and beans, cooked in a wide pan called a paellera.
Which spice gives curry its yellow color?
Answer : Turmeric
Curry is a spice blend in which turmeric, a root related to ginger, provides the yellow colour; cinnamon and clove add other flavours.
Ramen belongs to which cuisine?
Answer : Japanese
Ramen is a wheat noodle soup of Chinese origin that has become an emblematic Japanese dish, with soy sauce, miso, salt and tonkotsu variations.
Which ingredient is the base of hummus?
Answer : Chickpeas
Hummus is a purée of chickpeas blended with tahini (sesame paste), lemon and garlic, widespread across the Middle East.
Which cheese goes into a Greek salad?
Answer : Feta
Greek salad combines tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of feta, a sheep's milk cheese kept in brine that has protected designation of origin status.
Kimchi, fermented cabbage, is a specialty of which country?
Answer : Korea
Kimchi is fermented, spicy cabbage that accompanies almost every Korean meal; the kimjang tradition of making it together has been on UNESCO's list since 2013.
Which ingredient flavors tiramisu?
Answer : Coffee
Tiramisu layers coffee-soaked biscuits with mascarpone cream dusted with cocoa; its Italian name means 'pick me up'.
Parmigiano Reggiano comes from which country?
Answer : Italy
Parmigiano Reggiano is a protected-origin cheese made around Parma and Reggio Emilia; it is aged for at least twelve months, often much longer.
Medium
Which rice variety is used for risotto?
Answer : Arborio
Arborio is a large-grained Italian rice rich in starch that makes risotto creamy; long-grain rices such as basmati and jasmine stay much more separate.
What is the fermented soybean paste used in Japan for soup?
Answer : Miso
Miso is a paste of soybeans fermented with koji and salt, the base of miso soup; natto is also fermented but sticky, and tofu is not fermented.
Paul Bocuse is associated with which city?
Answer : Lyon
Paul Bocuse turned his inn at Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, near Lyon, into a restaurant that kept three Michelin stars without a break from 1965 to 2020.
Bouillabaisse is a specialty of which city?
Answer : Marseille
Marseille's bouillabaisse is a dish of rockfish, including scorpion fish, flavoured with saffron and fennel and served with croutons and rouille.
What is the maximum number of stars awarded by the Michelin Guide?
Answer : Three
The Michelin Guide awards one to three stars; three stars reward exceptional cooking that is worth a special journey.
Which herb is the base of Genoese pesto?
Answer : Basil
Genoese pesto combines basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan and olive oil, traditionally crushed in a mortar; its name comes from the Italian verb pestare, to pound.
What is gazpacho?
Answer : A cold vegetable soup
Gazpacho is a cold soup from Andalusia made from tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, garlic, olive oil and bread, mostly served in summer.
Poutine, fries with cheese curds and gravy, comes from which country?
Answer : Canada
Poutine appeared in Quebec in the 1950s: fries and cheese curds, which squeak when you chew them, covered with hot brown gravy.
Hard
Which ingredients make a béchamel sauce?
Answer : Butter, flour and milk
Béchamel starts from a roux of butter and flour to which milk is added; it is one of the five mother sauces of French cuisine.
Which Japanese chemist identified umami in 1908?
Answer : Kikunae Ikeda
In 1908 Kikunae Ikeda isolated glutamate from kombu, the seaweed of Japanese broths, and named this fifth taste umami, meaning 'delicious taste'.
Kaiseki is a multi-course haute cuisine meal from which country?
Answer : Japan
Kaiseki is a refined Japanese meal served as a series of small dishes, rooted in the tea ceremony and showcasing seasonal produce.
Which unexpected ingredient goes into mole poblano?
Answer : Chocolate
Mole poblano, from Puebla, is a complex sauce of chilies and spices in which a little dark chocolate adds roundness rather than sweetness.
Which cereal is Ethiopian injera traditionally made from?
Answer : Teff
Injera is a large, spongy, slightly sour flatbread made from fermented teff flour, which serves as both plate and cutlery in Ethiopia.
The word tagine refers to both a dish and what?
Answer : A conical earthenware pot
Tagine is a slow-cooked North African stew that took its name from the vessel it is cooked in: an earthenware dish with a conical lid that returns steam to the food.
What sensation does Sichuan pepper cause?
Answer : A numbing tingle
Sichuan pepper is not hot like chili: it contains sanshool, which numbs the lips, hence the málà flavour, both numbing and spicy.
Which process turns cabbage into sauerkraut?
Answer : Lactic fermentation
To make sauerkraut, shredded cabbage is salted: lactic bacteria turn its sugars into lactic acid, which sours it and preserves it for months.
Expert
In which year was the first Michelin Guide published?
Answer : 1900
The first Michelin Guide appeared in 1900, given free to motorists by the Michelin brothers; the stars came only later, in the 1920s.
Where was Ferran Adrià's restaurant elBulli located?
Answer : Roses (Catalonia)
ElBulli stood at Cala Montjoi, near Roses on the Costa Brava; Ferran Adrià ran avant-garde cooking there until the restaurant closed in 2011.
Which chef co-founded the restaurant Noma in Copenhagen?
Answer : René Redzepi
Noma opened in Copenhagen in 2003 with René Redzepi and Claus Meyer; its name comes from nordisk mad, Nordic food, and it was named best restaurant in the world several times.
In which city is the Osteria Francescana?
Answer : Modena
Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana in Modena was named best restaurant in the world in 2016 and 2018 and holds three Michelin stars.
Ají amarillo is an emblematic chili of which cuisine?
Answer : Peruvian
Ají amarillo, literally yellow chili, is everywhere in Peru, notably in huancaína sauce and in the dish ají de gallina.
Comté is mainly made from the milk of which cattle breed?
Answer : Montbéliarde
Comté, a protected-origin cheese from the Jura, is made from the raw milk of mainly Montbéliarde cows fed on grass and hay, without silage.
Which part of the flower does saffron come from?
Answer : The stigmas
Saffron comes from the three red stigmas of Crocus sativus, picked by hand: it takes more than 100,000 flowers to make a single kilo of spice.
Kobe beef comes from which breed?
Answer : Wagyu (Tajima)
Kobe beef comes from cattle of the Tajima line, a strain of wagyu raised in Hyōgo Prefecture, with heavily marbled meat and a strictly controlled name.