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Hard Food and Drink Trivia Questions
The hard questions from our food and drink set, 14 of them, each with the answer and an explanation below the game.
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Keys 1-4 pick an answer, Enter moves on. Nothing is saved to an account.
The hard band is mostly food science and technique. The Maillard reaction, capsaicin, bromelain, dashi and gluten formation all have single settled answers, so the round stays fair even though the questions get specialist.
14 hard food and drink trivia questions with answers
What is the browning reaction between amino acids and sugars in cooked food called?
Answer: The Maillard reaction It is what makes a seared crust taste different from boiled meat.
Which acid gives lemons and limes their sourness?
Answer: Citric acid Malic acid does the same job in apples, which taste sour in a different way.
What is the fifth basic taste, named from a Japanese word?
Answer: Umami It is the savoury depth of glutamates in stock, cheese and ripe tomato.
Which compound makes chilli peppers taste hot?
Answer: Capsaicin It binds to a receptor that normally reports heat, so the brain reads burning.
Which enzyme in fresh pineapple stops gelatin from setting?
Answer: Bromelain It digests the protein that would otherwise form the gel; cooking destroys it.
Saffron threads are which part of the crocus flower?
Answer: Stigmas Each flower yields three, which is why it is harvested by hand.
Roquefort cheese is made from the milk of which animal?
Answer: Sheep It is ripened in limestone caves in southern France.
Dashi, the Japanese stock, is traditionally made from kombu seaweed and which dried fish flakes?
Answer: Bonito The flakes are shaved from a fillet that has been smoked and dried until rock hard.
What is the term for cooking food slowly submerged in its own fat?
Answer: Confit It began as a preservation method long before it was a restaurant technique.
Traditional couscous is made from which milled grain?
Answer: Semolina wheat The tiny granules are rolled by hand and then steamed.
Which Mexican sauce family is known for combining dried chillies with chocolate?
Answer: Mole A poblano version can carry twenty or more ingredients.
Vanilla pods grow on a plant belonging to which family?
Answer: Orchids Outside its native range the flowers have to be pollinated by hand.
Sous vide cooking involves what?
Answer: Sealing food and cooking it in precisely controlled warm water Holding a low temperature means the centre can never overshoot.
Gluten is formed when water is mixed with which components of flour?
Answer: Proteins Kneading lines up glutenin and gliadin into an elastic network.
Answer key
- The Maillard reaction
- Citric acid
- Umami
- Capsaicin
- Bromelain
- Stigmas
- Sheep
- Bonito
- Confit
- Semolina wheat
- Mole
- Orchids
- Sealing food and cooking it in precisely controlled warm water
- Proteins
How to play
- Pick a mode: multiple choice, true or false, a 60-second sprint, or the daily quiz.
- Answer with a tap, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard. The right answer appears straight away with a line explaining it.
- Finish the round to see your score, copy the result grid, and step up a difficulty.
- Hosting a night? The full food and drink list and a separate answer key are printed below, and the print layout drops the game and keeps the paper.
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