Food trivia questions and answers on subjects such as Ostrich eggs, coffee, Artichokes, Root Beer, Vichyssoise, Hamburger Pie, Chun King and others.

Free food trivia questions and answers about root beer, herring, ginseng, the Frito bandito, Chinese food, hamburger pie, ice cream and more.

How long does it take to hard-boil a three-pound ostrich egg?
A: 1 hour and 45 minutes.

A pound of ground coffee yields 50 cups. How many cups does a pound of tea yield?
A: 200.

What popular fruit was named after a papal estate outside Rome?
A: The cantaloupe, which was named after the Pope's summer residence of Cantalupo.

Currants--small seedless grapes --were named for their place of origin. Just where was that?
A: Corinth, Greece. They were originally known as raysons de Corauntz or "raisins of Corinth."

In what country did the Jerusalem artichoke originate?
A: In the United States. Its name has nothing to do with the biblical city, but is a corruption of the Italian word for sunflower, girasole.

What was Charles Elmer Hires originally going to call the drink we now know as root beer?
A: Root tea--but a friend convinced him the name would discourage sales.

What is the most widely eaten fish in the world?
A: The herring.

How long does it take a ginseng root to reach marketable size?
A: Seven years.

What snack food commercial was pulled off the air in 1970 because of complaints from an outraged ethnic group?
A: The Frito Bandito commercial for Frito corn chips.  The complaints came from Mexican-Americans.

Vichyssoise--the cold potato and leek soup--was first created in 1917 by chef Louis Diat. Do you know where?
A: In New York City--in the kitchen of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where Diat was head chef.

What fruit did the Visigoths demand in ransom when they laid siege to Rome in 408?
A: Peppercorns--3,000 pounds of them. Pepper was a highly valued spice at the time.

What ethnic food did Jeno Paulucci make available in supermarkets nationwide for the very first time in 1947?
A: Paulucci gave us Chinese food--under the Chun King label. He later brought us Jeno's pizza.

What recipe--first published 50 years ago--has been requested most frequently through the years by the readers of "Better Homes and Garden"?
A: The recipe for hamburger pie, which has been updated and republished a number of times over the years.

What were guests at the Buckinghamshire estate of  financier Alfred de Rothschild asked when they requested milk with their tea?
A: "Jersey, Hereford and Shorthorn?"

Under standards established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, what is the minimum a gallon of ice cream must weigh?
A: Four and one-half pounds.

What food product is named after Hannibal's brother Mago?
 A: Mayonnaise--which is named after the Minorca Island port city of Mahon, which was named for Mago.

When was coffee first sold in sealed tin cans in the United States?
A: In 1879--by Chase & Sanborn.