Food Trivia  Questions

Food trivia questions about ice-cream sodas, George Washington Carver, Fannie Farmer, Gerber's, Frankfurters and more.

How did the ice-cream sundae get its name?
A: The sundae was created in Evanston, Illinois, in the late nineteenth century to get around a Sabbath ban on selling ice-cream sodas.  It was dubbed Sunday but spelled with an "e" instead of a "Y" to avoid religious objections.

Who introduced standardized level measurements to  recipes?
A: Fannie Farmer.

With whom did the shallow champagne glass originate?
A: With Marie Antoinette, from wax molds made of her breasts.

Who introduced table knives in the seventeenth century?
A: Cardinal Richelieu. Daggers were in fashion at the dinner table until he became disgusted with their use as toothpicks and ordered knives with rounded ends.

What did blind cellar master Dom Perignon say when he discovered Champagne in 1668?
A: " Oh, come quickly. I am drinking stars!

What nation produces two thirds of the world's vanilla?
A: Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island (after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo).

What now famous chef joined the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) during World War II, hoping to become an American spy?
A: Julia Child.

How did the Gatorade fruit drink get its name?
A: From the University of Florida football team--the Gators--after the team tested it.

Why did candy maker Milton S. Hershey switch from making caramels to chocolate bars in 1903?
A: Caramels didn't retain the imprint of his name in summertime; chocolate did.

What fruits were crossed to produce the nectarine?
A: None. The nectarine is a smooth-skinned variety of peach, and not--as many people believe--a cross between a peach and a plum.

What was used to make the coffee substitute given to American soldiers during World War II?
A: Peanuts.  It was one of hundreds of peanut by-products developed by Tuskegee University scientist George Washington Carver.

What food product was discovered because of a long camel ride?
A: Cottage cheese. An Arab trader found that milk he was carrying in a goatskin bag had turned into tasty solid white curds.

What does cookbook author Julia Child claim is "so beautifully arranged on the plate--you know someone's fingers have been all over it"?
A: Nouvelle cuisine.

The peanut isn't a nut. What is it?
A: A legume-- a member of the pea family.

Where were the first frankfurters sold in the United States?
A: At Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York, in 1871. They were made by Charles Feltmann, a butcher from Frankfurt, Germany.

Wild rice isn't rice. What is it?
A: A coarse, annual grass native to shallow, marshy lakes and streams.

Who is credited with having invented the Manhattan cocktail, a combination of sweet vermouth and rye whiskey?
A: Winston Churchill's Brooklyn-born mother, Jennie Jerome.

For over fifty years, Ann Turner Cook's portrait has been the symbol for what  well-known food product?
A: Gerber's baby food.

What part of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner is the merrythought?
A: The wishbone of the turkey.

What is the name of the evergreen  shrub from which we get capers?
A: The caper; or caper bush.

What is the largest fruit crop on earth?
A: Grapes, followed by bananas.