Guess the 1990s Dish Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spinach and Artichoke dip

Although the first printed account of a "Spinach and Artichoke dip" recipe was in the late eighties, it really caught fire in 1990s America. Its specific origin is unknown, but presumably an anonymous culinary pioneer combined "artichoke dip" and "spinach dip," which have both been around since the 1960s, and created the 1990s sensation.

Whether served with tortilla chips, pita triangles, French bread, or rustic crackers, spinach and artichoke dip is a crowd pleasing appetizer. It was almost impossible to find an American restaurant in the '90s that did not have it on the menu.

My favorite recipe for it contains cream cheese, Monterey jack cheese, sour cream, artichokes, spinach, sautéed onion, and a whole stick of butter! Insane!

Answer: A Smoothie

The "smoothie" was created in the 1960s as a blended, chilled, and sweet drink made from fresh fruit. Smooth like a milkshake, Smoothies are healthier because they are thickened with crushed ice or frozen yogurt. In the 1990s, the popularity of the smoothie became an ideal meal replacement for the newly health conscious diner. Smoothie shops exploded all over America, and offered not only fruit drinks, but also healthy add-ins and nutritional supplements.

But watch out! Smoothies may be low in fat, but are not necessarily low in calories.

Answer: Olestra

Olestra was introduced in the 1990s as a fat substitute in snack foods. Procter and Gamble accidentally discovered this chemically modified fat while attempting to make food more digestible for premature babies.

The first product on the market containing Olestra was Frito Lay's WOW potato chips, and they promised delicious snack flavor without any of the fat, calories and cholesterol.

Olestra literally goes right through you as it does not break down as it passes through the body. Apparently, however, eating an excessive amount of Olestra products in a short amount of time could cause intestinal discomfort, cramps, and diarrhea. Supposedly, only 2% of the population is at risk of getting this side effect, but Procter and Gamble was pretty quick to rethink adding it to more of their snack foods.

Olestra is still out there, but was never the be all and end all of fatless snacking we had all hoped for.

Simpless is a protein based fat substitute created by the Nutrisystem company that first appeared in the 1980s. Maltodextrin is a sugar-based fat substitute that has been around since the '60s.

Answer: Chilean Sea Bass

Before the 1990s, the cold water Patagonian Toothfish was regarded as a junk fish, and sold only to cat food companies. In spite of its unappetizing name, someone somewhere realized that the fish was versatile, inexpensive and delicious. Renamed to "Chilean Sea Bass", it isn't even technically a bass, but that didn't stop American Chefs from featuring it all across America.

It became so popular, in fact, that this fish is now in danger of being over-fished. Environmentalists have even called for a boycott with the catchy slogan "Take a pass on Chilean sea bass" until its numbers come back.

Answer: A wrap sandwich

Bobby Valentine, former New York Mets manager turned restaurateur claimed that the wrap sandwich was invented at his restaurant, Bobby V's. Whether true or not, one thing is for sure, wrap sandwiches took 1990s America by storm.

The '90s were all about a healthier lifestyle. One of these trends included watching your carbohydrates. This is, perhaps, how the wrap sandwich came in to being. Why deal with the bread when you can wrap all of your delicious ingredients into the lower carbohydrate flatbread or tortilla? They usually included fresher, greener and healthier ingredients than other quick meal options.

Wrap sandwich chains, such as "Wrap it Up!" and "Sami's Wrap-N- Roll" began popping up all over America, Britain and Australia.

Answer: The Arch Deluxe

The Arch Deluxe was created and released by McDonald's in the mid '90s in its most expensive advertising campaign to that date, which was over 100 million dollars. The burger was billed as a sophisticated, adult oriented sandwich with a higher quality roll and a Dijon mustard based mayonnaise.

However, customers were turned off by the burger's high price and ads featuring kids turning up their noses at the "adult" taste of the burger. Consumer groups criticized the 600 calorie sandwich which was loaded with saturated fat and sodium. The brand was gradually discontinued, and is no longer found at McDonald's stores today.

The McDLT was (McDonald's Lettuce and Tomatoes) created in the 1980s and was all about its packaging that was developed to keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool.

The McLean Deluxe was introduced in 1991 as a healthier, lower fat alternative to its regular hamburgers. It was a flop, and was discontinued in 1994.

Answer: Chicken Tonight

Chicken Tonight "simmer sauces" made with "real vegetables and herbs" were a true 1990s phenomenon. Anyone who was watching television in the '90s will remember the silly Americans running around, flapping their arms in a chicken dance type move, to the famous "I feel like chicken tonight" jingle. Chicken Tonight was made by Unilever's Knorr brand and marketed under the Ragu name in the United States. All about convenience, all you had to do was brown chicken pieces, dump over the sauce and simmer. Sadly, Knorr discontinued selling its Chicken Tonight line in America in the late 1990s.

Answer: An omelet sautéed in butter with cheddar cheese, bacon, mushrooms, and chives.

The pinnacle of the 1990s low-carb craze was the Atkin's Diet. Dr. Robert Atkins believed that the primary cause of American obesity was a diet filled with refined carbohydrates, sugar, flour, and high-fructose corn syrup. To lose weight, these items must be drastically cut down and even eliminated from your diet.

Atkins dieters can eat bacon, butter, steaks, eggs, ham and cheese, but are forbidden to enjoy bread, crackers and carrots.

The omelet is the correct choice because it has all Atkins friendly ingredients. The other options contain too many carbohydrates.

Answer: Hummus

Hummus means "chickpea" in Arabic, and is a delicious Middle Eastern snack, dip or condiment for a meal. It has been around for hundreds of years, but was largely unfamiliar to Americans until the mid '90s when it began to appear on supermarket shelves. It's low in saturated fat, full of fiber, and rich in protein.

Answer: Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Legend has it this dessert was created by accident in 1987 by The Lafayette's Chef Jean-George Vongerichten in New York City. He had intended to serve individual chocolate cakes, but they were removed from the oven too early, leaving the centers liquefied. With no time to continue baking them, the name "lava" cake was given to the dish, and they were served.

By the 90s, this dessert became a standard for restaurant menus all over America.