Eat (and Drink) Your Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: King Oscar II, King of Norway and Sweden (1829-1907)

The original Veal Oscar (which differs from the more modern dish in that its sauce was red and it was served with black truffles) was conceived by Paul Edmond Malaise at the Restaurant Operakällaren in Stockholm for the 25th anniversary of King Oscar's ascension to the throne.

Answer: Richard Foster, a friend of the owner of Brennan's restaurant in New Orleans

Bananas Foster was created in 1951 by Chef Paul Blangé at Brennan's to honour Richard Foster, a New Orleans businessman and crime fighter, at the request of the restaurant's owner Owen Edward Brennan. The recipe appeared in "Holiday" magazine in an article about Brennan's famous French Quarter restaurant. Variations call for the addition of cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg.

Answer: an Arnold Palmer

Also called a "half and half," this drink was a favourite of Arnold Palmer in the 1960s. It now appears in bartenders guides under his name. A company in Florida licenses bottlers to sell it under the great golfer's name.

Answer: Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1830-1834)

Bergamot is a kind of Southeast Asian citrus fruit grown also in Italy. Devotees of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" will know that Captain Jean-Luc Picard drinks Earl Grey tea.

Answer: Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516), a Venetian painter known for his sensuous colours

Cipriani concocted the Bellini at Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy, sometime before 1948. Harry's Bar was then frequented by Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles. He named it after the Venetian painter because its pink colour reminded him of a painting by Bellini.

It is sometimes made with champagne but this does dishonour to both the peaches and the champagne.

Answer: Queen Margherita of Savoy (1851-1926)

There are numerous claims to the creation of Pizza Margherita. One of the best is that of Raffaele Esposito who asserted that he invented this pizza in honour of a visit by King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy to Naples in 1889. She was so taken with this pizza that he said he named it after her.

While it is uncertain who created it, there is absolute certainty that it was named to honour Queen Margherita.

Answer: Ding Baozhen, 19th Century governor of Sichuan province

Ding Baozhen (1820-1886) served the province of Sichuan so well that the Emperor named him Gung Bao -- the protector of the palace -- and it was after this title that his favourite dish was named. Sichuan peppercorns, which were unavailable in the United States for 37 years, became available in 2005 and now lend the authentic flavour to this dish prepared correctly in the USA.

Answer: The Rev. Sylvester Graham

Sylvester Graham was a Presbyterian minister who believed that temperance and sexual probity could be achieved through a bland diet. He urged vegetarianism, abstinence from alcohol and "Dr. Graham's Honey Biscuits" as means for achieving such Christian ends. He was one of the founders of the American Vegetarian Society and was much admired by John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek.

Answer: All of these are plausible explanations

All three of these explanations have been set forth as authoritative. None can be proved absolutely. This is one of many examples of the difficulty in tracking down the stories of the names of dishes.

Answer: Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813)

Parmentier was captured by the Prussians in the Seven Years War and spent time in a prison in Prussia where the prisoners were fed potatoes. The Germans had been quicker to accept the potato after its introduction to Europe around 1640. Parmentier's efforts were "assisted" by a bad harvest in 1785, when starving people turned to potatoes, and by the siege of the first Paris Commune in 1795, when potatoes averted the resulting famine.

Answer: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), soldier

Although other explanations exist, the most likely ascription of Beef Wellington is to Arthur Wellesley who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. The French name for this dish -- filet de boeuf en croûte -- was hardly suitable when relations between England and France were strained. The popularity of this dish soared in the 1960s and is now kept alive by a few chefs such as Gordon Ramsay.

Answer: Dame Nellie Melba, a soprano opera singer

George Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) invented this simple dish in honour of singer Helen Porter Mitchell (1861-1931), whose stage name was Nellie Melba. She chose her professional name to honour her home city of Melbourne, Australia. There is even a Peach Melba Day kept in the USA on January 13th.

Answer: Alfredo di Lelio, Roman restaurateur

Alfredo di Lelio was the chef-owner of Alfredo alla Scrofa in Rome. He adapted this dish from the more common Fettuccine al burro to encourage his pregnant wife to eat. In 1927, it became a favourite of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, who carried its praises to the USA. True Alfredo sauce is thickened only with cheese, never a roux or other starches.

Answer: Jerry Garcia

Cherry Garcia ice cream was named after Jerry Garcia (1942-1995), the lead guitarist and songwriter of The Grateful Dead. The ice cream is made of vanilla custard, cherry chunks and flakes of dark chocolate.

Answer: John D. Rockefeller, the founder of the Standard Oil Company

The original recipe remains a family secret. The dish is made of oysters on the half shell, dressed with a butter puree of parsley, scallions, chives and capers, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Pernod, garlic, and a dash of Louisiana hot sauce, which is then baked in a hot oven.

The resulting dish was so rich that Chef Jules named it after "the richest man in the world": John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937).