Hot Out of the Oven Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pasty

Pasties orginated with the workers in the tin mines of Cornwall - in fact they are so special, pasties have been given the designation of protected food by the European Union. Th earliest literary reference to pasties is in Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'.

Answer: Lamb

The use of mint as an accommpaniment to lamb is a British tradition that probably stems from Elizabethan times when Queen Elizabeth I decreed that lamb could only be served with bitter herbs. This was in order to reduce the amount of lamb and mutton eaten, thereby assistting the wool industry. It has been suggested that the use of mint with lamb is a carry-over of the bitter herbs that were eaten by the Israelites on the first Passover.

When I make my own mint sauce, I use mint, vinegar and sugar. Mint also helps 'tame' the flavour if you eat sheep, rather than lamb, which can often be quite strongly flavoured. Another aspect of mint sauce is that the vinegar cuts through the fat.

Answer: Cake

Cakes are often iced, most often with butter-based icing (frosting) or a creamy glaze, and filled with cream, fruit, jam or mousse. The cakes we know today are very different from the first cakes. Those would most likely have been more bread-like and sweetened with honey, resembling gingerbread.

They were possibly filled with nuts and dried fruit. It is known that the ancient Egyptians baked cake-like food, though the word 'cake' itself derives from an old Norse word, 'kaka'.

Answer: Lasagne

The word 'lasagne' comes originally from the name of the dish in which it was cooked, but has come to mean the dish itself. It originated in Italy, and while the traditional version has meat (usually beef), tomato passata and béchamel (white sauce) topped with cheese, there are many other varieties made entirely with vegetables, or entirely with cheese and no meat, or ground pork instead of beef and ricotta cheese instead of mozzarella.

Answer: Shepherd's pie

Shepherd's pie, not unnaturally, is made with lamb (similar pies made with beef are called 'cottage' pies. They probably originated in the United Kingdom as a means to use up left-over lamb roast, or other pieces of the animal. The stew is topped with mashed potato and baked. Be right back, I suddenly have an urge to cook a shepherd's pie!

Answer: Anzacs

ANZAC is an acronym that comes from the first letters of the 'Australian and New Zealand Army Corps'. Tradition has it that the recipe appeared during World War I when the biscuits were sent to soldiers in the army. They had no eggs or milk in them (as they were scarce at the time) and golden syrup was used a binding agent.

They lasted a long time and were nutritious, having rolled oats as one of the ingredients. Apart from that, they are delicious! The first recipe appeared in print in 1916.

Answer: Nachos

Mexican Ignacio Anaya is the inventor of what we know today as nachos - he fried up some tortilla chips, put grated cheese and jalapeńos on top and baked them in the oven for a few minutes. They were served to a group of U.S. military wives in the restaurant where Ignacio was the maitre d', and he called them after himself - his nickname was 'Nacho' (from Ignacio).

Answer: Scones

The first known print reference to scones was in 1513, from a Scottish poet. The dough was originally made into large rounds and scored into triangles, and cooked on a griddle, rather than in the oven. Scones are a type of 'quick bread' (leavened with something other than yeast or eggs) and are delicious served with jam and cream, with dates or other dried fruit baked into them, or as a savoury dish with herbs and cheese.

Answer: Potato

While it was known that baked potatoes were sold on the streets of London in the 1800s, potatoes were cultivated in Peru from before 5000 BC, when they would dehydrate them and then mash them into a long-lasting disc called 'chunu'.

The hot potato game is a party activity in which the 'potato' (often a beanbag or other small object) is tossed from player to player. If the music stops when you're holding it - you're out!

Answer: Pizza

While pizza in some form may have been consumed previously by the Babylonians, Israelites and Egyptians, - and of course the Italians themselves - what we call pizza today originated with a fellow named Raffaele Esposito, in Naples. It is said that when the Italian king and queen visited the area in 1889, he topped the flat-bread familiar to all with fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese.