An Allergist's Guide to World Cuisine Quiz

Answer: Rocky Mountain oysters

Common in ranching areas of the western United States and Canada, Rocky Mountain oysters are actually a beef product; they are what is left behind, as it were, when a bull is gelded. They are usually served deep-fried after being coated in salt, pepper, and flour. Other common names for the dish include prairie oysters, sweetmeats, calf fries, and huevos de toro ("bull eggs").

Crawdad gumbo, a Louisiana specialty, is a stew that incorporates crayfish (often called crawdads), lobster-like crustaceans found in freshwater rivers around the world. Scampi comes from the Italian for "lobster," but in the U.K. and the U.S. it has come to refer to that particular serving style -- leading to the etymologically hilarious menu item "chicken scampi." Calamari, meanwhile, refers to squid that has been served as food (often fried).

Answer: Ceviche (Peru)

Ceviche, a seafood salad, is popular not only in Peru but also up and down the coast of Latin America. The fish in ceviche is not cooked; instead, it's marinated in a citrus sauce, which pickles the meat and gives it a taste close to that of cooked fish. Lemons and limes are most commonly used for the marinade, though oranges are also popular.

Instead, Alice can enjoy a variety of other dishes, including ajiaco Bogotano (a chicken soup made with corn, potatoes, avocado, herbs, and sour cream); carne con chimichurri (grilled steak marinated in a pesto-like herb sauce); and curanto (a mixture of shellfish, potatoes, meat, bread, and vegetables, pressure-cooked in a hole over a meter deep). She should be careful in Brazil, though; feijoada, the bean-and-beef stew that is the national dish there, is traditionally served with oranges.

Answer: Sake

Sake is a Japanese beverage made by fermenting rice. The process has two main stages: first enzymes are used to convert the starch to sugar, and then the addition of yeast allows the sugar to ferment into alcohol. (According to some theories of sake's origins, early brewers used saliva to provide the enzymes for the first stage!) In some regions, sake refers to other alcoholic beverages not made from rice (some sakes from Kyushu are derived from sweet potatoes, for example), but Mildred had better not take that chance!

Mead is a strong drink made from fermented honey, popular in Europe and Ethiopia and immortalized in countless Viking epics. Tequila, a Mexican innovation that is the main ingredient of margaritas, is distilled from the blue agave plant, which enjoys desert climes and high altitudes. Pisco is a popular South American grape brandy, named after a Peruvian port city and claimed by both Peru and Chile as the national drink.

Answer: Skillet-baked cornbread from a southern American restaurant

Skillet-baked cornbread, also called hoecake, is a dish with a long history in the southeastern United States. The skillet is coated with oil, lard or bacon fat, and then filled with a batter made primarily of cornmeal, buttermilk, eggs, and flour. The result is a moist, crumbly bread with a crunchy crust, most commonly served as an accompaniment to meals. It's related to johnnycakes, corn pone, and hush puppies, among other dishes, and the question of whether or not to add sugar is a bone of contention between Northerners and Southerners!

Mediterranean pita bread is made with nothing more than yeast, flour, salt and warm water, baked at a high temperature. The baking process often causes the bread to separate, forming a pocket in the middle, which is handy for scooping up a meal; the famous Italian food "pizza" derives from the word for "pita." Mexican tortillas are made from a similar recipe, but with corn often substituted for flour and with the addition of oil. When fried, the tortillas end up crispy, and can be torn or cut for nachos or wrapped around a meal to make burritos or enchiladas. Finally, baguettes -- the long, thin loaves that shout "Paris!" to so many around the world -- are also based on that same simple pita recipe, but with a much more involved process of kneading, fermenting, and shaping.

Answer: Bombay duck

The Bombay duck (also called a bummalo) is, strangely enough, a lizardfish! Native to the waters surrounding India, it is usually dried and salted before being sold (usually in cans), a process which makes it rather smelly. (Nevertheless, it is a delicacy; the dried version can be made into a curry, while the fresh fish is generally fried.)

It's unclear how this fish got its misleading name, but most stories insist that "Bombay duck" is a corruption of "Bombay Dak" (the Bombay mail). Apparently the smell of the mail trains (and consequently of the mail) reminded people of the smell of the fish, and so the fish came to be called Bombay Dak. The tales vary in how the mail trains picked up this smell in the first place. Was it from shipping lizardfish, from rotting rail ties, or from some disturbing third source? Without a time machine, who can tell?

As for the other choices, sambhar is a South Indian lentil and tamarind soup; naan is a flatbread baked in a tandoor (a hot charcoal oven); and poha is made from flakes of rice without their husks.

Answer: Couscous

Couscous, a staple food in West Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, is made of tiny balls of semolina wheat that have been coated in wheat flour and steamed. It is served alone, as a side dish, or as an accompaniment to stews. It is sometimes made with pearl millet or with barley, but if Morgause doesn't speak Arabic she would be wise not to take a chance.

Falafel balls are fried, round patties of spiced ground chickpeas (or, more commonly in Egypt, fava beans). Morgause should be sure to get them alone, as the pita bread in a falafel sandwich could give her trouble! Ful medames, a popular Egyptian dish, also involves fava beans, mashed and slow-cooked with olive oil, onion, garlic, lemons and parsley. Mahshi consists of a spicy rice-and-meat mixture stuffed into vegetables (such as bell peppers) or grape/cabbage leaves.

Answer: Granita

Granita (more formally known as granita siciliana) is a frozen Sicilian dessert, made from water, sugar, and flavorings that vary from almonds to mulberries. Its desired texture varies according to its location in Sicily: coarse and chunky in the west, and silky smooth in the east. No matter what texture the restaurant chooses, Seth should be safe (as long as the restaurant keeps its preparation equipment free of milk contamination, that is).

Figgy pudding, of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" fame, is a British dessert pudding whose ingredients include butter, milk, eggs, and various fruits and spices; it can be boiled, baked, or steamed before serving. Gelato is the Italian version of ice cream, smoother and denser than the American and British varieties, but still made with milk. (Sorbetto refers to dairy-free gelato, more popular in the south of Italy, but many sorbets do contain milk.) Flan refers to a caramel custard, a thickened milk-and-egg concoction; in France, a flan is a custard tart, while in Spanish-speaking countries it has a more pudding-like appearance.

Answer: Japanese cuisine

Soy and seafood are two pillars of Japanese cuisine. Sho-yu sauce, the Japanese variant of soy sauce, most often contains wheat (which tends to sweeten it) in addition to the standard fermented soybeans, water, and salt; it has several regional variations. Miso, a thick paste made with salt- and kojikin-fermented soybeans (though rice or barley can be substituted), is used as the base of sauces as well as the staple miso soup. It pops up in lots of unexpected places, from pastry glazes to pickled vegetables! Edamame is the most directly soy-related dish of the lot, consisting simply of young soybeans (still in the pod) boiled together with salt or other seasonings.

Paul should also watch out for tofu (blocks of soybean curd) and numerous other dishes; soy is used as a flavoring in items as varied as chicken broth and fast-food hamburger patties. Luckily, he's already got a set of reading glasses to use on those tiny ingredient labels!

Answer: Fettuccine alfredo at an Italian-American restaurant

Despite its name, fettuccine alfredo is mostly eaten in America; in Italy, a similar dish is known as fettuccine al burro (fettuccine with butter). The long, flat fettuccine noodles are crowned with a thick white sauce, made from a combination of butter, heavy cream, and melted Parmesan cheese. Roman restaurant owner Alfredo di Lelio began serving it (named, naturally, after himself) in 1914; thrilled American tourists brought it back to the United States, where it became an emblem of Italy despite that country's lack of familiarity with its new name.

Of the dangerous dishes, the Peruvian specialty Aji de gallina involves shredded, boiled chicken seasoned with fried onions and chilies, topped off with bread, cheese and a walnut or peanut sauce. Pesto sauce, a fixture of Italian cuisine, uses garlic, olive oil, lots of basil, cheese, and pine nuts (although walnuts are sometimes substituted). Chicken satay, popular throughout southeast Asia, is typically served with a spicy, peanut-based dipping sauce, although it is possible to get a pineapple, soy or cucumber dip instead. Annabelle should be very careful if she chooses to risk it!

Answer: Mole poblano

Eugene's turkey dish was most likely mole poblano de guajolote, one of the premier dishes of Mexican cuisine. The turkey is prepared with rich brown mole poblano, made from dried chilies, chocolate, sugar, ground nuts, bread or tortillas and a selection of vegetables that varies according to the chef (often including tomatoes, plantains, and onions). It takes several hours to cook to perfection.

Eugene would have been much safer with a nice guacamole (a thick, avocado-based sauce), salsa verde (a hot chili-and-tomatillo-based sauce), or pico de gallo (a "sauce" of coarsely chopped raw vegetables, including tomatoes, onions, chilies, and cilantro). Luckily, he was able to top off his meal with an intramuscular injection of adrenaline (using an EpiPen syringe; TwinJect is another major brand), which eased his breathing and gave him time to get to an emergency room. Food allergies are no laughing matter!