Food Detectives Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fried dough

The "beaver tail" is a creation of Killaloe Ontario's Ben and Pam Hooker. The Hookers began to sell a fried dough pastry, shaped like the tail of the North American beaver at local festivals beginning in 1978. In 1980, the pair started to sell the popular treat commercially in stores.

The beaver tail is fried then coated with cinnamon and sugar or any number of sweet toppings. Nutella and bananas with whipped cream and chocolate sauce are popular choices. Until 2004, when sadly the kiosk closed, visitors to the Canada section of Walt Disney World Orlando's Epcot Park could sample a tasty beaver tail. US President Barack Obama is a fan of the sweet pastry and made a special trip to the Ottawa beaver tail outlet on a state visit to Canada in 2009.

Answer: Spinach

Saag or saagwala is a vegetarian dish usually made from spinach (though other leafy green plants such as mustard or collard greens can also be used) mixed with spices and slow simmered. Saag can be served by itself as a side dish or main entrée, but is often combined with paneer (cheese) or aloo (potatoes). My personal favorite is a non-vegetarian variant using lamb (gosht). Gosht is a Persian word meaning animal meat.

However, owing to the sacred nature of cows in Hindu society and the proscription against pork in Islam, the term gosht has almost become synonymous with lamb meat in Indian cuisine.

Answer: Saliva

Swiftlets are small members of the Apodiformes family of birds that include swifts and hummingbirds. The edible nest species of swiftlet reside primarily in Asia amongst the coastal regions of the Indonesian islands and Burma. The nest is formed from the bird's hardened saliva excreted in multiple layers and then attached to a cave or rock wall.

When added to hot water the nest softens into a gelatin-like consistency that has a sweet and unique taste. The cost of a swiftlet bird nest varies by which species of swiftlet produces the nest, with rare varieties garnering as much as $10,000 per kilogram.

Answer: Corned Beef

Most people don't care whether the first Reuben was crafted by a grocer in Omaha Nebraska or by a New York deli owner or by American Idol winner Reuben Stoddard. All they care about is getting the delicious rye bread smeared with Russian dressing, topped with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese amidst a mountain of corned beef. Variations of the Reuben can exist with pastrami, turkey or any number of meats.

Other common substitutions include cole slaw for sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing or mustard for Russian dressing; but for the purist, the meat in a Reuben must be corned beef. Russian dressing and Thousand Island dressing are similar but different sauces. Both dressings use mayonnaise as a base, but classic Russian dressing adds ketchup and horseradish flavoring; whereas traditionally Thousand Island dressing contains chopped olive, onion, and pickle.

Answer: The smell can be overpowering

Opening a can of surströmming is not for the faint of heart or those with a delicate olfactory sense. To make the dish, Baltic herring are harvested in the early spring, the heads removed and blood drained before being packed into wooden barrels with lightly salted brine.

The salt stops the fish from rotting but permits fermentation of the spinal bones. Several months later the fish are repacked into smaller tin cans and allowed to ferment further. The gas build up in the can causes the metal to bulge.

When opened the gas is released creating an overpowering acidic odor similar to that of rotten eggs. Copious amounts of alcohol are often consumed by aficionados along with the dish, to "enhance" and mask the rather strong flavor of the fermented fish.

Many airlines that stop in Sweden have banned the stinky delicacy from their planes to avoid over-pressurized cans from leaking or exploding and causing passenger discomfort.

Answer: Fish

Bouillabaisse, which in French means to boil and simmer, is a fish stew that has been popular with Marseille fisherman since at least the 17th century. The local fisherman would create a simple meal by slowly simmering difficult to sell fish such as conger, monkfish and eel in a broth using saffron, fennel seeds, orange zest and other common Provencal spices.

The rustic treat with numerous variations was then shared across France and the world. A legend told in Marseille says that the first mix of bony fish and delicate spice stew was made by the Greek goddess Aphrodite (Venus).

The goddess gave the dish to her husband Hephaestus (Vulcan) to satiate him into sleep so she could cavort with Ares (Mars).

Answer: Fried Bull Testicle

Yes, each of these dishes is real and for some quite delicious. Balut egg is the edible chicken fetus, and sheep intestines are used in the Scottish national dish of haggis. The dish made with beef pancreas is more commonly known as sweetbreads. As for the Rocky Mountain oyster, the name is of course a pun to mask the real ingredient. So as not to waste any part of the animal, cattle ranchers would cut bull testicles into small portions, batter the meat, add salt, pepper and other spices and fry the mixture. Bull testicle recipes exist in other cattle growing areas, including the South American version of the dish called as huevos de toro.

A similar dish using lamb testicles is called by the more innocuous name of lamb fries.

Answer: Chickpeas

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans were amongst the first human cultivated crops appearing in records as far back as the early Neolithic period (3000-4500 BC). To make a falafel, the beans are soaked overnight then ground uncooked before being mixed with onions, scallions, and various spices.

The mixture is formed into patties or balls and either baked or more commonly deep fried in oil. Falafels are served by themselves or as a sandwich using pita bread with tahini sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. Falafel is a popular street food prepared across the Middle East, Europe and North America.

Answer: Hokey Pokey

While virtually unknown outside Oceania, hokey pokey ice cream is the second most popular flavor of ice cream in New Zealand behind vanilla. The ice cream combines a vanilla base with a honeycomb toffee called "hokey pokey". Hokey pokey is formed when sugar, golden syrup (a syrupy by-product of cane sugar refining) and baking soda are slowly melted to form a toffee.

When cooled, the caramelized toffee has a crystallized structure that when broken into smaller pieces resembles a honeycomb. While not confirmed, it is speculated that the name "hokey pokey" for the toffee and the children's dance (hokey cokey in the UK) derive from the magician's incantation of "hocus pocus".

Answer: Squid ink

Many cephalopods including cuttlefish, squid, and octopi release a dark colored ink as a defense mechanism to evade and confuse ocean predators. The ink is stored in a sac within the animal and is released when there is a threat. Squid can use their ink to make a large cloud in the water that acts as a screen allowing escape or by increasing the mucus component to make decoys that confuse predators.

When cuttlefish (squid) are harvested, fishermen remove the ink sacs so as to not include the mucus.

The ink is added to the pasta dough giving the finished product a dark color and a light but distinct salty and sweet taste. Recent studies suggest that squid ink may also have some medicinal benefits for humans in attacking tumor cells.