Foods Beginning with A, Part 2 Quiz

Answer: acerola

The acerola (Malpighia emarginata) is a tropical native of South America which grows as well in the Caribbean, in Oceania and in India. Other names for it include the Barbados cherry, West Indian cherry, and wild crepe myrtle. The tasty fruit is remarkably high in Vitamin C. It may be eaten out of hand, juiced, concentrated, and pureed into pulp. It is sold as much for its health benefits as for its flavour.

Answer: adobo

There are as many styles of making adobo as there are places visited by Spanish and Portuguese explorers. The basic adobo is a method of preserving meat by immersing it in vinegar, salt, garlic and paprika. The marinade came to be used as a sauce over time, such that unpreserved meats were flavoured with it at the time of preparation. Mexican adobo features Chipotle and Ancho peppers and tastes smoky. Puerto Rican adobo adds citrus and is used as a meat rub. Philippine adobo is very different in that it includes soy sauce and fermented fish sauce but does include neither peppers nor tomato.

Answer: advocaat

Advocaat is a Dutch alcoholic beverage. Although the recipe varies between producers, it essentially contains egg yolks, brandy, cream or condensed milk, vanilla, and honey or sugar syrup. Rather like eggnog, drinking advocaat is like sipping thin custard.

The alcohol content normally ranges from 14 to 20% ABV. There are several interesting uses of advocaat beyond its role as an apéritif or digestif. It forms a wonderful base for ice cream. It may be happily added to after-dinner coffee. There are two quite different cocktails, both called a Fluffy Duck, made with advocaat. One is a mixture of gin, advocaat, Triple Sec, orange juice and soda water.

The other is made of white rum, advocaat and heavy cream.

Answer: ale

The English word "ale" descends from much earlier Germanic languages, e.g. the Middle Dutch "ael," the Old Saxon word "alo," in Old Norse as "ol," the Finnish "olut" and the Estonian "õlu." Ale was tremendously important to the medieval European diet.

It was one of three major cereal products, the others being pottage and bread. It was also safer to drink than water. Ale is a warm-fermented beer which uses hops to bitter the sweet malt from which it is made. The relatively low alcohol content led to ale being called "small beer." The family name Brewster derives from people who made beer and ale.

Answer: Alfredo sauce

Fettuccine Alfredo is ubiquitous; it is even on the menu at the American restaurant chain Olive Garden. It is the creation of Alfredo di Lelio, the owner of a restaurant in early 20th century Rome. Fettuccine Alfredo is basically fettuccine pasta (other shapes may be substituted) dressed in butter and finely-grated young Parmesan cheese.

The original contained neither cream nor garlic; almost all modern versions contain both. Assisted by perhaps a bit of the water in which the pasta is cooked, the cheese melts in the heat of the pasta and emulsifies the liquids to form a lovely sauce.

The at-home Italian version is called simply "fettuccine al burro."

Answer: amaretto

The Italian word "amaretto" means "a little bitter." The bitterness in amaretto liqueur comes from the almonds, apricot pits and peach pits with which it is made. There are many makers -- Bols, DeKuyper, Disaronno, Lazzaroni and Luxardo-- and each has its own recipe. It may be consumed straight up, used as an ingredient in cocktails and added to hot coffee. It also finds its way into ice cream, tiramisu, chocolate desserts, crepe batter, whipped cream, and the almondine sauce used for fish.

Answer: anise

The flowers of the anise plant (Pimpinella anisum) produce seeds which taste and smell like liquorice, star anise and fennel. They are used in many ways: to make beverages (teas, tisanes, Mexican hot chocolate, root beer) and alcoholic drinks (Greek ouzo, Italian sambuca, French absinthe, anisette, and pastis).

They are used in baking (Italian pizzelle and biscotti, German Pfeffernüsse and Springerle). In J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit," Bilbo Baggins baked anise into his seed cakes. Italians use them to flavour sausage.

They are essential to black jelly beans. And, in folk medicine, they are used as an antiflatulent.

Answer: apple

Originating in Asia, the apple (Malus domestica) is now found in most parts of the world. There are over 7500 different cultivars, each with its own particular value. Many apples are eaten raw out of hand. Many are cooked into sauce or filling for desserts.

Many are pressed into cider, some of which is "hardened" into an alcoholic beverage. Some hard cider is distilled into apple brandy. Apple cider is also converted to apple cider vinegar. The fruit may be kept in a root cellar, canned, dried or frozen. Religious Jews eat apples with honey on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in anticipation of a sweet year to come.

Answer: Armagnac

Brandy is a strong alcoholic beverage distilled from a blend (usually) of several grape wines. Armagnac is a brandy distilled in the Armagnac region of Gascony from a blend of wines made (most often) from Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche, and Ugni blanc grapes. The brandy is then aged in oak barrels. Armagnac has been distilled in France for a very long time; there is a written record from 1310, all the more credible because it was written by a monastic prior and cardinal. Modern production is closely controlled by law.

Answer: artichoke

Globe artichokes (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) are thistles, as unappetizing as that thought may be to those who have sought to eradicate noxious thistle from tilled agricultural soil. It has been said that the best revenge may be to eat one's enemy.

The flower buds form and are harvested before blooming. The edible portions are the base of the leaves and the heart. They are quite good when steamed, perhaps in white wine and garlic with a few slices of lemon to prevent browning, and drenched in melted butter.

Italian recipes call for stuffing artichokes with bread crumbs, sausage and cheese. Artichoke tea is prepared and enjoyed in Vietnam and in Romania.