Foods Beginning with C, Part 2 Quiz

Answer: caramel

When sugar is heated to around 170 °C (340 °F), chemical changes occur which make it brown, aromatic, and yummy. The result is called caramel and the process is called caramelization. The delicious goo is used to make candy, sauces, flan, crème brûlée, caramel apples, and as an added flavourant to hot chocolate, latte, and vodka. The Modern English term derives from the French "caramel" which was borrowed from the Portuguese "caramelo" which descended from the Late Latin "calamellus" meaning sugar cane.

Answer: carob

The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) produces pods which, when dried and ground, are sweet tasting and suggest the flavour of chocolate. They also produce seeds from which locust bean gum, a commercial food thickener, is made. While carob is an imperfect substitute for chocolate, it is low fat with fewer calories and does not require added sugar.

Some might argue that eating carob products during Lent does not violate rules of abstention which prohibit eating chocolate. The Modern English word carob derives from the Middle French word "carobe" which was derived from the Arabic word "kharrub" meaning locust bean pod.

Answer: Carnaroli

The variety of rice used to make the Italian dish risotto is of immense import. Debates about it are the stuff of fist fights between Italian chefs and curse words between Italian grandmothers. Carnaroli rice (sometimes called "superfino") is a cross between Vialone rice and Lencino rice made in 1945 for the specific purpose of cooking risotto.

It was named to honour Professor Emiliano Carnaroli, then the president of the National Rice Organization. The rice, grown in the north of Italy, has a higher starch (amylose) content than arborio rice and maintains a firmer texture during cooking.

Answer: cauliflower

There are hundreds of varieties of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea). Like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage, it is one of the "cole" crops in the mustard (Brassicaceae) family. The edible head of the cauliflower is called the curd. It is commonly white but may be orange (mostly in Canada), green, or purple.

This vegetable may be eaten raw in a salad, pickled, steamed, boiled, roasted, grilled or stir fried. Cooked cauliflower may be pureed to make a white sauce. It may be mashed to resemble mashed potatoes.

A quite wonderful East Indian dish, aloo gobi, is made with cauliflower and potato. The word cauliflower entered Modern English from the Italian "cavolfiore" which means cabbage flower and is derived from two Latin words: "caulis" meaning cabbage and "flos" meaning flower.

Answer: chanterelle

The chanterelle mushroom is one of several varieties which grow in a sort of funnel shape from which they derive their name. The Greek word "kantharos" means tankard or cup and was applied to these mushrooms because of their similar shape. These mushrooms grow wild, especially well in the forests of the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

They look a bit like toxic jack-o'-lantern mushrooms (genus Omphalotus) so they must be gathered and eaten with great care. The golden chanterelle is culinarily important (and expensive); sautéed in butter or poached in cream, they add their flavour and fragrance to a variety of high-end dishes.

Answer: chayote

Also known as the mirliton, the chayote (Sechium edule) originated somewhere in Mesoamerica. Like all the other gourds, it is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family. It was an early transplant to Europe during the time of exploration and colonisation. The fruit is eaten raw or cooked. Raw chayote, thinly sliced, works well in salads; it may also be "quick pickled" in lemon or lime juice. Treated as a vegetable, it may be fried, deep-fried, stir-fried, steamed or boiled. Once cooked, it may be mashed into a sort of puree.

The English name chayote adopts the Spanish word "chayote" which is a transliteration of the Nahuatl word "chayohtli."

Answer: Cheddar

Cheddar cheese is popular around the world and made around the world. Its humble beginnings were in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. It is naturally off-white but is often made yellow or orange by the addition of annatto. Original Cheddar cheese is cave-aged and rather sharp; mass-market "cheddar" cheese is not aged at all and is labeled by sharpness: extra sharp, sharp, medium and wimpy. Most Cheddar cheese is made with rennet which comes from the stomachs of newborn calves; kosher Cheddar is made with chymosin which comes from yeast and mold.

Answer: clotted cream

When whole milk is heated in shallow pans and allowed to cool slowly, the cream in it ascends to the surface and clots, producing clotted cream. This thick high-fat cream is spread on baked goods, often with fruit preserves, especially strawberry jam. Clotted cream is also known as Devonshire Cream or Cornish Cream.

It is an essential ingredient in "cream tea" in Britain. The enormous difference between Devonshire Cream Tea and Cornish Cream Tea is that, in Devon, the cream is spread on a split scone and the strawberry jam placed on top of that while, in Cornwall, the jam is spread on the scone and the clotted cream spread on top of it.

Answer: conch

Conch is pronounced "kahnk" rather than the more apparent "kahnch." It describes a variety of sea snails all of which are called conch. The queen conch is common to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico; it figures prominently in the cuisines of the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Haiti. In Puerto Rico and Panama, it is eaten raw as a sort of ceviche. In Italy, it is called "scungille." Conch has been "overfished" and harvest has been prohibited in Florida since the 1970s.

Answer: crawfish

There are many varieties of crawfish. They are variously called crawfish, crayfish, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, craydids, mudbugs, and yabbies. Some of these are regionalisms. Only an astacologist can definitively sort them out. The tails make the best eating.

They figure in many Asian cuisines, in Swedish cooking, and in the US, especially in the South, especially in Louisiana. Crawfish are amenable to being farmed; commercial crawfish farming is carried on in Oregon.