Foods Beginning with E, Part 2 Quiz

Answer: Edam

Edam cheese is named after the village of Edam in North Holland in the Netherlands where it was created. Balls of the semi-hard cheese are coated in red paraffin for aging and storage. Young Edam is mild tasting; aged Edam acquires a sharper flavour as it hardens due to moisture loss.

When it is produced in Spain or Latin America it is called "queso de bola" (ball cheese) because of its shape. In an episode of "Mythbusters" on American television, a ball of Edam was shot from a cannon to see if it was an appropriate substitute for an iron cannon ball, which it wasn't. Cannon balls are not good with crackers and fruit, anyway.

Answer: egg cream

The odd thing about an egg cream is that it contains neither egg nor cream. The drink is constructed by putting syrup (usually chocolate or vanilla) into a glass and stirring in cold milk, then topping off the glass with carbonated water. The egg cream was invented and popularized in soda fountains. Ersatz versions can be made at home with chocolate milk and a seltzer siphon.

Answer: elderberry

In the motion picture "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," a French soldier (played by John Cleese) taunts King Arthur and his knights saying "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries." Elderberries (Sambucus nigra) are small berries which vary from black to dark blue to red.

The berries and the flowers are edible, although some parts of some species of Sambucus are poisonous, particularly if uncooked. The flowers are used to flavour alcoholic cordials and the berries to make wine.

Answer: elephant garlic

There are all manner of alliums, larger and smaller, sharp and mild. Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) is larger than most and milder than most. It grows as a perennial, adding cloves to its bulb, year after year. Each clove will grow into a new plant, if broken off and replanted. Elephant garlic is so mild that it may be eaten raw in salads. It is more often grilled or baked. A lovely compound butter can be made with roasted elephant garlic. It is perhaps also useful in keeping away very large vampires.

Answer: endive

There are many varieties of endive: Cichorium endiva includes curly endive or frisée and escarole or broad-leaved endive; Cichorium intybus includes common chicory, radicchio, puntarelle, and Belgian endive. This vegetable is eaten raw in salads, often mixed with lettuces. It is also good sauteed in butter, olive oil or bacon fat, or added to soups and stews.

Answer: enoki

The enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) grows wild on tree stumps and can be farm-raised, as well. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is a winter mushroom. The wild ones are brown; the domesticated ones tend to be pale. It is widely used in Japanese cookery and where it is called "enokitake." Enoki work well in soups because they retain their somewhat crunchy texture.

These mushrooms are also called golden needle mushroom (from the Mandarin Chinese), futu mushroom (in India) or lily mushroom.

Answer: epazote

The scent and flavour of epazote (Dysphania embrosiodes) is strong and off-putting, a bit like turpentine. Its leaves are traditionally added to black beans in Mexican cooking as it is believed to have antiflatulent properties. Tea brewed from it is unpalatable to all except those who enjoy it.

It harmonizes with dishes containing huitlacoche. The name "epizote" entered English from the Spanish word "ypasote" where it was derived from "epazotl," the Nahuatl word for this herb.

Answer: escabeche

The Moors in Andalusia taught the Spanish how to preserve fish and other meat by brining it with vinegar, and either honey or molasses made from dates. The result was a Spanish, Portuguese Filipino and Latin American dish known as escabeche. The Spanish version contains pimentón (dried ground sweet peppers). Other versions contain citrus juices and other spices. The Jamaican version includes Scotch bonnet peppers.

Answer: sauce espagnole

The French name "sauce espagnole" simply means Spanish sauce. It is one of the five classical "mother sauces" identified by Auguste Escoffier. This means that many other sauces are made from sauce espangole, e.g. africaine, bigarade, bourguignonne, aux champignons, charcutière, chasseur, chevreuil, and demi-glace.

A dark-brown roux is prepared to which water, bones, meat, and aromatic vegetables (onion, carrot, celery) are added. The is slowly reduced, strained and then tomato puree is added to it.

There are various explanations for the name Spanish sauce, the most likely being that the cooks who accompanied Anne, the bride of King Louis XIII, brought the recipe from Spain with them.

Answer: evaporated milk

Evaporated milk was invented to preserve fresh cows' milk without refrigeration. About 60% of the water is removed and the remainder is heated to 240-245 °F (115-118 °C) to sterilize it. This causes the milk to darken a shade in colour and to take on a somewhat caramelized taste. This product is used undiluted in cooking and as an additive to coffee or tea. It may also be reconstituted by the addition of an equal volume of water. Evaporated milk is not the same thing as sweetened condensed milk, used in baking, which has a significant amount of sugar added to it.