Foods Beginning with L, Part 2 Quiz

Answer: lamb's fry

"Lamb's fry" means different things in different places. In the U.K., Australia and New Zealand it is lamb's offal: liver, kidneys, sweetbreads, heart and the like. In the U.S. it is testicles. This is often fried in the rendered fat from the lamb's abdominal cavity.

The meat, often breaded and pan fried, served with bacon, onions and pan gravy, was a popular breakfast in 1786 Britain. The oldest recipe found is from 1808. The dish remains a popular breakfast in Australia.

Answer: lard

The rendered fat of pigs in lard. The rendered fat of cows and sheep is tallow. The rendered fat of chickens is schmaltz. The rendered fat of ducks is especially yummy! Lard is used as a frying and deep-frying medium, as an ingredient in savoury dishes, and as the fat in flaky pastry.

The popularity of lard in cooking has been reduced by health concerns and by the dietary restrictions of Kashrut and Halal. It remains an important ingredient in English Christmas puddings, in Scandinavian leverpostej pâté, in Asian lardy rice, and in high-end pie crusts.

Answer: leek

The leek (Allium porrum) is a tightly-curled sheaf of leaves growing from a bulb. The colour of the leaves is an ombré from white at the bottom to dark green at the top. This vegetable is a close relative of onion, garlic, shallots, scallions and chives.

The white and light-green portions are edible; the dark-green parts may be used to flavour stock. The modern English word leek derives from the Old English word "leac" which means leek or onion or garlic. Because the white parts are the best, specialty farmers push soil around them (a process called trenching) to keep the stem from turning green.

A very large part of all leeks purchased from the grocer's contain bits of sandy soil lurking inside the sheaves. Were it not for leeks, there would not be cock-a-leekie soup.

Answer: lemon myrtle

Lemon myrtle ((Backhousia citriodora) goes by many names, in Australia and abroad, but "lemon myrtle" is the most common. The leaves smell and taste strongly of lemon. The essential oil is used as an insect repellent. The flavour is used in tissanes, cookies, pasta, and as an herb with fish. Macadamia nut oil accepts the flavour by infusion.

Answer: lentil

People have been eating lentils (Lens culinaris or Lens esculenta) for scores of centuries. The story in Genesis 25 where Esau sells his birthright to his younger brother Jacob in return for a bowl of lentil stew is an example; Jacob's recipe is not provided in the scripture. Lentils are grown in many sizes and colours.

In India, the legume is cooked down to a sort of thick gravy (daal) served with bread or rice. In Central Europe, lentil soup is often enhanced with sausage, bacon or ham. Those varieties which hold their shape and colour during cooking can be chilled and made into interesting cold salads.

A puree of cooked lentils sometimes augments wheat flour in bread making (e.g. papadum). Most of the lentils in the US are grown in eastern Washington State and northern Idaho.

Answer: lights

The lungs of animals are more often used as food outside of English-speaking cuisines. There are especially good dishes made of lung in Malaysian, Italian, French, Mexiucan, Peruvian, and Filipino cookery. The exception is in the Scottish dish haggis which contains lung and other organ meats cooked in a sheep's stomach.

Answer: limes

There are several tree fruits called lime: Citrus latifolia, Citrus auraniifolia, Citrus hystrix, and others. The whole group tends to be green, round and sour. Key limes are necessary to the eponymous pie. The Persian lime is the most produced worldwide.

The limequat is a goofy hybrid. In the days of wooden sailing ships, lemons and limes were carried on board and consumed to prevent scurvy. This is the source of the term "limey" for British sailors. In India, limes are pickled. In Mexico, they are used to quick-cure fish.

In Australia, they are an ingredient in marmalade. Fresh-squeezed lime juice is mandatory in making a Margarita cocktail; the substitution of lemon juice is herejía.

Answer: lingonberry

In the Northern Hemisphere, lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) are mostly wild, although they are cultivated in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The little shrubs produce small bright-red spherical berries. These tend to be bitter but sweeten toward the end of the growing season.

They figure in the cuisine of Russian, Canada, Alaska and (especially) Scandinavia. The name lingonberry is from the Swedish. They are used to make jams and jellies, juice, syrups, and an interesting sauce served with caribou, elk, moose and the like.

There is also a curious Russian non-alcoholic beverage called lingonberry water. (Chef's tip: In the absence of red currants, lingonberries may be used to make Cumberland sauce.)

Answer: loganberry

Judge and amateur horticulturist James Harvey Logan of Santa Cruz, California, discovered in 1881 that, if one crossed a North American blackberry (Rubus ursinus) and the European raspberry (Rubus idaeus), produced a berry which would later be named loganberry (Rubus × loganobaccus) in his honour.

The loganberry looks very much like a large blackberry only dark red in colour. The loganberry is an "ancestor" of the Marionberry. The fruit is eaten fresh, juiced, and reduced to syrups and even wine.

They add much to an English Sherry trifle.

Answer: lotus root

Lotus root (actually lotus rhizome) (Nelumbo nucifera) is eaten like a vegetable in many Asian cuisines. It is typically boiled and then cut across the grain, leaving a visually interesting slice. Pickled lotus root is available in jars. Deep fried it makes a sort of chip. Koreans drink lotus-root tea. It has been cultivated for about 3000 years.