Foods Beginning with Q Trivia Quiz

Answer: quahog

There are many common names for Mercenaria mercenaria: the quahog, the hard-shell clam, the chowder clam and the round clam. They are also called by different names depending upon their size: countnecks, peanuts, littlenecks, topnecks, and cherrystones.

The Modern English word "quahog" is a corruption of the Native American Narragansett word "poquauhock". These clams are eaten raw with intense sauces (horseradish, hot chili, lemon) or cooked in chowder, clam cakes and clams casino (clams broiled on the half-shell with bacon).

Answer: quail

Quail have graced the tables of diners since at least the time of the Old Testament (Numbers 11). They are found in both Eurasia and North America. Wild quail are hunted; domestic quail are farmed or released into the wild for the benefit of hunters. Quail are often stuffed and roasted whole. Quail pie is a delight in several cuisines. There is a small upscale market for quail eggs.

Answer: quandong

The quandong, desert quandong, native peach, wild peach or desert peach (Santalum acuminatum) is native to Australia. The edible fruit is known as "bush tucker" meaning that it grows wild and has been used as food by indigenous people for centuries. The fruit tastes a bit like a peach or an apricot.

It is stewed to make a pie filling, made into chutney, and produces a refreshing juice drink. The fruit is extensively exported, especially to the United Kingdom.

Answer: quark

The word "quark" comes from the German; the soft white cheese is also called tvorog in Russian, kvark in Danish, and kvarg in Norwegian and Swedish. The product is sometimes compared to cottage cheese and it is made in the same manner: warm milk is acidulated, curdled, strained and packaged.

In this sense, it is also comparable to paneer in India, fromage blanc in France and queso fresco in Mexico. Quark is used extensively in Northern and Eastern Europe in salads, main dishes, desserts and as a snack food.

Answer: quatre épices

France is famous for its convenient herb-and-spice blends such as herbes de Provence and bouquet garni. Another is quatre épices which simply means four spices. As is often the case in such matters, there is no clear agreement about what goes into it! A typical recipe includes ground pepper (white, black or a combination thereof), ground dried ginger, ground cloves and ground nutmeg.

Others use mace instead of nutmeg, allspice instead of pepper, or cinnamon in place of ginger. About proportions, there is less agreement than about ingredients.

The blend enhances forcemeats used in charcuterie to make pâté, sausages and terrines. It works well with meats (beef or venison) braised in red wine, ragoûts, gingerbread, and pain d'épices.

Answer: queso fresco

Queso fresco is made from raw cow's milk in Mexico and pasteurized cow's milk in the US. The white cheese is very mild and has a fresh taste. "Queso fresco" is Spanish for fresh cheese. The Mexican manner of making this cheese came from Spain where it is called queso blanco. It is crumbly and does not melt well. Compared to Mexican cotija cheese, it is milder and less salty. Like cotija, it is good crumbled over many dishes: eggs, enchiladas, salads, soups, watermelon, corn on the cob, or sticky caramel desserts.

Answer: quince

The quince (Cydonia oblonga) is a hardy tree which produces a fruit rather like a pear or apple. The golden-yellow fruit has been enjoyed for many centuries. It is mentioned in "De re culinaria", a 1st century Latin cookbook. According to Edward Lear's poem, the Owl and the Pussy-Cat "dined on mince, and slices of quince, which they ate with a runcible spoon".

This seems unlikely in that most quince, while beautifully scented, tend to be both very hard and very tart. To make them into jams, jelly, tart fillings and marmalade, they must be cooked long and slow with sugar.

Their natural pectin causes preserves to "set" well. Several cultures ferment quince to produce a fruit wine from which eau-de-vie is then distilled. An example is the French Liqueur de Coing.

Answer: quinine water

The British in early 19th century India were advised to take quinine as a preventative to malaria. Quinine is bitter so they cleverly added sugar to it and drank it with gin and soda water. Marketed today as tonic, or tonic water, or quinine water, the beverage has a much lower (non-therapeutic) quinine content. For those who do not enjoy the taste of gin, vodka tonic is a pleasant alternative. Quinine water exposed to ultraviolet light in a darkened room will fluoresce.

Answer: quinoa

Quinoa is a plant which produces edible seeds, not really a cereal but like cereals. The seeds are coated with saponin, a bitter toxin, which must be washed away to make quinoa edible. It has been eaten by people for three or four thousand years in the Lake Titicaca basin of Peru and Bolivia. Quinoa is now cultivated in Africa, India, Europe, Australia and the United States. Washington State University (the Little Harvard of the West) has researched and promoted quinoa as a food crop in both Eastern (the Palouse) and Western (Skagit Valley) Washington. Cooked quinoa may be used as a pilaf-type side dish, cold in a salad, in soup or as a hot breakfast like oatmeal.

Answer: Quorn

Since 1985, Marlow Foods has marketed a mycoprotein under the brand name Quorn. The name is taken from the Leicestershire village of Quorn. The product uses a fungus (Fusarium venenatum) found in soil to produce a biomass which is then mixed with either egg albumen or potato starch to hold it together. Quorn was marketed as a mushroom product but this was found to be deceptive, as Fusarium venenatum is not a mushroom.

It is sold in ready-to-cook forms (which look rather like ground beef) and in many prepared products such as hot dogs, burgers, pizza and lasagna.

The burgers were briefly available at McDonald's in the UK in the 1990s.