Foods Beginning with S, Part 2 Quiz

Answer: saffron

Saffron (Crocus sativus) probably originated in Iran; it is grown modernly in Greece, Mesopotamia, and in the State of Pennsylvania in the US. The bright red stigma and styles (called threads) are painstakingly harvested from the crocus blossoms, dried and preserved.

The resulting spice is the costliest on Earth by weight. In cooking, it imparts a vibrant yellow-orange colour to food and a taste which some people describe as hay-like. It is particularly lovely in breads, candy, liqueur, khoresh, risotto, paella, biryani, bouillabaisse, chicken, trout, and a dry-cured ham from San Gimignano in Tuscany.

Answer: sambar powder

Sambar is a ubiquitously popular stew in South Indian, Sri Lankan, and Burmese cookery. While there are innumerable variations based on lentil, pigeon pea and tamarind. Many are vegetarian (using eggplants, okra, moringa, gourd, green beans, and potatoes) but some contain salted fish. It is most commonly made with a sambar masala: a powder of coriander, cumin seed, fenugreek, black pepper, chilies, turmeric, curry leaf, dried onion and dried garlic. Each region (and each grandmother) has a unique recipe.

Answer: Sauce au Poivre

"Sauce au Poivre" is French for Black Peppercorn Sauce. It is commonly served with beefsteak but is quite wonderful atop chicken, pork, or venison. Black peppercorns (Piper nigrum) are cracked/crushed so that no whole ones remain but the lot is not completely pulverized either.

The steaks are removed from the frying pan to rest. Butter, shallots and the peppercorns are cooked in the pan. Brandy (or cognac) is added and set afire to burn off some of the alcohol. Concentrated/reduced beef or veal stock is added and boiled. Whole cream is gently poured into the pan, heated to reduce (without boiling!) and served, either atop or under the meat or in a warmed ceramic jug.

Answer: saveloy

In the motion picture "Oliver" (1968), the lads sing "Food, glorious food! / Hot sausage and mustard / While we're in the mood, / cold jelly and custard / Pease pudding and saveloys, / what next is the question? / Rich gentlemen have it, boys / - in-di-gestion." A saveloy is a highly seasoned sausage made originally of pork brains but modernly of pork and beef (and sometimes lamb). Saveloy is popular in Britain, in Australia, and in New Zealand.

It is prepared many ways: boiled on a bun, dipped in cornmeal batter and deep-fried.

In Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers" (Chapter LV), an attorney at the Insolvent Court, Solomon Pell, is seen "regaling himself, business being rather slack, with a cold collation of an Abernethy biscuit and a saveloy".

Answer: sesame

Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is a flowering plant native to India and Northern Africa. The edible seeds, which grow in pods, are pressed for their oil, ground into tahini (an essential ingredient of hummus), roasted and sprinkled on baked goods (such as McDonald's hamburger buns) and salads, baked into cookies (Benne wafers), bound with sugar into a sort of candy nut cluster, and compounded with spices to make za'atar seasoning. Baskets of sesame seeds were found incorrupt in the tomb of Tutankhamen, there to provide him with nourishment on his path to the afterlife.

Answer: sirloin

In different countries, whole animals are "broken down"/butchered differently into different cuts. Likewise, different cuts have different names, depending upon where they are butchered. For example, a sirloin steak in the US is called a rump steak in the UK.

In the US, a sirloin steak is cut from aft of the short loin where T-bones, Porterhouse, and club steaks are cut. In the UK, South Africa, and Australia, the sirloin refers to a completely different cut, taken from what Americans would call the short loin.

Unfortunately, the dotted lines on the diagrams in butchery textbooks do not appear on the actual carcass of the animal which needs to be cut down.

Answer: sole

Sole from the fishmonger may be butter sole (Isopsetta isolepis), Dover sole (Microstomus pacificus), English sole (Parophrys vetulus), European Dover sole (Solea solea), flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon), lemon sole (Microstomus kitt), northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra), Petrale sole (Eopsetta jordani), rex sole (Glyptocephalus zachirus), southern rock sole (Lepidopsetta bilineata), and yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera).

The flesh of sole, when gently cooked, is flaky and tender with a mild, delicate and subtly sweet flavour.

The sweetness invites the use of lemon juice to finish the dish. It ought not be overly herbed nor heavily sauced so as to allow its own flavour to come forward.

Answer: spearmint

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is a perennial herbaceous plant which grows in most temperate climates. Its varieties are also known as Mentha crispa, Mentha crispata and Mentha viridis. It differs from peppermint (Mentha × piperita), the latter containing much more menthol (40% c.f. 0.5-1%). Spearmint's flavour is milder, sweeter and fruitier than peppermint's. Spearmint is used in cooking and baking, in pesto, in salads, in alcoholic drinks (mojito, mint julep), as a tisane (Maghrebi mint tea), and as a garnish, especially in Thai and Vietnamese cookery.

Answer: Stilton

True Stilton cheese is produced in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. It is of two sorts: the Blue Stilton inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti mould and the White Stilton which is not. Both cheeses were granted PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) in 1966; they have both been made since at least 1720. Oxford Blue, Shropshire Blue, and Stichelton are not Stilton but rather knock-offs.

The cheese is traditionally eaten during Christmastide: the blue with pears, crackers or in a sauce; the white combined with apricot, ginger, currants, or citrus and served at dessert.

Answer: swede

The rutabaga (Brassica napus) is known by that name in North America, as a "swede" in England, Australia, New Zealand, and other parts of the Commonwealth, as a "Swedish turnip" or "neep" in Scotland, and as a "turnip" in Canada and Ireland. This vegetable feeds both livestock and humans.

The Scots make "neeps and tatties" (mashed potatoes and mashed swedes) for Hogmanay, for First Footing, and for Burns Night (when it serves as a side dish for a slice of haggis). Swedes are commonly found inside Cornish pasties. Scandinavian cuisine embraces root mashes of potato, swede, carrot, and onion.

In Finland, swedes are thinly sliced and deep-fried to produce a snack akin to potato chips.