Foods Beginning with Y Trivia Quiz

Answer: yam

Multiple species of yams (genus Dioscorea) are grown and eaten around the world. Yams are not sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) but people in the United States often confuse the two. Different sorts are grown on different continents: Dioscorea rotundata in Africa, Dioscorea alata in Asia and Dioscorea trifida in the Americas.

Some yams must be cooked before consumption to destroy toxins in them. In addition, yams are dried and ground into a powder which is then used like flour. There are competing etymologies for the English word yam.

Answer: yardlong beans

Yardlong beans ((Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) are also called asparagus bean, pea bean, long-podded cowpea, Chinese long bean, and snake bean. They grow and look very much like the common green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). The beans grow 12-18 inches in length; the "yard" part of their name is an example of culinary-agriculture exaggeration.

It is a native of Southeast Asia and southern China, which is why it figures so significantly in the cooking of these regions. Chinese and Indian immigrants brought them to the Caribbean.

There is a small but developing crop produced in the Southeastern United States.

Answer: yarrow

It is not at all insulting to yarrow (Achillea millefolium) to call it a weed. The plant grows wild in Northern Europe and Asia and in North America. It is widely foraged. The plant was introduced to Australia as a cattle-grazing crop. There are numerous aliases for yarrow: herba militaris, soldier's woundwort, sanguinary, staunchweed, bloodwort, nosebleed plant, field hop, milfoil, thousand-leaf, thousand-seal, hundred leaved grass, old man's pepper, old man's mustard, devil's nettle, bad man's plaything, and devil's plaything.

The military medical use of the leaves was to stop bleeding and prevent infection. The leaves were also used in place of hops to make beer. The leaves' strong scent is lent to tea made from them. They are also used in salads and chopped as an herb.

Answer: yellowfin tuna

There are numerous kinds of tuna; the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is one of these found around the world. In Hawaii, this tuna is known as ahi. Whole fish weights of 400 pounds are not unusual. The tuna fishery, purse seiners in particular, have been severely criticized for taking manta rays, sea turtles, sharks and dolphins as bycatch.

There are two grades of yellowfin tuna: sashimi and other. The sashimi grade is served raw. The other grade is grilled or just barely seared before service.

Answer: yerba buena

The difficult thing about yerba buena is that it refers to (at least) four different species, depending upon where one finds them. Confoundingly, several of these species are only distantly related; most of them are in the mint family. In Spanish, the name "yerba buena" translates to "good herb".

In some places, spearmint (Mentha spicata) is called yerba buena. In the Western US, it applies to Clinopodium douglasii or perhaps to Eriodictyon californicum. In Cuba, it means Mentha nemorosa, which is sometimes also called Cuban mint. Puerto Ricans use culinary savory (Satureja viminea) to season their cooking. Yerba buena is used in folk medicine, as a refreshing tea and as an herb in cooking.

Answer: yogurt

Milk is warmed to denature its proteins, cooled a bit, inoculated with Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus bacteria, and allowed to ferment until thickened. The result is yogurt (or yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt).

The bacteria ferment the milk sugars and produce lactic acid which is the source of the tangy flavour. The milk usually comes from cows but the milk of sheep, goats, mares, camels, yaks and water buffalo (!) may be used. Yogurt may be eaten by itself, used as a sauce or dressing, made into soup, made into a beverage (e.g. lassi), or sweetened for dessert. Strained yogurt, which is thicker, is often served with gryos and souvlaki in Greek cookery.

Answer: Yquem

In Michael Bond's 2014 novel "Monsieur Pamplemousse on the Spot", the retired detective, now a gourmet food critic in France, enjoys "Quenelles de veau washed down with a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem '45". Château d'Yquem is a famous sweet wine grown in the Sauternes region of Bordeaux.

This wine has been produced since 1593. It is produced from grapes which have been infected with Noble Rot (Botrytis cinera) which reduces water content thereby increasing the concentration of sugar. The wine is highly acidic and highly sweet. With care, it ages well and is remarkably good after 50 years in the cellar.

Answer: yuca

Yuca (Manihot esculenta), also known as cassava and/or manioc, grows in tropical and subtropical regions. The tuber is a major food source around the world. In Spanish-speaking countries, it is known as yuca. This is not to be confused with yucca to which it is not related.

Much of yuca is eaten after boiling. The starch extracted from it is used to make tapioca. In Brazil, ground cassava is made into flour which is roasted and called farinha. This is not to be confused with farina which is a milled-wheat product cooked into hot cereal. Yuca is also fermented to produce a great variety of alcoholic beverages.

There are natural toxins in yuca which require cooking to be destroyed.

Answer: Yukon Gold potatoes

The Yukon Gold potato was hybridized by Garnet "Gary" Johnston and Geoff Rowberry at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, in the 1960s. The cross is between a cultivated North American white potato and a native South American yellow potato. The potato was first marketed in 1980.

They occupy a culinary niche between dry Russet potatoes and waxy new potatoes. As a result, they may be boiled, mashed, baked, sautéed, fried, roasted, or grilled.

Answer: yuzu

Yuzu, usually in the form of juice, is all the rage in high-end fine-dining restaurants. This citrus fruit (Citrus junos) is East Asian in origin. It is genetically related to mandarin oranges and has a flavour reminiscent of grapefruit. One of the most significant features of the yuzu is its scent.

The aroma of both the juice and the zest is strong and lovely. Yuzu juice is added to shoyu (soy sauce) to create ponzu sauce. Yuzu juice is added to honey to make hachimitsu, a syrup added to tea. It is also used to make scrumptious alcoholic beverages.

In addition to many sources in Asia, these shrubs are grown commercially in Australia, Spain, Italy, France and California.