General Culinary - Jazzed Up! Quiz

Answer: Garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) was already used by the builders of the pyramids. It is a bulb containing different cloves. You can buy it raw, braided, smoked or fermented and use it with every kind of cuisine and recipe. It is not that good in pudding.

The health benefits are not doubted- but alas: the smell! Vampires don't like it either. So the "Vampire's Forbidden" sign as drawn by me should be decorated with a wreath of garlic.

Answer: Geoduck

The geoduck's siphon looks like the trunk of an elephant or a certain part of the male anatomy. No wonder it is seen as an aphrodisiac by Chinese men who think they are in need of help!

While it is still alive, it can be found near the coast of North America, from Baja California up to Alaska. A relative of the American geoduck lives on the coasts of New Zealand. They reach an age of 140 years and are the largest burrowing clams worldwide with siphons as long as two meters (6 ft 7 in).

Next, to get harvested in the wild, they are also grown in aqua farming.
There are recipes with sautéd, fried or how about a Japanese geoduck sashimi? I even found a chowder recipe.

Answer: Ginkgo

The ginkgo tree is of Asian origin and fossils of it from the Middle Jurassic times were found. I tried to depict a leaf of the tree next to the so-called nuts. This tree has seeds, and inside these seeds are gametophytes. If you eat too many over a long time, you might react to the poison with convulsions and diarrhea. The outer fleshy coating isn't harmless for all people: their skin can react like after the contact with poison ivy.

The nuts might be used in a savory egg-custard named chawanmushi or in a stir-fry. Or those special riceballs. As it is with recipes, they change from cook to cook and family to family. So maybe it is just enough for you to sit under the ginkgo tree and enjoy the shade on a hot day and nibble some roasted 'nuts'. But not too many - remember the poison.

Answer: Crème de menthe

"Poirot was left to wonder once more at the accom­plishments of George. He himself had had no idea that there was beer in the flat and it seemed incomprehen­sible to him that it could be preferred to a sweet li­queur.

When Spence had his foaming tankard, Poirot poured himself out a tiny glass of gleaming green creme de menthe." - Agatha Christie, "Mrs McGinty"s Dead".

You can sip on the white or green variation. In both cases, it is made with mint. As Hercule preferred the green one, I pictured it being green. It is served as a digestive or used in cocktails. Typically, it has 25% alcohol by volume.

One cocktail is appropriately called Grasshopper. I don't know if you can hop like one after drinking too many of these.

Answer: Goat

Do you know the Grimm fairy tale about "The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack"? It all started with a goat, one that was a mischievous liar.

"One time she said to her herder:
'I have eaten so much,
Not a leaf more I'll touch, meh! meh!'
But to her owner:
'Wherewithal should I be satisfied?
Among the graves I leapt about,
And found no food, so went without, meh! meh!'"

As the welfare of that animal was important, the owner got rid of the herders, his three sons. This might be an overreaction, but goats were something like cows to poorer folks. One thing you can make from her milk is cheese. The Italian Caprino cheese (Capra: Goat) can be bought as a few days old fresh cheese (Caprino fresco) or ripened as Caprino stagionato small and squared or resembling marshmallows. Ziegenkäse is made in German-speaking countries like Germany, Austria, or in Switzerland. It appears in all forms and sizes and even with mold. Valençay is another fresh cheese, a French one from the Loire Valley. You recognize it as a flattened pyramid powdered with gray mold and black ash.

Answer: Aosta valley

After driving from France into the Mont Blanc tunnel - the highest mountain of the alps and Western Europe - you will come out in Aosta valley. The kitchen in this area is hearty with a lot of butter - and known for their famous Fontina cheese. It is made from unpasteurized cow's milk. There are other cheeses from other countries- including Sweden, Denmark and Canada- who are called Fontina. Look out for the Matterhorn stamp as a sign of identification.

The shown flag was officially adopted in 2006.

Answer: fish bladder

Isinglass is made from a dried fish bladder. Its main component is collagen. It is used by breweries to accelerate the process of the clarification of beer. In olden times, before gelatin made from bones was widely available, it would also be needed to prepare food like blancmange.

Answer: Mexico

Yes, it originated from the country of cacti and sombreros. You should avoid using them together. Too prickly.

Also named Mexican yam bean or Mexican turnip, only the tuberous root is eatable. You should avoid a nibble on the rest. It is very poisonous.

The Spaniards, who colonized both Mexico and the Philippines, brought the plants over to the islands. It is mostly eaten raw, flavored with salt, pepper or chili powder. Or whatever suits your taste.

Answer: scale insects

The insects are little suckers the size of a pea living on the Kermes oak and getting their nourishment there. They are not that red as I painted them, but you get the picture what they are? Something like bigger aphids.

The female of the species delivers the color. They are dried to make it. In ancient times, they were used to dye silk and wool crimson by the Egyptians, Mesopotamian, Indians and whoever lived close by these places. In fact, the word crimson derives from kermes. As the people also liked colorful food, it was used as a food color, too. After all, especially if you are rich and mighty, you want to show up with the meals you offer.

Answer: Rice

"Rice is nice, that's what they say,
Rice is nice, throw some my way,
Rice is nice on any day," (The Lemonpipers, 1968)

Better than throwing it as suggested in the song: eat it! It is nicer that way.
Rice can be prepared into the delicious and filling end of the meal: sweet desserts. These recipes differ from country to country. I'm used to the German milchreis like my Mama used to make it: (milch - milk, reis - rice) with melting butter, sugar and cinnamon on top.

You can use psyllium as a thickener in cooking, but it is most needed to help with constipation.

I honestly hope you don't need if after trying any of the food I mentioned.