Son of a Bisque Trivia Quiz

Answer: Crab roe

She-crab soup is a wonderfully smooth and silky seafood bisque-like soup made with Atlantic blue crab meat enhanced by the addition of a quantity of the crab roe. The broth itself consists of milk and cream flavoured with a small quantity of sherry and is often thickened by adding a puree made from boiled rice.

Many diners wishing to indulge themselves are more likely to be served with 'he-crab soup' as the roe from the females is becoming scarcer and more expensive due to efforts to conserve natural crab stocks.

Answer: Menudo

Menudo is a hearty stew-like soup that is often served at large and important family celebrations such as weddings and during holiday periods. Depending on the types of chilies used to make the broth, Menudo can be found in forms across the chili heat spectrum from mild to blazingly hot.

It is also believed that menudo provides an effective cure for a hangover. This makes no difference to me personally; I don't mind offal such as liver and kidneys but I do draw the line at tripe!

Answer: Winter melon

Winter melon soup is a popular addition to many menus in the Far East but especially in China. The winter melon itself possesses a bland and neutral flavour which does not lend itself well in combination with other insipid ingredients. However, winter melon does provide bulk and, more importantly, takes on the flavours of the other ingredients in this delicate soup; ingredients which may include chicken, ham, spring onions which are also known as scallions, scallops and ginger.

Answer: Eggs

I love avgolemono! This delicious soup, the word means 'egg-lemon', consists primarily of a chicken broth into which raw egg has been drizzled and is flavoured with lemon. Avgolemono is often thickened with rice or sometimes pasta; orzo seems to be a popular choice when pasta is used for this purpose. Ideally, avgolemono should be served hot, have a sour and powerful lemon flavour and is often found served with a side dish of salted chicken meat.

Answer: Germany

Rumford's soup or 'Rumfordsche Suppe', was developed during the 18th century in Bavaria and was an early experiment in scientific nutrition. It was formulated by the British aristocrat Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, in order to provide a highly nutritious meal as cheaply as possible for those unfortunates resident in the workhouses and prisons of the time and even extending to those serving in the army.

The thick broth consisted primarily of a mixture of dried peas or lentils, pearl barley, potatoes and of course, that German staple, beer! Mmm... sounds wonderful, don't you think?

Answer: False

I'm sure that this is another delectable dish; just maybe not to the western palate! Sop Kepala Kambing wastes nothing. The main ingredient of this soup is the head of a goat (not a pig) including its tongue, its eyes and its brain. This dish also makes use of an oil rich ingredient indigenous to the region called candlenut which has a flavour not too dissimilar to but much more tart than the macadamia nut which it is often substituted with.

Other ingredients in this soup include celery, ginger and lime leaves.

Answer: Cassava

This soup from West Africa is particularly popular in both Ghana and Nigeria. Fufu is usually made using powdered cassava but can sometimes be found made from other starchy meal such as semolina or maize flour and once prepared it possesses a soft, slightly sticky dough-like consistency.

In Ghana, fufu is usually eaten with a soup made with peanuts and is known there as peanut or groundnut soup.

Answer: Nikujaga

Nikujaga, which means 'meat-potato', was supposedly produced by the chefs of the Imperial Japanese Navy to emulate the hearty stews that were being served to sailors aboard British warships at the time; the intention being to prevent a vitamin B deficiency amongst their crews. Nikujaga is a staple in the Japanese kitchen and consists of thinly sliced beef, large quantities of potato and is sweetened through the use of soy sauce.

Answer: Peas

Snert, which simply means 'pea soup' in the Dutch language, is a variation on this popular soup dish which can be found in various guises all across the world; its principal ingredient is split green peas which are cooked with celeriac, onions, leeks and carrots. Snert is usually served during the winter months with a quantity of sliced, strongly flavoured smoked sausage such as rookworst. Snert is traditionally served with buttered rye bread and pieces of bacon.

Answer: Tamarind

Tamarind, which is a member of the Fabaceae family, has many uses besides the culinary arts. Like many fruits, when young the pulp is sour but this improves with age and becomes sweeter as the fruit matures. In rasam, tamarind juice is blended and cooked with tomatoes, chillies with soft, steamed lentils added on occasion. Rasam is fluid in nature and can be served either hot or cold with rice and has a distinctive hot, sweet and sour flavour on the palate.