Restaurant Spelling Bee Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aperitif

Aperitif comes from the Latin word 'aperire' meaning 'to open'. An aperitif indeed 'opens' the meal, as it is served prior to the meal to whet the diner's appetite for what is about to come. Usually a dry drink, anything from champagne, vermouth, gin to dry sherry may be served as aperitifs. Sweeter drinks such as brandy or sweet sherry might be taken after a meal as a 'digestif', i.e. as an aid to digestion.

Answer: Bouillabaisse

Originally a dish made with fish not of suitable quality to sell, bouillabaisse has become a traditional and much loved dish around the world. Recipes vary from family to family, but a 'standard' bouillabaisse has several types of fish, shellfish such as mussels and sea urchins, all swimming in a rich broth made of tomatoes, leeks, celery, onions and the like.

It's traditionally served with toast topped with rouille, a spiced mayonnaise featuring the flavours of garlic, saffron and cayenne pepper.

Answer: Frittata

The word frittata comes from an Old Italian word which meant to have fried. Similar to an omelette, a frittata consists of beaten eggs heated in a frying pan until set. A frittata is normally deeper than an omelette and takes longer to cook. Both may have ingredients such as cheese, vegetables, chicken or other meats added for extra sustenance and flavour. For an omelette, these are folded into the cooked omelette towards the end of the cooking process, while for a frittata, the ingredients are in the frying pan before the egg mixture is poured in.

A frittata is usually consumed by a group of people such as a family with each person having a slice or two. An omelette is generally a meal for one rather than a group.

Answer: Quinoa

Quinoa came into modern culinary life from South America. Grown as a crop in the Andes region for over 3,000 years, quinoa was a staple in the diets of the Ecuadorians, Colombians, Bolivians and Peruvians who may have been eating wild quinoa for thousands of years prior to the food's domestication.

Quinoa would appear to be a cereal crop like wheat or rice but the plant isn't a true member of the grass family. Rather, it's a pseudocereal which can be used in a similar fashion to rice. A seed, it can be boiled like rice, made into a porridge or served in a similar way to couscous. It can also be served raw, for example being sprinkled over your morning cereal for a tasty protein hit to set you up for the day. Is there anything this food can't do?

Unlike cereals such as wheat, quinoa has no gluten but contains essential amino acids usually only found in meat, eggs, dairy and soy products.

Answer: Vinaigrette

A vinaigrette is a combination of an oil and vinegar used to flavour salad or to marinade. Often made with olive oil, any sort of cooking oil such as peanut, walnut or sunflower can be used. Different vinegars such as balsamic can also create different flavours of vinaigrette.

In addition to the oil and vinegar, many extra ingredients can be used to create different flavour profiles. These might include herbs, garlic, lemon or lime juice or zest, raspberries, salt, chillies, nuts, etc.

Answer: Basmati

Basmati rice grows in northern India and Pakistan. A long grain rice, it's favoured for Indian cooking for its slightly nutty flavour and its lack of stickiness. Once cooked, Basmati rice remains dry and fluffy without sticking together in the way that jasmine rice, favoured for southeast Asian cuisine, does. Basmati rice has a Glycaemic Index (GI) of less than sixty while jasmine rice has a GI of over 100.

Answer: Nasi goreng

Similar to Chinese cuisine's 'fried rice', nasi goreng literally means 'fried rice'. Like a Chinese fried rice, extra ingredients are added to fill out the meal and make it more flavoursome. These might include anything from seasonings like kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), garlic and chilli, to prawns, eggs, chicken, and salted dried fish. Mee goreng is another Indonesian dish, this time meaning 'fried noodles'.

It's made in the same manner and is equally delicious.

Answer: Burdock

The burdock plant isn't known for its beauty. Standing up to 28" high, the plant has large, coarse leaves and flowers similar to a thistle. If you take the young taproot of the burdock plant, it can be eaten for its sweet, mild flavour. It can taste a little muddy at times, but soaking the root in water for a time prior to cooking it can relieve some of the muddiness. It's also possible to pick the immature flower stalks for cooking purposes. Taken before the flower appears, the spears can taste like artichoke.

Careful how you pick the crops though; the burdock plant produces a chemical in its leaves which can cause contact dermatitis. Along with the dermatitis risk, the burdock plant produces burrs which can cling to clothes and animal fur. This plant was the inspiration for Velcro.

Answer: Galangal

Galangal and ginger look similar as they are both tubers in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. On closer inspection, the skin on a galangal rhizome is tighter than on a ginger root and the flesh isn't as dark, sometimes having a pinkish tinge. Their uses in cookery are fairly similar but they taste quite different.

Many people would be familiar with the taste of fresh ginger and perhaps expect galangal to be similar. They would be surprised to find its flavour to be like pepper. Galangal originated in Indonesia and has spread around the southeast Asian region where it is frequently used in cookery in much the same manner as ginger.

Answer: Zabaglione

A dessert made from egg yolks, sugar and Marsala, zabaglione can be served hot or cold, with fruits and/or biscuits. It is the same as sabayon, the French dessert.