Chopped: A Show With Baskets of Food and Fun Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The episode entitled "Class Acts" premiered in 2011 and featured four women who all worked in the same capacity in school systems. They battled it out with such ingredients as cream cheese, quinoa, and pickles. What role did they serve in their educational facilities?

Answer: Cafeteria workers

This episode was part of Food Network's drive to combat childhood hunger and to promote healthy nutrition for everyone. The White House chef at the time, Sam Kass, was a guest judge. The women all described how they battled unhealthy ingredients, judgmental children, and low budgets in their quest to make school food fun and healthy for the students.

The appetizer basket featured canned tuna, the entree included chicken and quinoa, and the dessert round offered cream cheese and grapes. The winner was Cheryl Barbara who was a high school cafeteria chef in Connecticut. All of the contestants brought smiles and tears to the judges' faces and highlighted the need for nutritional focus in the schools.

2. In 2009, episode "Judge Knows Best" featured four chefs facing some difficult basket ingredients. However, it was a food item NOT in the basket that caused an uproar. In the appetizer round, a contestant put a raw vegetable on the plate that judge Scott Conant immediately rejected. Instead of listening to his advice, TWO contestants used the same ingredient in the entree round. Scott got very angry. What was this offending food?

Answer: Red onion

The contestants in the first round had to cook with hamachi, a fish normally used for sushi. Most overcooked it and one chef added raw onion to the plate. This caused judge Scott Conant to let them know that raw red onion is one of his least favorite foods.

In the second round, the remaining three contestants had to use things like beef and mango. Two of the three added raw red onion to their plates and Scott got very angry. One of the chefs, Joshua, argued with him about the decision to utilize the non-basket ingredient.

After the dessert round, where the baskets held plantains and ginger, Joshua was eliminated. It was a very emotional finish as the winner had not completed his dessert but had exceptional other meals. Even as Joshua left the television studio, he was being told it had nothing to do with the infamous red onion.

3. In the 2015 episode called "Wild Ride" the four contestants were faced with a very difficult set of baskets. Each round had two deep fried foods in it as well as dishes like candy apples and ice pops. What theme did this particular show highlight?

Answer: Carnival food

The contestants in this show had things like corn dogs and candy apples in the appetizer basket. They were challenged with a hot beef (yes, beef) sundae as well as fried ravioli for the entree. Finally, their dessert was not easy either as the basket revealed fried tequila, fried butter, and ice pops. One of the contestants, Derrick Prince, was an employee of a "Chopped" judge named Chris Santos. Chris was not a judge that day but was hoping that Derrick would be a good representative. Unfortunately, Derrick cut himself during the dessert round and was unaware until alerted by the show's staff.

When the dishes were placed on the judges' table, drops of blood were spotted so none of the judges felt comfortable to taste the dish. A strange ending to a carnival-themed day!

4. The 2013 episode entitled "We Love Leftovers" made the contestants think that, perhaps, they did not even LIKE leftovers. After dealing with day-old lasagna, half-eaten German chocolate cake, and fortune cookies, it was down to the last two chefs in the dessert round. It all boiled down to one particular machine in the kitchen and who could get there first. What was it?

Answer: Ice cream machine

The four chef contestants were shocked to learn that they would be dealing with baskets full of leftovers. The appetizer round offered them old lasagna and mushy cooked broccoli while the entree basket introduced old BBQ ribs and soggy french fries. By the time the dessert round came, the two chefs remaining were faced with dregs of sangria in a pitcher, leftover packets of duck sauce, and stale doughnuts.

There was an immediate race to the ice cream machine and chef Aatul won the advantage and poured his mixture into the machine.

However, in a weird twist, he forgot to plate the ice cream and ended up losing.

5. During season 8, in 2011, the TV show featured four chefs who had all been flown in from another country. The episode, titled "Easy Peasy" had the contestants expecting things like Yorkshire pudding or fish and chips. Instead, the baskets threw them curve balls such as crunch cheese curl snacks, candy, and grape gelatin. What country did these fun chefs represent?

Answer: Great Britain

All the chefs were from Great Britain and three of the four were from London proper. Chef Andy Bates specialized in street food of that city. They were expecting typical British ingredients but were instead challenged with things like American snacks foods or Japanese staples.

The battle, especially between Chef Duncan and Chef Tanaka, was intense. The entree round saw all of the contestants crusting their pork loin cut and the winner utilized chia seeds to do so. It all came down to the dessert round where, finally, a British food was discovered.

The two remaining contestants were charged with transforming typical shortbread cookies. The results were amazing and the judges had a very hard time selecting the winner.

6. The episode in 2014 that was called "Cool, Calm, and Perfected" featured four chefs who have had near death experiences. One was a victim of the terrorist attacks on New York on 9/11, one had battled Lyme Disease, and two others survived an illness. What medical diagnosis did they beat?

Answer: Cancer

Chef Robinson lives in New York and was witness, and part of, the attacks on that city on 9/11/01. He wanted his winnings to go to a charity that helps military personnel and their families learn to cook. Unfortunately, he was out after the appetizer basket featuring blowfish.

They were the farm raised kind and not poisonous! Chef Resnick talked about how she used food to fight Lyme Disease and, even on the show, suffered flashbacks about an incident with fire. The two chefs left to battle it out in the dessert round over almonds and basil juice were the two people who had fought various types of cancer and were now in remission.

It was a poignant and touching match.

7. "Chopped Catwalk", which premiered in 2015, featured four chefs who also had another career simultaneously. The two men and two women talked about their journey to where they are now and also faced some very tough basket ingredients. Besides being a chef, what other role do these contestants fill?

Answer: Models

The male chefs, both of whom are models as well as entrepreneurs, ended up getting chopped after the first two rounds, which included things like kale chips, bagged tuna, and chia seeds. They each brought their viewpoint of men in the modeling role and how they use food as a nutritional tool.

The two women left compared notes about how the industry views body types and how they have had to overcome internal insecurities. They urged viewers to have healthy relationships with food and know what is going into their bodies.

Their dessert basket included fruit pops and gooseberries and the women battled until the very last second when the food was plated for the judges.

8. The 2013 episode "Hero Chefs" introduced the audience to some chefs who were also heroes in their local communities. They did things such as teach ex-convicts culinary skills or to help get indigent city-bred children into a summer camp in the country. The winner ran a restaurant in California called Bread and Roses Cafe. For what clientele do they cater?

Answer: Homeless

The chefs used their culinary skills to help others in the community. On this episode they were given ingredients such as squash, scallops, and vanilla frosting. One of the judges was a guest and was the winner of the school cafeteria program from an earlier season. Each brought a unique flair to their dish but it was Derek Walker who walked away the winner.

His restaurant features beautiful decor and always-changing recipes and caters to the local homeless shelters nearby. Men, women, and children make reservations and learn responsibility and working with others.

In return, they get treated with respect and care and get a wonderful, nutritious, hot meal.

9. Episode "Firefighter Chefs" is just as it sounds. Each of the four contestants were firefighters and were usually the ones cooking for the others in their respective fire station. The basket ingredients all centered around heat and fire. The final two chefs left standing were shocked to see a TOOL as an ingredient instead of a food. What was this fitting implement?

Answer: Blowtorch

The firefighters were faced with ingredients like wildfire lettuce and ghost peppers. The three left for the entree round had to light the flaming Greek cheese with a lighter. By the dessert round, they should not have been surprised to see anything else related to fire but there it was... a tool! Instead of a food item, the basket contained a blowtorch along with wafer sheets, pudding, and soda.

The three judges themselves stepped up in an after-hours show to experiment with the dessert round. They ended up melting wafers into cups, creating meringue, and blow torching some fancy sugar work.

It was all wrapped around gratitude for what these firefighters face every day.

10. The 201st episode of "Chopped" featured four chefs who all ran their own restaurants. Their places offer everything from Latin-Asian fusion to "Texas eclectic" to egg rolls. What, however, is special about their individual restaurants? The show's title is "Keep On Trucking" if that helps!

Answer: They are mobile food trucks

The four food truck owners were faced with things like blood sausage, halibut and orange powdered drink. The chefs, two from California and two from Texas, made things like risotto and matzo ball soup. The California owners were left during the dessert basket and raced to the ice cream machine to deal with guanabana which is another name for the soursop fruit.

The winner, however, was the chef/owner of MOE's food truck which offers deli goods and various egg rolls. He finished his plate with a kugel made with pecans and white chocolate.

He hopes his winnings will go to opening at least one more of these unique mobile restaurants!

Source: Author stephgm67

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor guitargoddess before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The television show "Chopped" highlights various chefs battling each other through three difficult rounds. Each round has a mystery basket and the chefs must create a unique dish out of what is discovered. Let's review some of the highest rated episodes.

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