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Cooking is a creative and practical skill that has been essential to human survival for thousands of years. From simple preparations to complex and delicious dishes, cooking allows us to nourish our bodies and enjoy the pleasures of the table. Trivia questions about cooking can provide a fun and engaging way to test your knowledge and deepen your appreciation for this important and enjoyable art.
Whether you're a seasoned chef or just starting to explore the kitchen, cooking trivia questions offer a glimpse into the rich history and culture of food and cooking. From the basics of ingredients and techniques to the cultural significance of different dishes and cuisines, these questions can challenge you on your knowledge of cooking history, science, and art.
Ultimately, cooking trivia questions are a fun and educational way to engage with this creative and practical skill. Whether you're a home cook, a professional chef, or simply someone with an appreciation for good food, these questions can help you broaden your knowledge, discover new recipes, and deepen your appreciation for the art of cooking. So why not put your knowledge to the test and see how well you know your cooking trivia!
1. First sold in 1946, Percy Spencer used WWII-developed radar tech to create the Radarange—the first of what modern day appliance for cooking food super-fast?
Answer: Microwave
2. What's the name of the famously angry British host on the reality TV show "Hell's Kitchen?"
Answer: Gordon Ramsay
3. From Anchorage you can see a massive wind farm across the Cook Inlet on what island named for a thing that comes in really handy when cooking?
Answer: Fire Island
4. Don't hurt yourself or anyone else while thinking about this one: Abbreviated "pn," what small unit of measurement used for adding spices or sugar to your cooking is roughly equivalent to 1/16 of a teaspoon, according to Allrecipes.com?
Answer: Pinch
5. Considered a loan word from Greek, what is the difficult-to-spell name of the dip or sauce made of strained yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, and other seasonings? It is most often served cold as part of an appetizer.
Answer: Tzatziki
6. As defined by chef Auguste Escoffier, the five "mother sauces" of French cooking are béchamel, espagnole, tomate, velouté, and what fifth sauce, which is commonly featured in Eggs Benedict?
Answer: Hollandaise
7. Memphis first hosted the WCBCC in 1978 with 26 teams. The city has continued hosting the event ever since, now with four days of activities and a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The WC stands for World Championship. What does BCC stand for?
Answer: Barbecue Cooking Contest
8. Born and raised in Over-the-Rhine, Ronald Howes got the idea for his “Kiddie Kuisine” invention after watching street vendors use heat lamps to keep their food piping hot. What name did he give the classic children’s cooking toy?
Answer: Easy-Bake Oven
9. What “b” is a cooking technique involving pouring fat or juices over, particularly meat, during cooking in order to keep it moist?
Answer: Basting
10. What is the four-letter word for the paste made from fermented soybeans and barley or rice malt which is commonly used in Japanese cooking? This term can also be used to describe a type of soup thickened with the paste.
Answer: Miso
11. John Torode and Gregg Wallace got an earful when they eliminated a contestant from what BBC cooking competition for a chicken rendang that wasn't "crispy" enough?
Answer: MasterChef
12. In vegetarian cooking, in order to achieve a semi-solid and wiggly texture to your dessert, you might use Agar-Agar to replace what animal-derived ingredient?
Answer: Gelatine
13. Zuo Zongtang was a 19th century Qing dynasty statesman and leader, though he is best known in North America because the Romanized version of his name is found on thousands of restaurant menus as what food item?
Answer: General Tso's Chicken
14. In cooking, what French term means a mixture of semisweet chocolate and cream heated and stirred together, often used to fill truffles and cakes?
Answer: Ganache
15. What is the name of the Japanese snack food first sold in 1966 initially described as a "chocolate covered biscuit stick?" There are now additional flavored coatings such as almond, strawberry, milk, green tea, banana, and coconut.
Answer: Pocky
16. As of Season 11, Gordon Ramsay, Aaron Sanchez, and Joe Bastianich were the three restaurateurs on the judging panel of what Fox reality cooking competition series?
Answer: MasterChef
17. Literally meaning ‘everything in its place’, which 3-word French term describes the measuring and preparation of ingredients prior to cooking?
Answer: Mise en place
18. Which brand of frozen, handheld, filled pastries was developed over 40 years ago when brothers David and Paul Merage tried to come up with a way to keep their calzone-like creations crispy in the microwave (and, as a result of this cooking method, can easily burn your mouth like lava if you’re not careful? (Hint: They were originally called Tastywich)
Answer: Hot Pockets
19. Which nonprofit on Elm Street provides foodie-praneurs with affordable access to cooking equipment and storage, as well as support for launching their businesses?
Answer: Findlay Kitchen
20. Each year aspirational grillers come to Kansas City for the American Royal World Series of what backyard cooking technique?
Answer: Barbecue
21. One unlucky chef served undercooked leeks to Harvard alum Natalie Portman and Tom Colicchio during a very vegetarian Elimination Challenge of what knife-packing Bravo cooking competition?
Answer: Top Chef
22. A staple of baking known for its malleability and thickness, what almond-based confection is commonly used in decorative cake competitions to create figurines or other complex designs?
Answer: Marzipan
23. Now his foundation awards the preeminent global cooking awards. But what man claimed that his earliest food memory came from the 1905 World’s Fair in Portland Oregon? “I was taken to the exposition two or three times. The thing that remained in my mind above all others—I think it marked my life—was watching Triscuits and shredded wheat biscuits being made. Isn't that crazy? At two years old that memory was made. It intrigued the hell out of me.”
Answer: James Beard
24. Kristen Kish out-cooked Brooke Williamson in season 10 of what Bravo reality series, which was set primarily in Seattle?
Answer: Top Chef
25. In Turkish, Greek, and Middle Eastern cooking, a selection of hot and cold dishes, typically served as an hors d'oeuvre, is known by what four-letter name?
Answer: Meze
26. Chef Alton Brown discussed the physics and science behind cooking on what Food Network show, which ran from 1999 to 2011?
Answer: Good Eats
27. What is the name of the spice blend in French cooking composed of fennel, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, tarragon, and thyme? The name for this blend comes from a region in France.
Answer: Herbes de Provence
28. What hyphenated French term means a water bath that is used to keep delicate items like cheesecakes and set custards from curdling, cracking, or overcooking as they bake?
Answer: Bain-marie
29. A crepe-like batter that is cooked thin and stuffed with fillings such as potatoes, onions, and cheese typically forms part of the Southern Indian and Sri Lankan diets. What is the four-letter English name for this food?
Answer: Dosa
30. Nodding to the cooking technique, the full-service Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão has a name that means what "open" thing?
Answer: Fire / Flame
31. What region shared by Argentina and Chile gets its name from the cooking fires of native Yanghan people, which made explorer Ferdinand Magellan call it a "land of fire?"
Answer: Tierra del Fuego
32. What ethnic group of African-Americans in the Lowcountry region of the Carolinas and Georgia are often considered to have retained considerable African cultural influences, like cooking and folklore, because of their relative isolation?
Answer: Gullah
33. Nestled in the MGM Grand, Craftsteak treats diners to worldwide beef courtesy of what celebrity chef and "Top Chef" head judge?
Answer: Tom Colicchio
34. The New York Times Cooking section caused culinary controversy in 2018 when it suggested adding what green ingredient to your guacamole recipe for "intense sweetness and chunky texture?"
Answer: Peas
35. There's a town in the Peloponnese region of Greece with a namesake food item known for its purple color and smooth meaty texture. What is this fruit?
Answer: Kalamata Olive
36. The tasty Indian fritters known as pakora also go by "bhaji," derived from a Sanskrit word for what method of cooking?
Answer: Deep fried
37. Pour batter into hot cooking oil in a circular pattern and deep fry the overlapping mass until golden-brown. That’s a pretty simple instruction for creating what county fair staple that's pretty popular even in the Tornado Alley area?
Answer: Funnel Cake
38. A pestle is a blunt, club-shaped object often used for crushing and grinding cooking ingredients into pastes or powders. What type of bowl is it traditionally paired with it for those looking to add some bang and pop to your food?
Answer: Mortar
39. What distinctively sour Polish soup made with white sausage, smoked meat, and fermented rye flour?
Answer: Zurek
40. What American actress, singing star, and Instagram sensation has created a cooking show, ______ + Chef, in which famous chefs help her (remotely) to prepare wonderful meals?
Answer: Selena
41. Its name probably first appeared in a set of Krákow "Community Regulations" suggesting it as a gift for new mothers. Way before Philly schmears, what boiled and baked dough rings originated in Poland?
Answer: Bagels
42. What sour cream-like Polish condiment, created by souring heavy cream, is often served alongside pierogi and potato pancakes?
Answer: Smetana
43. What type of smoked cheese made of salted sheep milk, and which originated in Poland's Tatra Mountains, is made by an expert called a "baca?"
Answer: Oscypek
44. Fred van der Weij, an inventor in the Netherlands, created what countertop cooking convenience that was first produced by Philips in 2010?
Answer: Air fryer
45. Although it can be applied to many kinds of grains, what word refers to a side dish popular in Polish and European cooking made from boiled buckwheat? (
Answer: Kasha
46. Bigos, a national dish of Poland made from chopped meat stewed with sauerkraut, is also known in English as "_____'s Stew," where the blank is filled with what profession?
Answer: Hunter
47. What iconic cookbook was first published by Irma S. Rombauer in 1931, with subsequent versions by her and her descendants, with the latest edition being updated by her great-grandson, John Becker, and his wife Megan Scott?
Answer: The Joy of Cooking
48. Typically requiring the use of your pointer finger and thumb, what “P”cooking measurement is equal to 1/16th of a teaspoon according to Taste of Home?
Answer: Pinch
49. What Māori word refers to a traditional way of cooking food like lamb, pork, and potatoes, using heated rocks in a pit oven called an "umu?"
Answer: Hangi
50. At 520 degrees Fahrenheit, avocado oil has the highest of what indicator for cooking oils? It's the temperature at which the oil starts to burn.
Answer: Smoke point
51. What French term refers to a basic mixture of flour and fat or oil cooked together, which is often the first step to making a more complicated sauce or dish?
Answer: Roux
52. If you bake a batch of chocolate cookies using Nestle morsels, chances are you're using the recipe invented at what Massachusetts restaurant, which is found on the back of the package?
Answer: Toll House
53. Related to the French "mirepoix," the "Holy Trinity" in Cajun and Creole cooking consists of three parts: carrots, green bell peppers, and what other vegetable that pairs well with peanut butter?
Answer: Celery
54. What culinary term means that you quickly boiled up some greens in hot water, turning them white?
Answer: Blanching
55. No baker’s kitchen is complete without NaHCO3, which is a great leavening agent. It’s commonly called “baking soda,” in the U.S., but what’s the official name of the substance?
Answer: Sodium bicarbonate
56. What culinary term, which typically refers to any dish served with a creamy sauce made from spinach, is sometimes traced back to the influence of Catherine de Medici?
Answer: à la Florentine
57. The cooking method known as LTLT ("long temperature, long time") is also better known by what two-word French term?
Answer: Sous vide
58. What type of yeast acts as a leavening agent by converting fermentable sugars into carbon dioxide and ethanol? It’s a species Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Answer: Baker’s yeast
59. What Italian phrase means “firm to the bite” and tells the chef you want your pasta noodles cooked but not soggy?
Answer: Al dente
60. What step can be added to the bread baking process to jump-start the gluten formation by gluten, and involves mixing just the flour and water together and letting it rest before adding the rest of the ingredients?
Answer: Autolysis
61. What kind of finely-milled wheat flour is great for birthday treats since its low gluten/protein content gives it a light, perfectly crumbly consistency?
Answer: Cake flour
62. What method of cooking eggs involves cracking them into a small container and placing in a water bath? The name of this method suggests that the egg has been treated very gently.
Answer: Coddle
63. What "C" word with two double letters is a thickening ingredient derived from seaweed that can be used in some recipes as a vegan substitute for gelatin?
Answer: Carrageenan
64. What spice, made from ground red peppers, is closely associated with Hungarian cuisine and is often used to flavor dishes like goulash?
Answer: Paprika
65. What type of cookie, made from a shortcrust dough extruded through a bag or a cookie press, has a name that comes from a German word meaning "squirt" or "spurt?"
Answer: Spritz
66. What silly-sounding term of uncertain etymology refers to a method of cooking poultry by removing the backbone and sternum before butterflying it?
Answer: Spatch
67. Au shucks: a French word meaning "to scrape" gave us the name of what G-word baked dish style characterized by a crisp crust of breadcrumbs or breadcrumbs and cheese?
Answer: Au gratin
68. What word is placed before "butter" when referring to a mixture of butter and other ingredients, like herbs, garlic, or even anchovies, typically used as a flavoring or sauce?
Answer: Compound
69. In 1999, the state of Vermont passed a resolution urging proprietors of apple pie to make a "good faith effort" to serve it with ice cream, cold milk, or what controversial topping?
Answer: Sharp cheddar cheese
70. According to the title of Iranian American chef Samin Nosrat’s 2017 New York Times best-seller cookbook “Salt Fat Acid ______,” what fourth element is necessary to “Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking?”
Answer: Heat
71. Originating in France's Occitanie region, what classic and hearty dish includes white beans cooked with an amalgamation of poultry, sausage, and pork or lamb?
Answer: Cassoulet
72. A cone-shaped top is the hallmark of what kind of earthenware pot found in North Africa? Dishes made in this kind of pot are also typically called by the same name.
Answer: Maraq
73. Although it sounds like a peculiar breed of laughing dog, the name of what type of cinnamon-y, sugary cookie probably comes from the Anglicized version of the name of a German pastry?
Answer: Snickerdoodle
74. In baking, what six-letter "D" word can mean either a nut coated in sugar, or a small, edible silver-colored ball used to decorate a cake or cookie?
Answer: Dragee
75. What dish, a delicacy known in French as "cuisses de grenouilles," is also found in Chinese cuisine where it's imaginatively known as "field chicken?
Answer: Frog’s legs
76. Cream, eggs, bacon or ham, and a pastry crust are the primary ingredients in a quiche associated with what region of France?
Answer: Lorraine
77. What classic Italian dessert gets its name from a phrase meaning "pick me up" or "cheer me up"?
Answer: Tiramisu
78. Lapsang souchong tea, Montreal-style meat, and some types of lox and scotch whisky are examples of food and drink that have been cured using what specific method?
Answer: Smoking
79. An Austrian city provides the name for what type of shortbread pastry, typically topped with fruit preserves and sliced nuts with a lattice design on top?
Answer: Linzertorte
80. What type of fancy clear soup with an accent mark at the end is made by a clarification process using egg whites to remove fat?
Answer: Consommé
81. What technique in baking refers not to putting something in the oven with your eyes closed, but rather to baking a pie shell before it is filled, so that the crust bakes fully and doesn't become soggy once the pie is filled?
Answer: Blind
82. Saucy analogy! White pepper or a pinch of cayenne is to Hollandaise sauce, as shallot, black pepper, and tarragon are to what very closely related steak sauce named for a region in the Pyrenees?
Answer: Béarnaise
83. It's a pasta translation analogy. "Butterflies" is to farfalle, as "little spindle" is to what, uh, diminutive spindly pasta?
Answer: Fusilli
84. What term refers to a method of cooking eggs by cracking them into a ramekin and placing them in a water bath slightly below boiling--perhaps treating them indulgently or overprotectively?
Answer: Coddling
85. What important ingredient in a baker's pantry might come in Demerara, Turbinado, or Muscovado varieties?
Answer: Brown sugar
86. What type of pastry dough, ultimately from "chaud," the French word for "hot," can be used to make eclairs, churros, and beignets?
Answer: Choux
87. Nestle first started using what word to advertise its small pieces of semisweet baking chocolate in a 1940 advertisement?
Answer: Morsels
88. What cheerful cookbook, perhaps the most famous, influential, and best-selling in American history, was first self-published by Irma Rombauer in 1931?
Answer: The Joy of Cooking
89. A moderately spicy pepper with a deep red color is named after what Syrian city?
Answer: Aleppo
90. Merriam-Webster offers two acceptable pronunciations—one in which both R's are pronounced, and one in which only one is pronounced—or what spice that gives a yellow-orange color to food?
Answer: Turmeric
91. A mille-feuille is a French dessert made of puff pastry and pastry cream, also known by the name of which famous military leader?
Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte
92. Literally translating as "Mary's bath," what hyphenated French term means a cooking utensil filled with heated water into which another, smaller pot is placed to gently cook food?
Answer: Bain-Marie
93. What "R" word is the name for a baking dish small enough to hold just one serving of soufflé or chocolate lava cake?
Answer: Ramekin
94. Yum, meat jello! What savory gelatin, made from meat stock or broth and often used as a mold to contain other ingredients, is basically a kind of solid soup?
Answer: Aspic
95. The traditional process of nixtamalization involves soaking what common cereal crop in limewater? When nixtamalized, this cereal can be made into a dough called "masa."
Answer: Corn/Maize
96. What French term describes a way of cooking meat to make it very tender and richly flavored? To do it, you brown the meat on high heat, then put it into a pot with just a little bit of liquid and simmer over low heat.
Answer: Braise
97. Allumette and French cut are other words for what usually mandolin-administered matchstick thin vegetable cut?
Answer: Julienne
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