Food / Diet / Cooking

Question 1

What is the name for both hot-oil infusions and the technique for creating them?

Answer 1

Tarka (or tadka)

Question 2

What is the name of the brown caramelized residue that sticks to the bottom of a pan while cooking?

Answer 2

Fond

Question 3

What does the chemical ethylene do to fruits/veggies?

Answer 3

It makes them ripen faster.

Question 4

Do fruits or vegetables (usually) produce a lot of ethylene?

Answer 4

Mostly fruits

Question 5

Are fruits or vegetables (usually) more likely to feel the detrimental effects of ethylene gas?

Answer 5

Mostly veggies

Question 6

Should you store onions and potatoes together?

Answer 6

No, onions give off a lot of ethylene, and potatoes are sensitive to that.

Question 7

What does agrodolce mean?

Answer 7

It’s Italian for sweet & sour

Question 8

What is in a classic blood & sand cocktail?

Answer 8

Scotch, sweet vermouth (Martini rosso), cherry brandy liqueur, orange juice (fresh squeezed)

Question 9

What does Mapo Tofu mean in Chinese?

Answer 9

“Ma” stands for “ma-zi” (Chinese: mázi, 麻子) which means pockmarks. “Po” is the first syllable of “popo” (Chinese: 婆婆, pópo) which means an old woman or grandma. Hence, mapo is an old woman whose face is pockmarked. It is thus sometimes translated as “pockmarked grandma’s beancurd”. (Mrs. Chen and her husband owned the restaurant in 1862, and that’s where it is believed mapo tofu comes from. Apparently Mrs. Chen’s face was pockmarked.)