But first, a bit of onion triva:
Onions
According to an old English Rhyme, the thickness of an onion skin can help predict the severity of the winter. Thin skins mean a mild winter is coming while thick skins indicate a rough winter ahead.
During the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant supposedly sent a telegram to the War Department, "I will not move my army without onions." The next day he got them.
According to the National Onion Association, onion consumption in the U.S. has increased approximately 50% over the past 20 years.
Onions represent the third largest fresh vegetable industry in the United States. The U.S. per capita consumption of onions is around 18.7 pounds per year. This translates to approximately 370 semi-truck loads of onions used in the United States each day.
FOOD TRIVA QUIZ
1) This member of the squash family is known by at least a dozen names. It is a pear shaped fruit, has a single seed and a taste similar to zucchini. The young root tubers are also eaten. It is native to Mexico and Central America and was a popular vegetable with the Mayas and Aztecs. It's cultivation has spread all over the world, including Algeria, Madagascar, Polynesia, southern U.S., China, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia.
How many of its names can you list?
2) The Stage Deli (which names its sandwiches after famous people) has a sandwich on its menu that consists of two rolls stuffed with corned beef, pastrami, coleslaw, and Russian dressing.
What is the name of this sandwich?
3) In what year was the one billionth can of Spam sold?
4) In what year were instant mashed potatoes introduced?
5) Why do pigs wallow in water and mud?
6) Red ones existed before and after, but they did not exist from 1976 to 1987.
What are these red ones?
7) What would you be if you lived in Japan and were fed large quantities of beer and massaged with sake each day?
8) Who was the first to use sassafras leaves as a seasoning?
9) What do these cheeses have in common: cottage cheese, pot cheese and farmer's cheese?
10) How do botanists classify eggplant?
ANSWERS
1) Chayote (Sechium edule), also known as: custard marrow, christophene (France, Caribbean), chouchoute (Madagascar, Polynesia), brione (France, West Indies), vegetable pear, cho-cho, soussous, chuchu, choko, pipinella, xuxu, mirliton (southern U.S.), mango squash, and huisquil. For all these exotic names, this is simply a subtropical member of the squash family, eaten as a vegetable.
2) The Dolly Parton.
3) 1959.
4) Instant mashed potatoes (dehydrated potatoes) were introduced commercially in 1955. Just add milk.
5) Pigs have no sweat glands, they wallow in water or mud to keep cool.
6) M&Ms
7) Kobe beef is a special grade of beef from cattle raised in Kobe, Japan. These cattle are massaged with sake and fed a diet that includes large quantities of beer daily. This produces well-marbled, very tender, full flavored beef. It is also expensive, costing about $100 per pound! There is some beef being produced in the U.S. now, using these same techniques.
8) The Choctaw Indians of Louisiana were the first to use dried, ground sassafras leaves as a seasoning, what we now call filé, or gumbo filé, used in Creole cooking.
9) Cottage cheese is the fresh drained curds of slightly soured, low fat pasteurized milk. When the curds are drained, the cheese is called cottage cheese; allow the curds to drain longer and it is called pot cheese. Press the remaining moisture out so it becomes drier and crumbly, and it is called farmer's cheese.
10) Eggplants are actually fruits, and classified botanically as berries!
