Beef Trivia
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7correct to beat the crowd
This beef trivia quiz has 70 free questions with answers and covers the whole animal and everything people have done with it: where the word comes from, how cattle were domesticated, which primal cuts give you brisket, T-bones and filet mignon, and how USDA and Japanese grading actually work. There are questions on Wagyu and Kobe, the invention of the hamburger and the Big Mac, corned beef and pastrami, Beef Wellington and Stroganoff, mad cow disease, and dishes from Argentine asado to Korean bulgogi and Vietnamese phở. Easy questions suit a family quiz night; the hardest will test a butcher or a barbecue obsessive. Every answer has been verified against primary and encyclopaedic sources, so the production figures, dates and cuts are the real ones.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The English word 'beef' ultimately comes from which Latin word?
bōs
It arrived via Old French, which is why the animal is Germanic 'cow' but the meat is Latinate 'beef'.
Q 02What is the rarely used plural of the word 'beef'?
Beeves
It survives mostly in old cattle-trade writing and as a favourite of crossword setters.
Q 03Which extinct wild ox, hunted by Neanderthals, is the ancestor of modern domestic cattle?
The aurochs
The last known one died in Poland around 1627, long after cattle had spread worldwide.
Q 04Roughly how many years ago did the first domestication of cattle (Bos taurus) take place?
10,500
A second, separate domestication about 7,000 years ago produced the humped zebu, Bos indicus.
Q 05Which country was the world's largest beef producer in 2018, at about 12.2 million tons?
United States
Brazil was second at 9.9 million tons and China third at 6.46 million.
Q 06Beef ranks where among the most widely consumed meats in the world?
Third
Pork and poultry both outrank it, and beef makes up about a quarter of global meat production.
Q 07Which country was the top beef exporter in 2019, with 14.8% of the total?
Australia
The United States was a close second at 13.4%.
Q 08Cattle graze roughly what share of all the land on Earth?
26%
That footprint is a big reason beef has the highest emissions intensity of any agricultural commodity.
Q 09In Sanskrit, cow beef, forbidden in Hinduism, is known by what word?
Gomāṃsa
Cow slaughter is banned by law in several Indian states and in Nepal.
Q 10Which country had the most cattle in 2023, with about 307 million head?
India
That was roughly a third of the world's cattle, though most are never raised for beef.
Q 11A cow's stomach has how many compartments?
Four
The rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum let cattle digest grass that humans cannot.
Q 12Cattle trained to work as draft animals are called what?
Oxen
Any breed can be trained; the word describes the job, not the animal.
Q 13Roughly how long is a cow's gestation period?
Nine months
It is close to a human pregnancy, which is why calving is planned around a yearly cycle.
Q 14Which primal cut is the usual source of barbecue, corned beef and pastrami?
Q 21The word 'steak' comes from an Old Norse word meaning what?
To roast on a stake
It entered English from Scandinavian in the mid-15th century.
Q 22Which 1827 New York restaurant has been called 'the most famous steak restaurant in American history'?
Delmonico's
It stayed open for almost a century and gave its name to the Delmonico steak.
Q 23Which South American country, home of the asado, has one of the highest per-capita beef consumptions in the world?
Argentina
Asado is considered a national dish and typically features grilled steak.
Brisket
It comes from the animal's chest, a hard-working muscle that needs long, slow cooking.
Q 15T-bone and porterhouse steaks are cut from which primal?
Short loin
The bone separates a strip steak on one side from a piece of tenderloin on the other.
Q 16Filet mignon is cut from which part of the animal?
The tenderloin
It is the most tender cut because that muscle does almost no work.
Q 17Which primal cut is used mostly for grinding, apart from one long, flat steak that shares its name?
Flank
That flat steak is a favourite for London broil and fajitas because it takes marinades well.
Q 18As a rule, beef gets more tender the farther it is from what?
Hoof and horn
Legs and neck do the most work, so shank and chuck are tough while loin is tender.
Q 19Prime rib and rib eye steaks come from which primal?
Rib
It also supplies part of the short ribs.
Q 20In USDA grading, which grade denotes beef of the highest quality with heavy marbling?
Prime
Only a small share of US beef makes the top grade, and much of it goes to restaurants.
Q 24Châteaubriand corresponds to which portion of a porterhouse steak?
The filet
It is traditionally a thick centre cut carved for two people.
Q 25Which dish is made from raw minced beef?
Steak tartare
It is usually served with a raw egg yolk, capers and onions.
Q 26The word 'wagyu' literally means what?
Japanese cattle
It is the collective name for four Japanese breeds rather than one.
Q 27Which breed makes up over 97% of the beef cattle in Japan?
Japanese Black
Its fat is unusually rich in monounsaturated oleic acid, which lowers the melting point of the marbling.
Q 28In the Japanese grading system, which grade marks the highest quality beef?
A5
Letters grade the yield and numbers the quality, giving 15 possible combinations.
Q 29Kobe beef must come from cattle raised in which Japanese prefecture?
Hyōgo
Only about 3,000 head a year meet the strict criteria, including a marbling score of 6 or better.
Q 30Kobe beef was first exported abroad in 2012, to which destination?
Macau
Hong Kong followed in July that year; before 2012 it could only be eaten in Japan.