50 free Meat trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free meat trivia questions with answers. This meat trivia quiz carves through everything carnivorous: which animal supplies the most meat on Earth, why red meat is red, what dry-aging does, the Maillard reaction that browns a steak, and the cuts from tenderloin to skirt. It travels the world's charcuterie board — Kobe and Wagyu, Prosciutto di Parma, jamón ibérico de bellota, bresaola, chorizo, mortadella, pastrami, corned beef, biltong and jerky — and stops at haggis, black pudding, foie gras, kangaroo, Rocky Mountain oysters, turducken, Spam and the first lab-grown burger. Frankfurters, wieners, bratwurst and the döner kebab get their due too. Early questions suit anyone who has stood at a barbecue; later ones reward cooks and food-history buffs who know why haggis is banned in the US and what pemmican is named for. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which meat was the most produced in the world in 2023, at about 34% of global output?
Chicken
Chicken production has more than doubled since 2000; pigs come a close second, also around a third of the total.
Q 02Which pigment gives red meat its colour and turns brown when it oxidises?
Myoglobin
Red meat is defined by nutritionists as meat from mammals, including pork — which does not always look red.
Q 03What is the name of the process, involving amino acids and sugars, that browns a seared steak?
The Maillard reaction
Louis Camille Maillard described it in 1912; it takes off at around 140-165°C.
Q 04What is 'marbling' in a cut of beef?
Fat deposited near the muscle fibres
Even 3-7% marbling improves juiciness and tenderness, though it contributes only about 5% of overall palatability.
Q 05Which of the four Wagyu breeds is actually responsible for the famous rich marbling?
Japanese Black
It makes up around 90% of Japan's Wagyu; the Tajima strain of it produces Kobe beef.
Q 06In which Japanese prefecture must cattle be raised to qualify as Kobe beef?
Hyōgo
Only the Tajima strain of Japanese Black qualifies, under rules from the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association.
Q 07What is the most tender cut of beef?
Tenderloin
Filet mignon and chateaubriand both come from it; skirt and flank count as steaks only because they are thin and grilled.
Q 08How is dry-aged beef produced?
Hung or racked to dry for several weeks
Only higher grades with plenty of evenly spread fat can be dry-aged.
Q 09Which cut of the pig is 'streaky' bacon made from?
The belly
Most bacon eaten in the UK and Ireland is back bacon, from the loin.
Q 10What are the only ingredients permitted in Prosciutto di Parma?
Pork leg, sea salt and lard
Curing can take from nine months to three years depending on the size of the ham.
Q 11The finest jamón ibérico is labelled 'de bellota'. What have the pigs eaten?
Acorns
It must come from pure Black Iberian pigs or crosses at least 50% Black Iberian with Duroc.
Q 12Bresaola, the air-dried salted beef, originated in which region of Italy?
Lombardy
It comes from Valtellina, an Alpine valley, and turns almost purple after two or three months' aging.
Q 13What gives Spanish chorizo its deep red colour and smokiness?
Smoked red peppers (pimentón)
Mexican chorizo uses chili peppers instead of paprika.
Q 21What is black pudding made from?
Pork blood, fat and cereal
The high proportion of oatmeal or barley groats sets it apart from other blood sausages.
Q 22By French law, foie gras must be the liver of a duck or goose fattened by what method?
Gavage (force feeding)
The technique dates back to about 2500 BC in ancient Egypt.
Q 23What is Spam made from?
Pork and ham
Hormel launched it in 1937 partly to sell more pork shoulder, a cut that did not move.
Q 14What must mortadella contain at least 15% of, by rule?
Cubes of pork fat
The best-known version is mortadella Bologna PGI, sometimes studded with pistachios or myrtle berries.
Q 15Pastrami originated in the Jewish community of which country?
Romania
The word probably passed from Turkish pastirma via Romanian pastramă into Yiddish.
Q 16Where does the word 'corned' in corned beef come from?
Large grains ('corns') of rock salt
Commonwealth countries just call it salt beef; tinned corned beef was a military ration for centuries.
Q 17The word 'jerky' comes from which language?
Quechua
Ch'arki means dried, salted meat; South Africa's biltong is air-dried rather than heated.
Q 18How does biltong differ from jerky in its production?
It is air-dried rather than heated
Jerky is heated to at least 71°C; biltong originated in Southern Africa.
Q 19What is the traditional casing for haggis?
A sheep's stomach
Inside is sheep's pluck — heart, liver and lungs — with oatmeal, suet and onion.
Q 20Why has it been illegal to import haggis from the UK into the US since 1971?
It contains sheep lung
Lung makes up 10-15% of the traditional recipe; the 1989 BSE beef-and-lamb ban complicated things further.
Q 24In which year did Hormel introduce Spam?
1937
Wartime use spread it worldwide, and a Monty Python sketch gave its name to junk email.
Q 25The word 'frankfurter' comes from Frankfurt, but 'wiener' refers to which city?
Vienna
Vienna's sausage mixed pork and beef; Frankfurter Würstchen date to the 13th century.
Q 26In which German city is bratwurst first documented, in 1313?
Nuremberg
The name comes from Old High German brät, finely chopped meat, plus Wurst.
Q 27How is a döner kebab cooked?
On a vertical rotisserie
Shawarma, gyros and Mexican al pastor all derive from the Ottoman-era technique.
Q 28What is a turducken?
A turkey stuffed with duck and chicken
The English version with goose is called a gooducken.
Q 29What are Rocky Mountain oysters?
Bull testicles
They are usually skinned, floured and deep-fried.
Q 30Which glands are served as 'sweetbreads'?
Thymus or pancreas
Usually from calf or lamb; the French call it ris de veau.