Q 01/05

The browning reaction between amino acids and sugars that flavours seared steak is named after which chemist?

A) Louis Pasteur

B) Louis Camille Maillard

C) Antoine Lavoisier

D) Marcellin Berthelot

Answer · why

B) Louis Camille Maillard

Louis Camille Maillard, a French physician and chemist, first described the reaction, which races along at roughly 140 to 165 °C; that is why dry heat...

Q 02/05

When sucrose caramelizes, it breaks down into which two simple sugars?

A) Lactose and maltose

B) Glucose and fructose

C) Ribose and xylose

D) Galactose and mannose

Answer · why

B) Glucose and fructose

Heat first splits sucrose into Glucose and fructose, which then dehydrate and polymerize into the brown caramel compounds; unlike the Maillard reactio...

Q 03/05

Which Japanese chemist identified umami as a distinct taste in 1908 after noticing the flavour of kombu?

A) Umetaro Suzuki

B) Jokichi Takamine

C) Kikunae Ikeda

D) Kenjiro Takayanagi

Answer · why

C) Kikunae Ikeda

Kikunae Ikeda isolated glutamate from kombu broth at Tokyo Imperial University and patented a way to make monosodium glutamate, launching the seasonin...

Q 04/05

Umami receptors respond mainly to glutamates and which other class of compounds found in meat broths?

A) Nucleotides

B) Fatty acids

C) Peptides

D) Alkaloids

Answer · why

A) Nucleotides

Nucleotides such as inosinate from meat and guanylate from mushrooms amplify glutamate's umami taste, which is why dashi pairs glutamate-rich kombu wi...

Q 05/05

Which two wheat proteins form the elastic network we call gluten?

A) Albumin and globulin

B) Casein and whey

C) Gliadin and glutenin

D) Zein and hordein

Answer · why

C) Gliadin and glutenin

Gliadin and glutenin are wheat's storage proteins; once flour is wetted and kneaded they bond into gluten, which makes up roughly 75 to 85 percent of ...