Q 01/05

Peanut butter is a paste of ground peanuts. How have the peanuts usually been prepared first?

A) Dry roasting

B) Boiling

C) Deep frying

D) Fermenting

Answer · why

A) Dry roasting

John Harvey Kellogg's 1898 version boiled the nuts instead, which is one reason his paste never caught on.

Q 02/05

Botanically, a peanut is not a nut at all. What is it?

A) A drupe

B) A legume

C) A berry

D) A tuber

Answer · why

B) A legume

It grows in pods underground like a pea, which is why Linnaeus named the species hypogaea, Greek for 'under the earth'.

Q 03/05

Which ancient civilisations are credited with the earliest form of peanut butter?

A) The Egyptians and Nubians

B) The Greeks and Romans

C) The Aztecs and Incas

D) The Han Chinese

Answer · why

C) The Aztecs and Incas

Sixteenth-century Aztecs reportedly used the paste as a remedy for aching gums.

Q 04/05

Marcellus Gilmore Edson, granted the first peanut butter patent in 1884, was from which city?

A) Chicago

B) Boston

C) St. Louis

D) Montreal

Answer · why

D) Montreal

His application described a product with 'a consistency like that of butter, lard, or ointment', which he stiffened with sugar.

Q 05/05

Which cereal pioneer patented a peanut-based 'alimentary product' in 1898 for patients who could not chew?

A) John Harvey Kellogg

B) C. W. Post

C) Will Keith Kellogg

D) Sylvester Graham

Answer · why

A) John Harvey Kellogg

Because it debuted at expensive health institutes, peanut butter began life as food for the wealthy.