Q 01/05

What is a pickled cucumber called in Britain, Ireland, Australia and South Africa?

A) Dilly

B) Gherkin

C) Wally

D) Cornichon

Answer · why

B) Gherkin

The word comes from early modern Dutch gurken or augurken, meaning small pickled cucumber.

Q 02/05

One hypothesis holds that cucumbers were first pickled around 2030 BC in the valley of which river?

A) The Yangtze

B) The Nile

C) The Indus

D) The Tigris

Answer · why

D) The Tigris

The cucumbers themselves came from India; another story credits workers on the Great Wall of China.

Q 03/05

Which Egyptian queen credited the pickles in her diet with her health and legendary beauty?

A) Hatshepsut

B) Nefertiti

C) Cleopatra

D) Nefertari

Answer · why

C) Cleopatra

Ancient writers were already noting pickles' nutritional benefits thousands of years ago.

Q 04/05

A 'kosher' dill gets its name from what?

A) The garlicky style of Jewish New York makers

B) Certification by a rabbi under dietary law

C) The Kosher brand that first sold it in jars

D) Being made without any vinegar in the brine

Answer · why

A) The garlicky style of Jewish New York makers

It is not necessarily kosher under dietary law; dill pickles have been served in New York since at least 1899.

Q 05/05

In New York deli terminology, what is a 'half-sour'?

A) One made with half the usual salt

B) One given a shorter stay in the brine

C) One sliced lengthwise before brining

D) One finished in a sweet brine

Answer · why

B) One given a shorter stay in the brine

It stays crisp and bright green, while a full-sour has fermented all the way.