Q 01/05

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

A) Dilly

B) Gherkin

C) Pickle spear

D) Cornichon

Answer · why

B) Gherkin

Gherkin is the everyday word there, and London's skyscraper at 30 St Mary Axe is nicknamed the Gherkin because of its shape.

Q 02/05

Which explorer did Ralph Waldo Emerson mock as 'the pickle-dealer at Seville'?

A) Amerigo Vespucci

B) John Cabot

C) Ferdinand Magellan

D) Hernán Cortés

Answer · why

A) Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci had supplied ships in Seville, and Emerson branded him a thief who supplanted Columbus and baptized half the earth with his own disho...

Q 03/05

Which Egyptian queen is said to have credited pickles with her health and legendary beauty?

A) Hatshepsut

B) Nefertiti

C) Cleopatra

D) Nefertari

Answer · why

C) Cleopatra

Cleopatra is said to have prized pickles as a beauty secret; more practically, pickling kept food edible for months and fed sailors on long voyages.

Q 04/05

Which seasoning, added generously, is the signature of a 'kosher' dill made in the New York Jewish style?

A) Garlic

B) Caraway

C) Cumin

D) Thyme

Answer · why

A) Garlic

Garlic is the signature, yet a 'kosher' dill needn't be kosher under dietary law at all; it simply follows the recipe of New York's Jewish pickle make...

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

A half-sour is one given a shorter stay in the brine, so it stays crisp and bright green, while a full-sour has fermented all the way through.