Q 01/05

From which Latin word meaning 'seasoned with salt' does 'sausage' ultimately derive?

A) Porcus

B) Carnis

C) Salsicus

D) Fumare

Answer · why

C) Salsicus

It reached English in the mid-15th century, spelled sawsyge, via Old North French saussiche.

Q 02/05

What are traditional sausage casings made from?

A) Edible rice paper

B) Cleaned intestines

C) Tanned pig skin

D) Dried corn husks

Answer · why

B) Cleaned intestines

Industrial sausages now often use collagen, cellulose or even plastic instead.

Q 03/05

Which Greek poet mentioned a kind of blood sausage in the Odyssey?

A) Sappho

B) Pindar

C) Hesiod

D) Homer

Answer · why

D) Homer

Aristophanes' play The Knights is about a sausage seller who ends up running Athens.

Q 04/05

Which region of ancient Italy gave its name to the famous sausage lucanica?

A) Latium

B) Campania

C) Etruria

D) Lucania

Answer · why

D) Lucania

The name lives on in Mediterranean sausages such as Greek loukaniko.

Q 05/05

Which Byzantine emperor outlawed blood sausages in the 10th century after food poisonings?

A) Constantine VII

B) Leo VI the Wise

C) Basil II

D) Justinian I

Answer · why

B) Leo VI the Wise

Botulism itself is named from the Latin for sausage.