Q 01/05

Whole sorghum grains can be prepared at home as a miniature version of which snack?

A) Pretzels

B) Rice cakes

C) Popcorn

D) Tortilla chips

Answer · why

C) Popcorn

Popcorn made from sorghum looks like the usual kind, only much smaller. The grains burst when they are heated in hot oil.

Q 02/05

In a Korean folktale explaining why sorghum stalks are red, which animal falls from the sky onto a stalk?

A) Tiger

B) Bear

C) Dragon

D) Magpie

Answer · why

A) Tiger

Tiger blood stains the sorghum in the tale, after a rope snaps under the beast as it chases two children into the sky. The brother and sister climb on...

Q 03/05

The first known US record of sorghum is Benjamin Franklin's 1757 note on using it to make which household item?

A) Candles

B) Brooms

C) Baskets

D) Paper

Answer · why

B) Brooms

Brooms are still commonly made from the stiff seed-head fibres of one type of sorghum. In 1797 a Massachusetts farmer made one for his wife, and neigh...

Q 04/05

Sorghum has become a popular flour for people with coeliac disease because the grain naturally lacks which protein?

A) Casein

B) Collagen

C) Whey

D) Gluten

Answer · why

D) Gluten

Gluten is absent from sorghum, so the grain can stand in for wheat and rye in breads and even in beer.

Q 05/05

Which clear East Asian spirit, usually distilled from fermented sorghum, is the most-consumed liquor in the world?

A) Soju

B) Baijiu

C) Shochu

D) Sake

Answer · why

B) Baijiu

Baijiu outsells vodka about three to one by volume, and nearly all of it is drunk in China. Its name simply means white, or clear, liquor.