Dead Meat Trivia Quiz

Answer: A raw egg

In the 19th century, the raw meat was served with tartar sauce, (perhaps) explaining the name. In the early 1900s, raw meat with a raw egg was first served in France. They dubbed it Steack ŕ l'Americaine - as if Americans would do such a thing! This may have been retaliation for Yanks calling those things French Fries.

As the menus say, raw or undercooked ingredients can be hazardous.

Answer: Tongue

Ochsenmaul salad is usually made with pickled ox tongue, a popular sandwich ingredient in some cuisines. Sülze (head cheese) is somewhat similar in flavor, but that's another kind of dead meat - usually pork jowls - in aspic. Seriously. Es schmeckt mir gut!

Answer: Fresh shark meat is poisonous

Don't try this at home; the results could be fatal. Greenland shark and related species contain urea and other toxic compounds. Burial (or similar processing) allows the flesh to decay and the toxins are squeezed out. After safe and proper preparation by highly skilled hands, Hákarl still has a strong aroma of ammonia, but it won't kill you to try some.

Answer: To eat the marrow

Ossobuco is simmered until the meat is exquisitely tender. The copious marrow in the veal bones is fat-laden but tasty, if you can liberate it. Try it on crostini, or mix it with the risotto that often accompanies ossobuco.

Answer: Vittore Carpaccio - 16th century painter

This dead meat dish originated in Piedmont centuries ago. It only acquired the name carpaccio in the early 1960s, when it was served in Venice during an exhibition of paintings by Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio. He used vivid red and white colors in his work - like the striations in raw, thin, beef sirloin.

Answer: No - it's illegal

California prohibits the consumption of animals killed on highways. The remains can only be used for scientific or educational purposes. Laws vary by state. In Illinois, you can claim your deer within 24 hours and take it home to the kitchen. (This isn't legal advice. Report any incident to the authorities, and consider other sources of protein.)

Answer: Fruit bat

Many unusual foods are said to "taste just like chicken" but fruit bat really does! Preparing fruit bat is difficult and unpleasant, and there are human health risks involved. Best leave the cooking (and perhaps the eating) to the Guamanians. Devotees claim it's low in fat and high in protein.

Answer: Acorns

The diet of these black Iberian pigs is carefully controlled: maize and barley after weaning, then grazing amid grass and acorns. Their diet shifts to acorns alone before they are, um, harvested. The curing process can take up to four years. The result is unique - jamón ibérico de bellota.

Answer: The chuck

Beef clod is very tough in texture; nearly all muscle, taken from the forward shoulder area. It's usually cooked slowly by braising or barbecuing to tenderize the meat. Amaze (or discomfit) your guests by chatting amiably about "breaking down the collagen."

Answer: Swamp rat

Nutria are the original "rodents of unusual size." They grow to 20 lbs. or more in the swamps of Louisiana. Nutria were introduced from South America in the 1930s to be harvested for fur. They multiplied in the wild and upset the ecosystem by devouring local vegetation.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries now promotes eating Nutria meat to keep the population in check (the Nutria, not the humans). Anyone for Nutria Jambalaya?