Here You Are Being Served Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dessert

Baked Alaska (also known as omelette norvégienne or omelette sibérienne) is a dessert that is presented as a slab of cake topped by a scoop of ice cream, the whole covered by meringue (stiff egg whites) and heated in an oven. The meringue acts as an insulating layer, so the ice cream does not melt. To prepare the dessert, you have to fill a bowl with ice cream, cover with cake, turn the dessert upside down, cover with meringue and bake in a preheated oven until the meringue takes a light brown colour.

The geographic name involved in this dessert has no bearing on the place of origin, but was most probably inspired by the presence of (vanilla) ice. Allegedly, this dessert was invented in a restaurant in New York City.

Answer: Main course

Carbonade à la flamande is a dish that found its origin in Belgium. Basically, it is a beef stew with onions, beer and spices. A variation on this stew would be boeuf bourguignonne, in which the beer has been replaced with Burgundy wine and some mushrooms are added.
Most Belgian households serve carbonade with French fries.

Answer: Main course

Chicken Kiev is a main course consisting of a chicken breast fillet, rolled up around some garlic butter. The chicken roll is then surrounded with bread crumb and fried in a pan.
The origin of the recipe is not ascertained. The name refers to the Ukrainian capital city, but some historians claim it was invented in Moscow.

Answer: First course

Greek mezze is a mixed platter, served as a first course. Typical ingredients are tzatziki (basically yoghurt with cucumber) and taramasalata (in the original version a mousse of caviar with bread and olive oil, but nowadays it's hard to find the original version).

By the way, I chose the name "first course" to make a clear statement. Various alternate names exist (such as appetizer in the USA and antipasto in Italy), and the most confusing is that in several continental European countries this course is known as an entrée while the Americans reserve the word entree for the main course.

Answer: First course

Oeuf russe indeed is a first course. Those of you who speak French will immediately recognise that the main ingredient are eggs. There are many recipes around, but all include hard-boiled eggs and assorted vegetables. Sometimes you need to remove the egg yolk and mix it up with mayonnaise and vegetables, sometimes you place the hard-boiled eggs over grilled artichoke hearts.
I've found no reason why this dish is called after Russia. It might be linked to the Faberge eggs, surprise jewels made for the Russian Czar and his family.

Answer: Soup

Saint-Germain is a thick creamy soup of peas and lettuce, named after a French suburb. It is usually served with bread croutons. The origin of the name can't be traced back to the French suburb: recipes existed already in the Athenian Golden Era (around 450 BC), when Paris had not yet any suburbs.
Some other pea soups can be served as main course. This is especially the case with Dutch snert, a very thick pea soup served with smoked sausages.

Answer: Main course

Saltimbocca a la Romana is an Italian main course, basically prepared as followed: for each person, fry two thin veal cutlets with some leaves of sage and a slice of prosciutto (Italian ham) each.
The name can be translated from Italian as "jump into the mouth", which refers to the exquisite taste.
Most restaurants serve the saltimbocca on a platter with Italian pasta, frequently tagliatelle or linguini (long broad wisps).

Answer: Dessert

Oh no, this isn't some sort of soup. Poor Manuel has got it mixed up again.
I seriously doubt that anyone would ever try and serve Schwarzwaldtorte in a soup bowl, but I refer here to the waiter Manuel portrayed in the TV series "Fawlty Towers".
Schwarzwaldtorte is the German name for the delicious Black Forest cake, a chocolate cake with cherries and whipped cream. The original recipe includes Kirsch liquor, but most servings in the USA are without any alcohol.
Schwarzwaldtorte is of course a dessert.

Answer: Soup

Vichysoisse is a soup made with chicken stock, leek and potatoes. Usually this soup is served chilled with ice cubes, and it tastes fine on a hot summer day. The reason why it has been called after the French town Vichy is not clear.

Answer: Dessert

Zuppa Inglese translates to "English soup", but that's not quite the correct name for this dessert. It could have been named thus because the cooks employed with the Dukes of Ferrara, were ordered to create some dessert similar to English trifle.
The basic recipe is sponge cake sprinkled with liqueur, alternated with custard and sometimes topped off with chocolate cream.
The word Zuppa is used as a hint to the dipping of the sponge cake in the liqueur. Dipping is translated into Italian as inzuppare.