Rice Rice Baby Trivia Quiz

Answer: Africa

Egypt's national dish, koshary is a mixture of fried rice, pasta (usually macaroni) and brown lentils, topped with chickpeas, crispy fried onions, garlic vinegar and spicy tomato sauce. In its traditional version, it is a substantial, nourishing dish, suitable for vegetarians as well as vegans, if butter or other animal fats are not used for frying.

Believed to have its roots in Ancient Egypt, koshary was originally eaten for breakfast, and is still one of the most popular foods in the country, widely available both in restaurants and from street carts. As is very often the case, many different variations of koshary are found in Egypt, using spices such as curry and cumin in the rice, or adding grilled vegetables, fried eggs, or even chicken.

Dishes that combine rice and lentils are featured in the cuisines of the Middle East, as well as South Asia - where they are known as kichri or kichdi.

Answer: Africa

Named after the Jolof (Wolof) people of Senegal and neighbouring countries, jollof rice is probably the best-known dish from West Africa. It is usually made with rice cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, chilies and spices, to which other ingredients, such as vegetables, meat, poultry or fish can be added. There are, however, as many recipes for this dish as there are cooks in West Africa and wherever else people from that part of the world may have settled. One Senegalese version of jollof rice, known as tiep or thieboudienne, is the country's national dish: prepared with fish and broken rice, it was designated by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021.

West African countries have been known to engage in fierce debates as to where the dish originated, as well as which country makes the best jollof rice. This rivalry - especially prominent between Nigeria and Ghana - has led to the organization of competitions and festivals dedicated to this tasty dish, including World Jollof Day, celebrated on 22 August since 2015.

Answer: Africa

Known as "geelrys" in Afrikaans, Cape Malay yellow rice is the South African version of this rice dish, found in the cuisines of many of the world's countries. Unlike other kinds of yellow rice, however, geelrys is sweet rather than savoury. It is made by cooking long-grain white rice in water with turmeric (to which it owes its deep yellow colour), cinnamon, sugar, butter and raisins until fluffy. Though it sounds like a dessert, Cape Malay yellow rice is served as a side dish for meat dishes, especially spicy, saucy ones such as curries, providing an intriguing combination of tastes.

The Cape Malay are an ethnic group mainly found in Cape Town and surrounding areas. They descend from Muslims - both free and enslaved - from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, who settled in the Cape province in the early 19th century. Their distinctive culinary traditions are strongly influenced by the cuisines of India and Southeast Asia, featuring a wide range of spices, pickles, chili-based condiments, and seafood dishes.

Answer: Asia

Nasi goreng simply means "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, though it is somewhat different from other versions of this popular Asian preparation. It consists of pre-cooked rice (typically day-old), stir-fried in oil or margarine with various seasonings and served with chicken, shrimp, eggs, vegetables and other accompaniments. Among the seasonings added to the rice there are sweet soy sauce (ketjap manis) - which lends the dish a golden-brown colour and distinctive caramelized flavour - chili, garlic, tamarind and the ubiquitous, pungent shrimp paste.

In Maritime Southeast Asia, nasi goreng is often eaten on a daily basis (even for breakfast), and can be purchased from street vendors or dedicated restaurants, as well as made at home with leftover rice. It can also form the basis of more elaborate, festive meals. Many different variations of this dish exist, and the sky is truly the limit in terms of seasonings and other additions. Though it is only one of many rice-based dishes from Southeast Asia, nasi goreng has become a symbol of Malay and Indonesian cuisine, and acquired international renown - especially in countries such as the Netherlands, which have cultural and historical ties to that part of the world.

Answer: Asia

The origins of bibimbap - whose name means "mixing cooked rice" in Korean - can probably be traced back to many centuries ago. According to some scholars, the dish may have originated from the practice of mixing food offerings in a bowl during religious rites. Bibimbap consists of a bowl of warm white rice topped with seasoned vegetables (namul) and red chili paste (gochujang), to which egg and thinly sliced cooked meat (usually beef) are often added; the contents of the bowl are stirred together before eating. Vegetarian versions include plain or sautéed tofu; distinctive vegetables often found in bibimbap are bracken fern stems and burdock root.

With the international popularity of Korean culture, Korean cuisine has become much more widespread in the West, and restaurants dedicated to this dish - which makes for a quick but tasty and nourishing meal - have opened in many Western cities.

Answer: Asia

Congee (from the Tamil "kanji") is a kind of rice porridge made by boiling rice in water until very soft; its thickness depends on the amount of water used. Unlike Western-style oatmeal porridge, however, congee is a savoury dish served with a wide variety of toppings and side dishes, which include eggs, meat, fish, pickled vegetables, herbs and other condiments. In South, East and Southeast Asia - where it is known by different names (such as zhou in China, okayu in Japan, and jook in Korea) - it is frequently eaten for breakfast or as a light meal. Being an easily digestible food like its Western counterparts, it is also often served to sick or elderly people. There are also more elaborate versions of congee, such as Laba (eight-treasure) congee, a festive Chinese dish that includes dried fruits, nuts and seeds.

Congee is believed to be one of the oldest rice dishes in Asia, its first recorded mention dating from around 1000 BC. Though easily prepared at home, it is widely available from street vendors or specialized eateries. A variant of congee is the chicken and rice soup known as "canja de galinha" in Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde, which likely originated in the Portuguese colonies of Southern India and Sri Lanka.

Answer: Americas

One of the icons of the Creole/Cajun cuisine of the southern US state of Louisiana, jambalaya is a savoury, spicy dish of rice, vegetables, meats and seafood reminiscent of Spanish paella. This resemblance is not coincidental, as Spanish cuisine was one of the major influences on the development of the cuisine of Louisiana. The name of the dish is believed to have come from a Provençal word meaning a mishmash. However, jambalaya is rooted in Africa as much as Europe, in particular in the rice-based dishes of West Africa (from where most Black slaves originated) such as jollof rice. Like jambalaya, West African rice dishes are cooked in the same pot, so that the rice readily absorbs the juices and flavours of the other ingredients.

Although, like other iconic dishes, jambalaya has many versions, it typically includes a mix of celery, onion and green bell pepper - the "trinity" of Creole/Cajun cuisine - and smoked meats like andouille sausage or tasso ham. The Creole version usually contains tomatoes, while the Cajun one does not. Chicken and shrimp are also frequently added, as well as more exotic meats such as alligator or various kinds of game.

Answer: Americas

Though a US state - and thus part of the Americas - in terms of physical geography Hawaii is part of Oceania, which accounts for a culture that is markedly different from that of mainland US. This, obviously, includes Hawaiian cuisine - an intriguing fusion of culinary traditions coming from different parts of the world. Though no longer grown on the islands, rice is a staple of Hawaiian cuisine, employed in dishes of Asian origin (such as Spam musubi, a unique variation on Japanese sushi) or as part of the meal known as plate lunch, which always includes two scoops of white rice.

Created in 1949 at the Lincoln Grill restaurant in Hilo, loco moco was meant to provide a quick and easy alternative to the ubiquitous sandwich. It consists of a bowl of rice topped by a hamburger patty, a fried egg and brown gravy. While there are also variations that include other meats or seafood, the original designation (which combines the Spanish word for "crazy" with a rhyming nonsense word) is only used if the dish features a hamburger patty. Loco moco was probably inspired by the Japanese donburi, a bowl of rice served with a wide variety of meat, fish or vegetable toppings.

Answer: Americas

In the past few years, Peruvian cuisine has gained many accolades - deservedly so, because it fuses many different traditions while making good use of the country's varied food ingredients. Arroz chaufa is one of the best-known dishes of Chinese Peruvian cuisine (known as "chifa"), whose origin lies in the communities of immigrants that came to Peru from China in the late 19th century. The name chaufa comes from the Chinese "chaofan", which means stir-fried rice: indeed, arroz chaufa is a Peruvian version of the popular Chinese dish, found on the menus of Peruvian restaurants worldwide.

Like its Asian counterparts, arroz chaufa is made by cooking rice with vegetables, eggs and meat (usually chicken) at high heat. Typical additions are spring onions and dark soy sauce, as well as the yellow chili sauce (ají amarillo) often served as an accompaniment. While the standard version of arroz chaufa is not significantly different from Chinese-style fried rice, other variants include regional ingredients - like salted dried meat (cecina) and plantains, featured in chaufa amazónico, or Amazonian fried rice. When arroz chaufa is served together with another chifa dish, tallarín saltado (stir-fried noodles), the dish is colloquially referred to as "aeropuerto" (airport).

Answer: Europe

Most people would hardly associate rice, a crop grown in warm climates, with the cuisines of Northern Europe. In fact, the presence of rice on Scandinavian tables is usually limited to the sweet rice porridge traditionally served at Christmas, or as a component of dishes of foreign origin. However, the Finnish pasties known as "karjalanpiirakat" (Karelian pasties or pirogs) are a notable exception. Originating in Karelia, a region divided between Finland and Russia, these oblong-shaped pasties consist of unsweetened rice porridge baked in a thin rye crust. Popular variants include fillings of mashed potato or barley porridge. These pasties are usually served hot with "munavoi", a spread made of softened butter mixed with chopped, hard-boiled egg.

Though not particularly difficult to make at home, Karelian pasties are widely available in supermarkets and bakeries in Finland, Estonia and Russian Karelia. Having been granted traditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) status by the European Union in 2003, they can only be marketed as karjalanpiirakat if the traditional recipe is followed by the producer.

Answer: Europe

Among the most popular Greek dishes, dolmades are grape leaves stuffed with rice and other ingredients. Their name comes from the Turkish "dolma", which means "something filled"; in Turkey, however, stuffed leaves are known as "sarma", meaning wrapping. While typical of the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire, dolmades descend from an Ancient Greek dish called "thrion", consisting of young, tender fig leaves stuffed with goat cheese and honey. A recipe for thrion that mentions rice as an ingredient of the filling is found in Apicius' "De re coquinaria", a cookbook compiled around the 5th century AD.

Modern Greek dolmades are found in various versions. The vegetarian ones are filled with rice and herbs such as dill, mint and parsley, and often served at room temperature as part of a meze (appetizer) spread with a yogurt-based dip. Those that contain meat (with or without rice) are instead served hot as a main course. Dolmades look like small, cigar-shaped rolls; they are cooked in a mixture of water, olive oil and lemon juice. Rice is also widely used in other dishes of stuffed leaves found in the cuisines of Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries.

Answer: Europe

Arancini means "little oranges" in Italian, and if you have ever seen one of these delectable rice balls you will understand why. Besides their round shape and respectable size (no dainty morsels these!), arancini are coated in a layer of fine breadcrumbs and then deep-fried - which lends them a nice, golden-brown colour reminiscent of orange peel. According to some sources, their origins go back to the 10th century, when Sicily was ruled by Arabs - who are believed to have introduced rice to the island.

A popular street food in Sicily and other parts of Italy, arancini are made by cooking the rice in broth, to which saffron is often added; when it is cold, the rice is shaped into balls and traditionally stuffed with meat sauce, peas and cheese prior to frying. Today, however, a large variety of fillings are available, including salami, various cheeses, vegetables and even seafood. There are also extremely decadent sweet variants: chocolate-filled arancini are prepared in Siracusa for the feast of Saint Lucy, the city's patron saint, on 13 December.

The singular form of the name is "arancino", which is masculine: however, in some parts of Sicily the feminine form "arancina" (pl. "arancine") is preferred. In the eastern part of the island, arancini tend to have a conical shape rather than a rounded one, as they are supposed to be reminiscent of the shape of Mount Etna. Similar to arancini are the Roman supplì, oblong-shaped rice croquettes stuffed with fresh mozzarella - a beloved street food in Rome.