Foods Beginning with K Trivia Quiz

Answer: kale

The colourful leaves of kale (Brassica oleracea) have been cultivated for at least 4000 years. It is especially desirable because it grows late into the fall when other crops are spent. Beginning in the 1990s, kale, which had been used mostly often for decorative purposes, became a popular food. Greengrocers used to outline or frame their displays with it; now they sell it as food.

It may be eaten raw in salads, dried into "veggie chips." Many European dishes combine kale with mashed potatoes (Netherlands, Ireland), use it in soup (Italy, Portugal), or combine it with bacon or sausage (Germany).

Answer: kaffir lime

There are many varieties of the citrus fruit lime, e.g. Persian lime (commonly seen at grocer's) and Key lime (commonly made into excellent pie). Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix) is most often used Southeast Asia and southern China cookery by adding its leaves to extract their flavour to stocks and sauces.

The leaves are available fresh, dried, and frozen; the dried leaves lose a lot of flavour and are the least desirable.

Answer: kawakawa

Kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum) is not to be confused with the kava plant (Piper methysticum) which produces an intoxicant. It was used by the Maori as a medical tonic. European settlers in New Zealand brewed it as tea and appreciated its refreshing and stimulating effects. It is reputedly good for indigestion brought on by overeating.

Answer: key lime

There are many varieties of citrus fruit lime, e.g. Persian lime (commonly seen at grocer's) and Kaffir lime (the leaves of which are used in Southeast Asian cookery). The Key lime (Citrus x aurantiifolia) is a hybrid of two older lime species. Its fruit is smaller, more acidic and more flavoursome than the Persian lime. It is best known as the primary ingredient in Key Lime Pie. It is regularly used in Mexican and Filipino cooking.

Answer: kimchi

Salted, seasoned and fermented cabbage is the national dish of Korea, North and South. There are innumerable varieties, some of which vary with the season of the year and others depending upon the vegetables used to make and season it. Kimchi is primarily made of Napa cabbage and Korean radish.

It may also include cucumber, eggplant, lotus roots, mustard greens, onions, bamboo shoots, radish greens, soybean sprouts, spinach, and tomatoes. The most common seasonings are gochugaru (chili powder) and garlic.

It may also include spring onions, garlic chives, and ginger, fish sauce and sugar. Specially-made kimchi refrigerators have replaced the crockery jar partially buried outside the homes of Koreans. The modern Korean word "kimchi" derives from an older Sino-Korean word meaning "submerged vegetable."

Answer: kipper

Herring is a small oily salt-water schooling fish. When split, gutted, salted, pickled, and smoked, it becomes a kipper. Some kippers are also dyed to become red herrings. Kippers are a common British and Irish breakfast food. Salted fish keeps without refrigeration thus kippers were important in earlier days. Ace Rimmer, a daredevil character on the "Red Dwarf" television series, often says, as he takes off to face great danger, "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast."

Answer: Kobe beef

All Japanese beef cattle are Wagyu; "wa" means Japanese and "gyu" means cow. There are four breeds of Wagyu: Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Polled and Japanese Shorthorn. One of the strains of Japanese Black beef cattle is the Tajima. Kobe beef is the meat of the Tajima strain raised in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture ... and nowhere else. Wagyu cattle were brought to the US, Australia and Canada (and cross-bred with American beef cattle).

The meat of these cows is sometimes marketed as "Kobe-style beef" which it may well be but it ain't Kobe beef.

Answer: kiwifruit

Kiwifruit is native to China but has been cultivated extensively in New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Japan, Italy, France, India, and the United States. Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is also called Chinese Gooseberry. The soft green flesh is often used as a garnish or in baked goods.

It works well sliced atop a pavlova. It is not used in recipes which include milk or gelatin; the enzyme actinidain dissolves the proteins in dairy products and in gelatin turning them to liquid.

Answer: kola nut

The first thing that comes to mind when one says "kola" is a carbonated drink made popular by Coca Cola and several other bottlers. Kola nuts were being chewed for their caffeine content in West Africa before Europeans arrived in America. The cola tree is related to others in the cocoa family. They are native to the rain forests of Africa. In West Africa, the kola nut has religious and cultural significations, as well as culinary uses.

Answer: Kümmel

There are numerous salutary effects to drinking Kümmel. It is reputed to calm the nerves and thus is consumed at golfing clubs under the name of "putting mixture." It may reduce flatulence and is a digestif when taken after overeating. This wonder beverage is a clear, sweet liqueur in which one can taste the flavours of caraway seed, cumin and fennel.

It was first produced in the Netherlands in the 16th century and in Germany, Russia, and France thereafter. Like gin, it is an acquired taste.