Foods Beginning with N Trivia Quiz

Answer: napa

Napa (Brassica rapa Pekinensis) is a cabbage native to China. It is grown around the world and has many other names. The name "napa" has nothing to do with a city in California but rather is a Japanese word meaning a leafy vegetable used for food. It is eaten both raw and cooked. It is an essential ingredient in Korean kimchi: fermented vegetables and robust seasonings.

Answer: navy bean

Navy beans are a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, which Latin name does not derive from the bean's propensity to produce flatulence. The North American native is now grown and eaten around the world. Most navy beans are dried and keep well; this explains their use on board ships.

Their excellent flavour and substance explain the invention of the bean soup served in the restaurant of the United States Senate. In Australia, they are known as Yankee beans.

Answer: nectarine

Nectarines are of the same genus and species (Prunus persica) as peaches. They differ in that they have a recessive allele which accounts for their fuzzlessness (hence P. persica var. nucipersica or P. persica var. nectarina). Like peaches, they may be clingstone or freestone.

They are delicious raw or cooked, work well in salads, and produce an exquisite cooked and spiced spread called nectarine butter, although there is no dairy in it.

Answer: Neufchâtel

There are two sorts of Neufchâtel on the planet. The first is the original, made by French people in Neufchâtel-en-Bray in Normandy. The second is called American Neufchâtel invented in 1872 in New York. The French version has been made since the 6th century, is grainy, and is normally sold in heart shapes.

The American version is creamier, comparable to American cream cheese but with less fat. The story is told that French girls in Normandy fell in love with English soldiers during the Hundred Years War and expressed their devotion by making heart-shaped cheeses for their beaus.

Answer: New Mexico chile

There are a variety of ways to spell chile -- chile, chili, chilli -- and a much greater variety of these fruits. The annual Capsicum annuum originated in Mexico but spread quickly around the world during the Age of Discovery. The New Mexico Group is a cultivar grown for about six centuries.

These occur in many different colours and in range of spicy hotness from a gentle tongue tingle to steal-your-breath incendiary pain.

Answer: New Zealand spinach

New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia tetragonioides) has many other names: Botany Bay spinach, Cook's cabbage, kokihi, sea spinach, tetragon, Warrigal Greens and Warrigal Cabbage. It is halophytic which means it grows well despite salt spray and salt in the soil. Captain Cook learned of it from the Maori people and fed the plant, high in vitamin C, to his crew to prevent scurvy.

Answer: nigella

Nigella seeds are small black seeds used culinarily around the world. They go by too many names: kalonji, black onion seed, black caraway, black seed, and black cumin. (Black cumin is actually an entirely different spice: Bunium bulbocastanum.) The taxonomic name (Nigella sativa) derives from the Latin: "niger" means black, "nigella" is a diminutive of black, and "sativa" means cultivated.

This spice has been grown and used for many centuries; it was found in Tutankhamen's tomb! It figures in many cuisines. Nigella is one of the five constituent spices in panch phoron used in East India. Bengali naan is often flavoured with these seeds.

It also flavours the Middle Eastern cheese called majdouleh or majdouli.

Answer: nopales

Two parts of the nopal cactus are edible: the prickly-pear fruit, called "tuna" in Spanish) and the pads (called "nopales"). Once the spines have been removes, nopales may be eaten raw (in salads), or pickled, or cooked in jams, soups and stews. The best season for Mexican-grown nopales is the spring. A popular Mex-Tex dish is huevos con nopales, which is eggs with cactus.

Answer: nori

Coastal people around the world harvest and eat seaweed as it is relatively easy to gather and highly nutritious. The Japanese use many sorts of seaweed in their cooking. One of those is nori - seaweed (Pyropia yezoensis or P. tenera), dried in sheets, used to wrap sushi or onigiri (balls of rice).

In the grocery store, the sheets look like shiny dark-green paper. They are often toasted before use; they pull moisture from the air and must therefore be kept in a sealed container. The flavour is strong and unusual to the Western palate.

Answer: nutmeg

The evergreen nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans) produces two spices: nutmeg, which is the dried and ground seed or nut, and mace, which is the aril (covering) of the seed. The taste of the two is similar but mace is delicate and less sweet. The warm flavour is excellent in sweet baked goods as well as in savoury cooking.

It is a constituent in some recipes for garam masala. The Dutch add it to Brussels Sprouts. It is traditionally dusted atop egg nog. (Chef's hint: In order to obtain the best flavour, whole nutmegs should be grated at the time of use rather than kept already ground in a spice rack.)