2. Written Round
• Farewell, Lucky Peach
• Five questions concerning issues of the soon-
to-be-defunct food writing quarterly Lucky
Peach.
• +6 per correct answer, +6 bonus for getting all
five right.
• Maximum points available: 36
3. • 1) Issue #19 of the magazine focused on a dish
of Vietnamese origin, now available in
countries across the world, that is an
obsession of Lucky Peach co-founders Anthony
Bourdain and David Chang. What three-letter
dish?
4.
5. • 2) Issue #17 was dedicated to a particular
meal, and hence the cover of that issue of the
magazine was designed to imitate the
packaging of a food product often seen during
said mealtime. What meal? What product?
6.
7. • 3) Issue #6 was a science fiction-inspired issue
dedicated to food and drink that would be
viable after an event which prophets of doom
claim is due any day now, and which may or
may not involve the undead. Fill in the blanks
with a 10-letter word.
8.
9. • 4) Issue #8, which dealt with ______ issues in
kitchens and in the food business in general,
was a reversible issue with two front covers,
both seen here. One cover featured halved
papayas, melons, strawberries and so on,
while the other featured items such as gourds,
sausages, hot dogs and ice lollies. Fill in the
blanks with a six-letter word.
10.
11. • 5) Issue #10 was based around a subcategory
of food popular the world over for being
cheap and tasty, but not especially healthy or
hygienic. Fill in the blanks.
15. • 1) Issue #19 of the magazine focused on a dish
of Vietnamese origin, now available in
countries across the world, that is an
obsession of Lucky Peach co-founders Anthony
Bourdain and David Chang. What three-letter
dish?
18. • 2) Issue #17 was dedicated to a particular
meal, and hence the cover of that issue of the
magazine was designed to imitate the
packaging of a food product often seen during
said mealtime. What meal? What product?
21. • 3) Issue #6 was a science fiction-inspired issue
dedicated to food and drink that would be
viable after an event which prophets of doom
claim is due any day now, and which may or
may not involve the undead. Fill in the blanks
with a 10-letter word.
24. • 4) Issue #8, which dealt with ______ issues in
kitchens and in the food business in general,
was a reversible issue with two front covers,
both seen here. One cover featured halved
papayas, melons, strawberries and so on,
while the other featured items such as gourds,
sausages, hot dogs and ice lollies. Fill in the
blanks with a six-letter word.
25.
26. • Gender – one cover was “for women”, the
other was “for men”.
27. • 5) Issue #10 was based around a subcategory
of food popular the world over for being
cheap and tasty, but not especially healthy or
hygienic. Fill in the blanks.
30. Clockwise
• 12 questions, +10/0 on the bounce, passing
from team 1 to team 8
• +10/-5 on the pounce
• Total points available: 120
31. • The company maintains that it was the prize given to this
brand for being “America’s Best”, awarded at the Chicago
World’s Fair in 1893 (although this story is disputed –
contemporary accounts maintain that the award consisted
merely of a bronze medal).
• Much more likely is the fact that the company’s founder,
Frederick __1__, had the rather inspired idea of tying strips
of coloured silk around each bottle following the World’s
Fair win. Although this proved expensive, the tactic worked,
as patrons soon began asking their bartenders for the
__2__ ___3___ brand.
• This is the muddled origin of the symbol of quality present
in what brand name?
33. • The source of the blue ribbon in Pabst Blue
Ribbon.
34. • Big League Chew is a brand of shredded bubble gum that
was created in the late 1970s by Rob Nelson and sold to the
Wrigley company by his friend Jim Bouton. Nelson and
Bouton shared a profession, one in which the use of a
particular dangerous but addictive substance was rampant
at the time, and so they designed this gum to mimic the
look and texture of said substance.
• Thanks to their efforts, this use of this substance has
lessened considerably among their fellow professionals
over the years (although some traditionalists still cling to
old, carcinogenic habits).
• What profession? What habit has decreased, thanks in part
to this product?
37. • The use of chewing
tobacco among baseball
players has lessened,
thanks in part to Big
League Chew.
38. • Rectangular-shaped deep dish pizza is sometimes
called _______-style pizza, as opposed to the
round varieties seen in other American cities.
• This is due to the fact that pizzerias in _______
(once the fourth most populous city in America)
did not want to spend money on pizza pans;
instead, they improvised and used industrial parts
trays, which are meant to hold small mechanical
parts in factories. Fill in the blanks.
41. • The earliest version of this confectionery originated in Italy in the
15th century. At the time, making this treat by hand was an
expensive, labour-intensive endeavour, and hence the final product
was not often available to the general public; only small quantities
were produced, and it was most often used as a garnish for other
desserts.
• As in the case of aluminium, though, once a new manufacturing
process was introduced and the whole operation was mechanized,
what was once a very precious commodity plummeted in cost
almost overnight. In this case, the machine (invented in 1897 and
essentially unchanged to this day) consists of a small, perforated
drum into which the raw material is placed and heated while
simultaneously being rapidly spun.
• What item of confectionery, now available worldwide?
44. • As defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
“slack-fill” is the difference between the actual capacity of
a container and the volume of product contained therein.
Manufacturers of most food products can be fined by the
FDA and sued by consumers for excessive slack-fill in their
packaging.
• However, one category of food products is immune to
slack-fill regulations in America, much to the chagrin of
consumers. Manufacturers of these products claim that the
packaging methods they use are vital to the integrity of
their product in the hands of end consumers, and that the
method is commonly used throughout the world. What
category? What packaging method?
46. • This is the reason why
potato chips are sold in
inflated, excessively
large bags, a practice
sometimes known as
“selling air”.
47. • The Whole30 Diet is an American diet fad,
created in 2015 by sports nutritionist Melissa
Hartwig, that is a strange combination of the
Paleolithic diet and the ketogenic diet.
• Whole30 would go unnoticed, along with dozens
of other diet fads, but for one bizarre-sounding
fact. The diet features in this quiz because one of
its cornerstones is the consumption of a
substance which would be anathema to dieters in
this part of the world. What substance?
50. • ______ is a German company, founded by Hans
Riegel Sr. in 1920, in his hometown of Bonn.
• Credited with inventing the gummy bear in 1922,
the company is today the largest manufacturer of
gummy candy (which now includes items such as
gummy worms, gummy cola and gummy fruits) in
the world, and is advertised with the slogan “Kids
and grown-ups love it so – the happy world of
______”. Fill in the blanks.
53. • Although most large manufacturers such as Kraft achieve this
through direct injection of carbon dioxide, traditionally the __1__ in
__2__ ___3___ are produced by the action of the bacteria
Propionibacterium freudenreichii.
• Emmental, the most popular __2__ ___3___, is made with a lower
salt content so that the bacteria can survive. The bacteria
metabolises the lactic acid present in the immature Emmental, and
naturally produces carbon dioxide. The gas collects in dozens of
different areas throughout the body of the Emmental block, and
thus the __1__ are formed.
• The number and size of the __1__ present in __2__ ___3___ can be
controlled by changing the acidity, temperature and curing time of
the immature __2__ ___3___. Historically seen as a sign of
imperfection, it is only relatively recently that __1__ have been
regarded as a hallmark of genuine __2__ ___3___. Fill in the blanks.
55. • This is how the eyes (or holes) in Swiss cheese
are formed.
56. • The Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey distillery in Lynchburg,
Tennessee produces roughly 11 million bottles of whiskey a year, in
the process using thousands of white oak whiskey barrels for aging
the liquor.
• Once these barrels have outlived their usefulness, the distillery sells
most of them to other alcohol manufacturers, such as the
Glenmorangie distillery in Scotland and the Mount Gay Rum
Company of Barbados, which use the barrels to impart flavour to
their own spirits.
• A certain number of used Jack Daniel’s barrels, however, are set
aside every year for purchase by another southern U.S. company,
who use the barrels in their own three-year aging process (although
the end product is non-alcoholic). Name this other company, and
the iconic American food product it manufactures using retired Jack
Daniel’s Whiskey barrels.
58. • The McIlhenny Company of Avery Island,
Louisiana ages their Tabasco Sauce in used
Jack Daniel's barrels.
59. • The Culinary Institute of America’s
food scientists use 3-D printing for
edible creations, including a
delicate French-vanilla cage that
turns into a glaze when drizzled
with espresso.
• The New Yorker covered the
launch of various 3-D printed
foods and came up with a certain
headline in their May 2016 issue,
one which borrowed from perhaps
the most well-known newspaper
motto in the world.
What was the punny headline?
62. • What concept in modern day restaurants &
hotel kitchens was created thanks to the fact
that Auguste Escoffier worked as an Army
Chef during the Franco-Prussian War?
• While in the service, Escoffier thought he
could apply what he noticed in the army, to
gain more efficiency and reduce duplication of
effort.
66. • Under the title “Legendary Outlets”, the restaurant search
website Zomato.com lists restaurants that have operated
for several decades, and which have remained popular with
generations of customers.
• The list of Legendary Outlets for Bangalore consists of 27
entries, of which the majority are vegetarian restaurants
such as MTR, CTR, Vidyarthi Bhavan, etc. Only 11 of these
27 entities (five of which have multiple outlets across the
city) serve non-vegetarian food. Name all 11.
• +3 per correct answer, bonus of +10 for getting all eleven
correct.
• Maximum points available: 43
69. • Nagarjuna (multiple outlets)
• Rahhams (multiple outlets)
• Lakeview Milk Bar (multiple outlets)
• Pecos (multiple outlets)
• The Only Place (multiple outlets)
• Koshy’s, St. Mark’s Road
• Bheema’s, Church Street
• Tandoor, M.G. Road
• Indian Coffee House, Church Street
• Guzzlers Inn, Rest House Road
• JukeBox, Koramangala
70. Anticlockwise
• 12 questions, +10/0 on the bounce, passing
from team 8 to team 1
• +10/-5 on the pounce
• Total points available: 120
71. • It is one of this city’s signature dishes. The locals have a
romantic explanation, linking the dish to the construction
of the city’s cathedral. Legend has it that on the wedding
day of the master glazier’s daughter, a young apprentice –
nicknamed Zafferano, on account of the vibrant colours he
achieved by adding saffron to the stained-glass pigments –
hit upon the idea of sprinkling it into a wedding dish,
turning it as golden as the cathedral’s windows.
• The dish consists of carnaroli fried with onion finely diced
and softened to glistening translucency in butter. Next, a
good, home-made chicken or beef stock is kept simmering
and ladled onto the carnaroli, little by little, until fully
absorbed. Which dish, and what city?
74. • Marie-Antonin Carême invented ____1____ ___2___ and named it
after ___2___, his Italian composer friend. The dish was named at
the Café Anglais in Paris. According to legend, the composer
insisted on overseeing the preparation of this dish near his table.
The chef became increasingly irritated with his customer’s constant
interference, whereupon the maestro told him “So, turn your back”,
which was somehow corrupted into ____1____.
• This version of how the dish received its name is disputed, so we
may never know for sure. But it is true that the combination of pan
fried tenderloin, served over a crouton topped with fresh foie gras,
and garnished with demi-glace or Madeira sauce and topped with
truffles is a gastronomic opus worthy of the maestro ___2___. All
it’s missing, perhaps, is an apple balanced on top of it. Fill in the
blanks.
78. • Dr Kripa Varanasi of MIT has developed a database of
recipes that have good lubricating properties when stored
in containers made of a wide range of materials. In 2012 he
and one of his students, Dave Smith, founded a company
called LiquiGlide, which is working with a number of
consumer-goods firms to create easy-to-pour, squeeze and
shake containers for their products.
The project paper of Dr. Varanasi was titled “OSOS - ______
______ Operating System”. It is a pun on something in the
world of technology, and also refers to the problem that his
team was trying to solve – an everyday problem that has
plagued all of us through our lives. Fill in the blanks (exact
spelling required).
81. • The domestic ___X____ originates from the Indian Jungle Fowl yet,
curiously, were never eaten much in ancient India. Other birds like
ducks feature in lists of favoured fowl, but not ___X____, perhaps
because their scavenging habits lead to them being considered
unclean.
• It was the British who really increased ___X____ consumption in
India. They established dak bungalows across the country both as
staging posts for the mail and as accommodation for travellers. This
meant they had to provide food and for the British, which in turn
meant meat. Killing a goat for a single traveller wasn’t economical,
so dak bungalows reared ___X____, which could provide both the
main meal and __Y__ for the caramel custard that was the standard
dessert (not to mention the __Y__ used to make ___Z____ for
breakfast the next day).
• XYZ?
84. • Cesar Ritz started a campaign for dining in the evening
by enlisting the help of Lillie Langtry in 1890. Gradually,
it became more chic for men and women to be seen at
the Savoy Restaurant than in their own homes. At the
Savoy, they mingled with actors and actresses (Sarah
Bernhardt), opera divas (Nellie Melba), composers (Sir
Arthur Sullivan) and other artists.
Now, the main purpose of enlisting the highly
influential Lillie Langtry (who was a socialite, mistress
of the future Edward VII and stage superstar) was to
get one bit of puritanical regulation changed. What
regulation?
86. • In England & large parts of Europe, bars and
restaurants stopped serving liquor at 7 p.m.
Lillie Langtry used her influence to secure an
alteration to the regulations, and thus liquor
could be served until 12:30 in the morning.
87. • Chanko Kawasaki is perhaps the only restaurant
in Tokyo still serving the genuine article.
• Tadashi Kawasaki’s chanko is a delicately flavored
chicken broth enriched with carrots, burdock,
tofu, welsh onion, daikon, cabbage, abura-age
tofu, and cellophane noodles.
Why is chanko famous? Why is Chanko Kawasaki
considered one of the few remaining restaurants
at which genuine chanko is served?
90. • Chanko is the dish served to Sumo wrestlers
to shore up weight.
Chanko Kawasaki is run by a family of Sumo
wrestlers specializing in this food.
91. • Riyaaz Amlani, who runs Impressario
Handmade restaurants, employed Turmeric
Design & the National Institute of Design to
come up with all of the wall art in their
restaurants, which they did using whiteboard
markers. The webpage and menu is also
designed to mimic whiteboard marker art.
• Which restaurant chain across India?
97. • The Uddina Vada was traditionally made
during death ceremonies but in the recent
past has been a staple as festival food down
south! Its made of Urad Dal.
• Historians today believe that this food item is
proof of a certain change in the habits of
Brahmins which took place around 500BC.
What change, and what historic event was
responsible for it?
99. • The advent of Jainism caused Brahmins to
turn vegetarian. The Uddina vada was
prepared to make up for protein lost due to
the non-intake of meat.
100. • Cuisses de Nymphs à l'Aurore is a dish that gives no clue as
to what is in the dish. This subterfuge was done on
purpose. It translates to “Thighs of the Nymphs of Dawn”,
and was euphemistically named to trick 600 guests at a
soirée, held in 1908 at the London Savoy in honour of the
Prince of Wales (the future King George V), into eating a
food that was not popular with the English.
• The French, however, had been eating this since prehistoric
times. In fact, in the Tenth Century, French monks got this
classified as a fish to get around Lenten prohibitions on
meat, and this classification has stuck in the culinary world
to the present time. The dish was a sensation, and so
Cuisses became a great hit that London social season.
• What’s the common two-word name for this dish?
102. • When spelt as 2 words, this name refers to the small seedless black dried
grapes from Corinth, west of Athens. That’s also the origin of one part of
the 2 word name.
• Spelt as one word, however, it refers to to the berries from a shrub, Ribes
nigrum, which grows in the cold of northern Europe and Asia. They have
nothing to do with the grapes, apart from looking a bit like them when
dried.
• Perhaps the confusion came from an attempt to pass off the northern
berries for the sweet southern fruit, or perhaps English was just lazy about
making the distinction between the two. The French, more precisely, call
the berries ‘cassis’ and the dried grapes ‘raisins de Corinthe’. They use the
berries in a liqueur, crème de cassis, which makes one of the best wine
cocktails when added to white wine to make Kirs (and to champagne to
make Kir Royales). The dried grapes go in desserts.
• What two fruits?
105. • All the big multinational brands like Aunt
Jemima, Hungry Jack, Mrs Butterworth etc
make a product that is composed mainly of
high fructose corn syrup, and flavour it with a
synthetic industrial molecule called Soloton.
This is sold as ______ Flavoured Syrup.
What big fraud?
107. • Maple Syrup that is sold by most brands has
never even been close to a maple tree!
108. • King Stanislas I of Poland was exiled to Lorraine in 1737, where he
held the title of Duke. During that period, he was responsible for
the creation and/or popularisation of 3 enduring desserts.
• He dipped stale bread in rum, topped it with cream and named the
result after his favourite fictional character. He also introduced to
French royalty a labour-intensive recipe that had been devised by
one of his Polish cooks. Thirdly, he was so impressed with the shell-
like cakes baked by a peasant girl from Commercy that he named
them after her. Name all three.