Quiz template · Trivia
Food and drink trivia questions and answers
20 questions from the kitchens of the world: sushi, hummus, kimchi, paella, tequila, chocolate and the spice that costs more than silver.
Medium 20 questions 30 s each · about 15 min Checked against two sources
Play it at a dinner party between courses, at a food festival stall or as the themed round of a pub quiz. The questions travel from Japan to Mexico to Ukraine, with a few on what is really a fruit, a nut or a spice. Twenty questions take about 15 minutes, which is roughly one main course.
How to run it
- Pair the quiz with the menu. Read the sushi question while the sushi is on the table.
- Seat the cooks on different teams. The botany questions catch everyone out, not only the people who cannot boil an egg.
- Question 19 is a year. Use it as the tie-breaker if two teams finish level.
Questions and answers
1Sushi, a dish of vinegared rice, comes from which country?Easy
- AChina
- BThailand
- CJapan
- DVietnam
Reveal answer
C. Japan
Sushi is a staple of Japanese cuisine. The word refers to the vinegared rice, not the raw fish, which on its own is sashimi.
2Which fruit is mashed to make guacamole?Easy
- AAvocado
- BLime
- CGreen tomato
- DCucumber
Reveal answer
A. Avocado
Guacamole is an avocado dip first made in Mexico, usually with lime, onion, coriander and chilli. The name comes from the Aztec language Nahuatl.
3What does the Scoville scale measure?Medium
- AThe sweetness of wine
- BThe heat of chilli peppers
- CThe strength of coffee
- DThe ripeness of cheese
Reveal answer
B. The heat of chilli peppers
Pharmacist Wilbur Scoville devised the test in 1912. A bell pepper scores zero and a habanero several hundred thousand Scoville heat units.
4What is the main ingredient of hummus?Easy
- ALentils
- BAubergine
- CChickpeas
- DWhite beans
Reveal answer
C. Chickpeas
Hummus is mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice and garlic. The word hummus is Arabic for chickpeas.
5Marzipan is made mainly from sugar and which nut?Medium
- AHazelnuts
- BAlmonds
- CPistachios
- DWalnuts
Reveal answer
B. Almonds
Marzipan is ground almonds and sugar, sometimes bound with egg white. It is moulded into fruits and used to cover Christmas and wedding cakes.
6A sparkling wine can only be labelled Champagne if it comes from a region of which country?Easy
- AItaly
- BSpain
- CFrance
- DGermany
Reveal answer
C. France
Only wine from the Champagne region in north-east France may use the name. Italy's equivalent is prosecco and Spain's is cava.
7Tequila is distilled from which plant?Medium
- ASugar cane
- BBlue agave
- CCactus
- DCorn
Reveal answer
B. Blue agave
Tequila is made from the heart of the blue agave, mostly around the town of Tequila in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Rum is the spirit made from sugar cane.
8True or false: botanically, a tomato is a fruit.Easy
- ATrue
- BFalse
Reveal answer
A. True
A tomato grows from the flower and holds the seeds, which makes it a fruit, and strictly a berry. Cooks treat it as a vegetable.
9The spice saffron is made from the dried stigmas of which flower?Medium
- AMarigold
- BCrocus
- CLily
- DPoppy
Reveal answer
B. Crocus
Each Crocus sativus flower has three orange stigmas, picked by hand. It takes tens of thousands of flowers to make a kilogram, which is why saffron costs so much.
10Kimchi, a dish of salted and fermented vegetables, comes from which country?Easy
- AKorea
- BJapan
- CVietnam
- DIndonesia
Reveal answer
A. Korea
Kimchi is Korea's national side dish, most often made with napa cabbage or radish, chilli and garlic. There are hundreds of regional versions.
11Which herb gives traditional pesto its green colour?Medium
- AParsley
- BMint
- CBasil
- DCoriander
Reveal answer
C. Basil
Pesto alla genovese is basil crushed with garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and hard cheese. It comes from Genoa, and the name means pounded.
12Paella comes from which region of Spain?Hard
- AAndalusia
- BCatalonia
- CValencia
- DGalicia
Reveal answer
C. Valencia
Paella took its modern form in the rice fields around the Albufera lagoon near Valencia in the 1800s. The original has rabbit, chicken and beans, not seafood.
13Tofu is made from the milk of which bean?Easy
- AKidney bean
- BSoybean
- CBlack bean
- DMung bean
Reveal answer
B. Soybean
Soy milk is curdled and the curds pressed into blocks, much like cheese. Tofu has been made in China for more than a thousand years.
14Which vegetable gives borscht its deep red colour?Medium
- ARed cabbage
- BTomato
- CRed pepper
- DBeetroot
Reveal answer
D. Beetroot
The best-known borscht, from Ukraine, is a sour soup built on beetroot and served with sour cream. Green and white versions exist too.
15Chocolate is made from the seeds of which tree?Easy
- ACarob
- BCacao
- CCoffee
- DCashew
Reveal answer
B. Cacao
Cocoa beans are the fermented, dried seeds of Theobroma cacao, a tree that grows in the tropics. The Latin name means food of the gods.
5 more questions in the full pack. Play all 20 live, free.
Get all 20 questions, ready to play live - free for 100 playersMade for a pub or party night. See how a trivia night works or read the guide to hosting one.
Questions about this template
Which cuisines does this food quiz cover?
Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Spanish, Korean, Italian, Ukrainian and more, plus drinks and a few botany surprises. No cuisine gets more than two questions, so the round stays fair for a mixed table.
Can we play this at a dinner party?
Yes. Press Go live on a laptop or TV, show the PIN or QR code, and guests answer from their phones between courses. The leaderboard appears after each question. The free plan covers 100 players.
Do guests need to install an app?
No. Guests open the link or scan the code, enter the PIN and a name, and play in the browser on their phone. Only the host has a RiLiFi account.
Can I add questions about the food we are serving?
Yes. Use this template to make a copy, then add questions about the menu, the host's cooking or the wine, and change the points for a dessert round.
Sources
Every answer shown here was checked against two sources, listed below. Links last checked 22 October 2026.
- Sushi - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Guacamole - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Scoville scale - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Hummus - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Marzipan - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Champagne - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Tequila - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Tomato - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Saffron - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Kimchi - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Pesto - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Paella - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Tofu - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Borscht - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
- Cocoa bean - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- britannica.combritannica.com
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