I’ve always thought of my food and cooking columns as more anecdotal than instructive. They are passions that have guided my life for as far back as I can remember. Still, I hope I’ve instilled in my readers some knowledge that perhaps they didn’t possess previously. Maybe they had never made a frittata, cooked a sweet fruit (or savory cherry tomato) clafouti, learned how to oven-roast vegetables, or tasted a freshly prepared gazpacho. 

The phrase itself: “Pop Quiz” is enough to make the heart race. But be assured that this quiz is all in fun, and I believe the readers are savvy enough to know a good deal about cooking. Multiple choice questions always give one a fighting chance. And maybe along the way people have heard me drop words or phrases like “blanch” or “parboil” in the two-and-a-half decades I’ve been writing about all that can be prepared and eaten with gusto. 

1. When, in a restaurant, a customer orders a steak “black and blue,” what are they requesting?
a. That the steak be medium-rare
b. That the steak be seared on the outside and so rare inside that it may not even be hot
c. That the steak be well-seasoned and tenderized before being put on the grill
2. What is “surf and turf?”
a. A main course combining seafood and red meat. The fish is most often a steamed or grilled lobster tail and the meat steak of some sort
b. A breaded and fried fish fillet served with tartar sauce
c. An entrée combo of various shellfish, such as mussels, cockles, oysters, and clams
3. What does it mean when a recipe calls for a “hot oven?’
a. That the oven temperature be around 250 degrees to keep food warm
b. That the oven temperature be between 400 and 450 degrees, a good temperature for oven-roasting
c. That the oven be in the moderate, middle range, around 350 to 375 degrees, which is typical for many recipes
4. What is umami?
a. A Japanese fish that is dangerous to eat if the poisonous liver is not removed before serving
b. The fifth taste, alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Umami can be found in such items as miso paste, dried mushrooms, and aged cheeses
c. A spicy Korean condiment made with fermented cabbage
5. What is the difference between boiling and simmering water?
a. At a simmer, the liquid will have minimal movement with only a few tiny bubbles, while boiling water has large bubbles that vigorously rise from the bottom of the pot
b. There is no difference between boiling and simmering water
c. Simmered water is achieved at a high temperature, while boiling water is achieved on a low flame
6. What is the difference between chopping, dicing, and mincing?
a. Chopping and dicing are the same, while mincing is to cut into the smallest possible pieces
b. Chopping yields rougher chunks of ingredients, while dicing produces exact, uniform cuts. Mincing is the smallest cut
c. The three types of cuts can be used interchangeably
7. When cooking pasta, should you add a bit of olive oil to the water at the beginning? Should you add salt to the water prior to bring it to a boil? Should you rinse pasta after draining it? Why and why not?
a. The only thing you should add to the pasta cooking water is salt. The salt adds flavor to the pasta
b. Adding oil to the pasta water will keep the sauce from adhering to the pasta after it is drained. It should not be added to the cooking water.
c. Rinsing the pasta after cooking will remove the starch that allows the sauce to cling to the pasta. It should not be done
8. What is the French term for a chef having all of his/her ingredients premeasured, cut, peeled, sliced, and grated prior to cooking, enabling the chef to assemble meals quickly.
a. Chef de Cuisine
b. Mise en Place
c. Pongeur
9. Regarding pasta, what does it mean to cook in al dente?
a. To cook pasta until a slight firmness remains when bitten
b. Cooking the pasta for the required time on the package, so that it is soft and easy to bite
c. To cook pasta just a touch longer than the required cooking time on the package
10. What is a tagine?
a. A Persian dish made with rice, saffron, and golden raisins
b. A tagine refers to both a North African cooking pot with a conical lid, and the aromatic stew traditionally cooked inside of it
c. A Mexican earthenware pot used for cooking over a wood fire.