One Order of Rollmops, Comin’ Up

It’s been a wet and dismal week here in New York (even without the dying bananas and poisonous rice), so we thought we’d aim for a little mid-week lightness and sunshine with one of our food brainteasers. Can you match these obscure food terms to their meanings? Curl up someplace warm and treat yourself to hot cocoa if you get all of these right. Actually, just drink the cocoa anyway.

1. Laverbread
2. Omakase
3. Brunoise
4. Rollmops
5. Falooda
6. Socarrat
7. Tang
8. Gremolata
9. Poolish
10. Ballotine
11. Cynar
12. Waterzooi
13. Pigeage
14. Affinage
15. Kiwano

a. Pickled herring folded around pieces of onion, olives or pickles
b. A mixture of flour and water with a little yeast, used as a starter some forms of dough
c. The process of punching down the floating grape skins in fermenting wine to drown aerobic bacteria
d. An orange and yellow melon distinguished by the spiny thorns on its skin
e. The section of steel inside the handle of a chef’s knife
f. The art of aging cheese
g. A Welsh delicacy made from seaweed gathered from the rocks on the coastline
h. The toasted rice at the bottom of a pan, especially in paella
i. A deboned leg of a chicken, duck or other poultry stuffed with ground meat and other ingredients, tied and cooked
j. A classic Belgian seafood stew, sometimes including chicken, with an egg yolk-thickened vegetable broth base
k. A bitter Italian liqueur with a strong artichoke flavor
l. A traditional South Asian beverage of rose syrup mixed with vermicelli, tapioca pearls and milk
m. A basic knife cut measuring 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch
n. A multiple-course sushi meal chosen by the chef
o. A condiment made from finely minced parsley, garlic and lemon zest

Don’t click “continue” until you’re ready to see the answers!Answers: 1)g  2)n  3)m  4)a  5)l  6)h  7)e  8)o  9)b 10)i 11)k  12)j  13)c  14)f  15)d

Thanks to Bon Appetit magazine and Food Republic for many of these fun words.