The food quiz of the year: from Salt Bae to Colin the Caterpillar

1. In January, 12 bottles of fine French wine completed 400 days of bottle ageing in what unique way?

   1. They were buried 500 metres underground

   2. They were flown to the International Space Station and back

   3. They were placed inside the Large Hadron Collider at Cern

   4. They were rested on the Atlantic seabed

2. 

   The New York Times managed to enrage the entire nation of Italy in February by putting what in its recipe for carbonara?

   1. Tomatoes

   2. Cream

   3. Sugar

   4. Vegan eggs

3. 

   2021 was the year of performance artist Salt Bae’s most spectacular work yet. But which stunt listed here is entirely made up?

   1. Charging people £360 for some bits of meat and white baguette covered in hot oil

   2. Selling a gold-coated rack of lamb for £500

   3. Adding £100 to your bill for a personal performance of salt sprinkling at your table

   4. Expecting people to pay £11 for a solitary can of Red Bull energy drink.

4. “It’s my signature dish … the nicest food in the world, surprisingly lovely, gorgeous.” But what was Russell T Davies talking about on Grace Dent’s Comfort Eating podcast?

   1. Pasta with cheese and Marmite

   2. Rice with butter and pepper

   3. Chocolate spread toasties

   4. Ready salted crisps with Worcestershire sauce shaken inside.

5. 

   Colin the Caterpillar became the first anthropomorphic chocolate log to sue a supermarket in April when his makers, M&S, lodged an intellectual property claim against Aldi. But what was the budget store’s caterpillar called?

   1. Clyde

   2. Christopher

   3. Colyn

   4. Cuthbert

6. The World Marmalade awards is never anything but special, of course. But what was especially special about this year’s event?

   1. There were no seville oranges available due to supply chain issues

   2. A nine-year-old girl was declared the winner

   3. The winning effort was found to be not technically marmalade

   4. Salt Bae was on the judging panel

7. Jane Austen’s “household book”, written between 1798 and 1830, was discovered this year. Which of the following tasty morsels did it contain?

   1. A recipe for her favourite cheese toastie

   2. The diets of several key characters from her novels

   3. An early version of what we now call the Atkins diet

   4. A list of sweet treats banned from the home

8. 

   Rightwing pundits in the US remained reliably sane this year by claiming Joe Biden wanted to ban what?

   1. Beer

   2. Bulgar wheat

   3. Beautiful waiting staff

   4. Burgers

9. 

   McDonald's started serving what in the UK this year?

   1. A burger covered in gold leaf for £12

   2. Its first ever vegan burger

   3. Burgers with cheese injected directly into the meat

   4. Milkshakes made without dairy produce

10. 

    What did Conservative MP Chris Loder describe this year as being in Britain’s “mid- and long-term interests”?

    1. A lack of food on supermarket shelves

    2. A shortage of waiting staff from EU countries

    3. The effects of the climate crisis on wine-producing regions

    4. The prime minister revealing his new diet regime

Solutions

1:B - A bottle of Château Pétrus 2000 usually fetches about $6,000, although Christie’s put one of the space-aged bottles on sale with an estimated price of $1m., 2:A - The recipe also replaced guanciale with bacon and used – look away now – parmesan cheese instead of pecorino., 3:C - Salt Bae sprinkles not for profit, but out of a pure love of seasoning , 4:B - The recipes demands a “wodge” of butter and definitely not a “sliver” , 5:D - Cuthbert returned to stores a month later with a charity skydive (we’re not making this up) and white chocolate eyes., 6:B - Flora Rider from the Isle of Wight wowed the judges by including orange blossom in her recipe., 7:A - “Grate the cheese and add to it one egg, and a teaspoonful of mustard, and a little butter,” wrote the book’s author, Martha Lloyd, a close friend of Austen., 8:D - Fox News were forced to issue a correction admitting that Joe Biden was, in fact, not trying to ban burgers., 9:B - The McPlant burger had been years in preparation, presumably so McDonald's could come up with a really inventive name for it., 10:A - Loder suggested that supply chains crumbling could open new opportunities for farmers.

Scores

1. 10 and above.

   Congratulations! You are a food brainiac. Treat yourself to that golden tomahawk steak (but, er, not on us).

2. 7 and above.

   Good stuff – your tomahawk isn’t golden but it’s certainly well sprinkled with salt.

3. 4 and above.

   A middling effort. In culinary terms, you’ve got a seat at Nusr-Et, but you can only afford the meatball and chips.

4. 0 and above.

   Oh dear, I fear your brain might have experienced supply chain issues.