Q.1
Which of the following are you NOT likely to find on a typical British breakfast menu?
  • Boiled eggs
  • Battered eggs
  • Scrambled eggs
  • Fried eggs
Q.2
Which of these is the correct sequence?
  • Bread => Dough => Toast
  • Toast => Bread => Dough
  • Dough => Toast => Bread
  • Dough => Bread => Toast
Q.3
Only ONE of these lists contains an 'odd one out': which one is it?
  • Basil, chives, mint, rosemary
  • Peach, plum, apricot, banana
  • Turkey, quail, goose, chicken
  • Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
Q.4
Only ONE of the following verb sequences is likely to make sense within a typical recipe, beginning with at least one frozen ingredient: which one is it?
  • Serve => stir => chop => wash
  • Thaw => rinse => slice => stir
  • Season => heat => decorate => wash
  • Rinse => serve => slice => drain
Q.5
Which of these represents the most likely selection of sauces and condiments, on offer with cooked savoury food, at a reasonable British cafe, pub or all but the 'poshest' restaurants?
  • Salt and pepper, mustard, ketchup, Worcester sauce, mayonnaise
  • Salt and pepper, vinegar, ketchup, brown sauce, salad cream
  • Salt and pepper, mustard, ketchup, brown sauce, mayonnaise, horseradish
  • Salt and pepper, mustard, ketchup, tartare, mayonnaise, horseradish, 'French' salad dressing
Q.6
ONE of the following statements about British mealtimes is UNTRUE (all the rest are fine): which one is it?
  • 'Dinner', at least in the south of England and in connection with formal occasions, means an evening meal; but many people in the north of England use 'dinner' to refer to a meal taken in the middle of the day (what most southerners would call 'lunch').
  • By contrast, 'tea' in the south usually means a light meal towards the end of the afternoon (e.g. a drink and a 'bite' of something snacky when a child gets home from school around 4 o'clock, to tide them over until the main evening meal later on); but in the north, it means the main evening meal (probably a main course and a sweet course).
  • 'Pudding' is widely used as a synonym for 'dessert' ( = the sweet course towards the end of a main meal), but technically it means something cooked and probably still warm ~ like a classic plum pudding at Christmas, rather than ice-cream or a cold tart (which may indeed have been heated during their making, but are served cold). However, and again in the north, 'pudding' also happily includes the savoury Yorkshire pudding (traditionally served with beef) and black-pudding (also savoury, and often served as part of a traditional cooked breakfast).
  • Pies, tarts and crumbles are all ways of serving a main ingredient along with a 'pastry case' (or breadcrumbs; at least something 'doughy'), such as fruit. All three of these types of dish can equally well be offered with a main savoury ingredient such as meat, fish or cheese.
Q.7
Once again, in this question there are four statements about British foods. One of them (only) is false; which one?
  • Porridge (sometimes alternatively spelt 'porage'), the traditional Scots breakfast, is cooked using barley as its main ingredient.
  • Stilton, Cheddar, Wensleydale and Red Leicester are all types of English cheese.
  • The Cornish Pasty was originally invented by their wives as a 'portable meal' for men working down the tin and copper mines of the West Country. They would eat the pastry and everything inside, which was usually meat and vegetables, though sometimes there could be one savoury end and one sweet end. The pasty would often also be marked, or stamped, with the owner's name or initials to avoid confusion at the lunchbreak.
  • Salmon and oysters are among the sea creatures that are 'farmed' in captive enclosures off the coasts of Great Britain.
Q.8
Here are four 'meal scenarios', each of which (except an odd ONE once again) are international but have been adopted ~ and/or certainly spread more widely ~ by British influence. Which is the only one in which the British have had no significant 'hand'?
  • A curry meal
  • Fried fish and chipped potatoes eaten in a shop, or at a stall ~ or 'taken away' (wrapped in paper) to eat in the open or at home.
  • A pot of tea and a plate of sandwiches
  • A selection of sushi
Q.9
We hear much these days about 'convenience foods', and the harm that additives in them may do to us. Here are lists of shopping in four people's supermarket baskets. Which of these would you say is probably the healthiest in terms of being fresh, locally-sourced (probably/potentially) and free from additives?
  • Frozen fish fingers, frozen mini-pizzas and sausage rolls; jelly cubes, fizzy lemonade, selection of flavoured crisps, 1 pack or tube of cheese spread; multi-pack of mini chocolate bars
  • 1kg cooking apples, 2 pints milk, 1 bag baking flour, 1kg parsnips
  • 1 hand of bananas; 1kg caster sugar; 1 litre of concentrated orange squash; 1 pack of frozen mince; 4 kipper fillets
  • 1 frozen chocolate gateau, 1 frozen fruit strudel, 2 packs pork sausages, 1 small economy chicken, 1 pack oven chips, 1 pack of bread sauce mix, 1 small jar of redcurrant jelly
Q.10
Here are some pairings of food which British people have come to love down the years. But which one is wrong (or at least, unlikely and not provably so popular)?
  • Beefburger and chips
  • Toast and marmalade
  • Rice pudding and custard
  • Roast lamb with mint sauce
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