Fact or Fiction: The Ultimate Herbs and Spices Quiz
3 min
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About This Quiz
Herbs and spices complement your favorite dishes and rouse your senses. These added touches aren't just for the kitchen though: Many are used for medicinal or spiritual purposes. But how much do you really know about your favorite natural flavors?
Herbs are plants valued for their scent, taste, medicinal value and practical utility.
fact
fiction
almost fact: Herbs are also used in spiritual contexts too.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer
Herbs, which usually include fleshy seed-bearing plants, are used for a variety of purposes in addition to flavoring food.
Though spices have been used to preserve foods for centuries, educating households about which spice and amount to use wasn't common until the early 20th century.
fact
fiction
almost fact: Using spices for food preservation wasn't promoted by researchers until the 21st century.
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Wrong Answer
In the early 20th century, researchers tested how various amounts of some spices slow down spoiling rates in food and began suggesting spice use for households.
On top of being a popular herb used to liven up dishes, oregano is also thought to protect people against mythical creatures like vampires.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It's marjoram instead.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer
If you were to meet a vampire, you'd be tough out of luck with oregano. Historically, people thought garlic repelled vampires because it intensified symptoms of porphyria, a neurological and skin condition that was exacerbated by sunlight.
Licorice isn't just the name of a popular candy -- it got its name from the herb licorice.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It's true, but the candy licorice we eat today tastes different from candy made from the real herb.
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Sometimes referred to as an herb and a spice, licorice inspired the candy we all know and love, but it tastes quite different without the additives and sugar.
Using Scoville units is one way to measure the spectrum of heat in spicy foods.
fact
fiction
almost fact: The units actually measure bitterness instead.
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Wilbur Scoville first developed the system to measure the hotness, or pungency, of a food item. Since then, the competition to be the spiciest has heated up among companies.
Vanilla extract, often used as a substitute for fresh vanilla, contains no real vanilla.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It depends. Products labeled as "pure" vanilla extract have real vanilla, but other products may not.
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The FDA requires pure vanilla extract to contain vanilla, but there are other imitation flavors that use coumarin, a chemical that may cause blood-thinning in some individuals.
You impress your dinner guests by serving hand-rolled sushi. Between servings, you should serve your guests wasabi, which will helps cleanse their palates.
fact
fiction
almost fact: Serve "gari," strips of pickled ginger, to your guests instead.
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The fiery reputation of wasabi will most likely cleanse your guests' sinuses rather than palates. Gari is a popular side item served between rounds of sushi.
Turmeric is a spice that grows naturally in the Mediterranean and is used in Mediterranean recipes.
fact
fiction
almost fact: Ginger is a known spice in that area, but not turmeric.
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Wrong Answer
Neither turmeric nor ginger originated in the Mediterranean. Basil, fennel and mustard are a few of the several spices characteristic of Mediterranean-style dishes.