Pasta, Pizza and Parmesan: Italian Food – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 15 questions in the Pasta, Pizza and Parmesan: Italian Food quiz, each with a short explanation. From pasta shapes to tiramisu – how well do you know Italian food and drink? Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 15 questions1. Which cheese is a soft, blue-veined variety from northern Italy?
Answer: Gorgonzola
Gorgonzola is a soft, blue-veined cheese made from cow's milk in Lombardy and Piedmont. It is named after the town of Gorgonzola, near Milan, and comes in two styles: mild dolce and sharper piccante.
2. Ragù alla bolognese traditionally comes from which Italian city?
Answer: Bologna
Ragù alla bolognese is a slow-cooked meat sauce from Bologna in Emilia-Romagna. In 1982, the Bologna delegation of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina registered an official recipe with the city's Chamber of Commerce.
3. Pizza Margherita's toppings mirror the colours of which flag?
Answer: Italy
The red tomato, white mozzarella and green basil on pizza Margherita match the Italian tricolour. Legend says pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito made it in Naples in 1889 and named it for Queen Margherita of Savoy.
4. Which Italian dessert is made with coffee-soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone?
Answer: Tiramisu
Tiramisu is made of ladyfingers (savoiardi) dipped in coffee and layered with a cream of mascarpone, egg and sugar, topped with cocoa. It is generally thought to come from the Veneto region, with Treviso often named as its home.
5. Risotto alla milanese gets its golden colour from which spice?
Answer: Saffron
Risotto alla milanese gets its golden-yellow colour from saffron. The rice is cooked in broth with butter, onion and Parmigiano, and the dish is often served with ossobuco in Milan.
6. Basil-based pesto sauce originally comes from which Italian city?
Answer: Genoa
Basil pesto, or pesto alla genovese, comes from Genoa, the capital of Liguria. It is traditionally made by pounding basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and aged cheese in a marble mortar.
7. Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano both come from which Italian region?
Answer: Emilia-Romagna
Parma ham is made in the province of Parma in Emilia-Romagna. Parmigiano Reggiano is made mainly in Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and part of Bologna, plus a small part of Lombardy's Mantua province.
8. Which Italian treat is a scoop of gelato 'drowned' in a shot of espresso?
Answer: Affogato
Affogato means 'drowned' in Italian. The dessert is a scoop of gelato, usually vanilla or fior di latte, with a shot of hot espresso poured over it.
9. Spaghetti alla carbonara is a classic dish from which Italian city?
Answer: Rome
Carbonara is a classic Roman dish from the Lazio region. It is made with guanciale (cured pork cheek), eggs, Pecorino Romano and black pepper, and traditionally contains no cream.
10. Which pasta shape is named after the Italian word for butterflies?
Answer: Farfalle
Farfalle comes from 'farfalla', the Italian word for butterfly. The pinched shape is also known as bow-tie pasta and is linked to northern Italy, especially Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna.
11. Mozzarella di bufala is traditionally made from the milk of which animal?
Answer: Water buffalo
Mozzarella di bufala is made from the milk of domestic water buffalo. The best-known kind, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, has PDO (protected origin) status and is produced mainly in Campania in southern Italy.
12. Which espresso drink is 'stained' with just a dash of milk foam?
Answer: Macchiato
'Macchiato' is Italian for 'stained' or 'marked'. A caffè macchiato is an espresso topped with a small amount of foamed or steamed milk, which leaves a mark on the coffee.
13. Which flat pasta's name means 'little tongues' in Italian?
Answer: Linguine
Linguine means 'little tongues', from the Latin word lingua ('tongue') plus a suffix meaning small. The pasta comes from coastal Liguria and is often served with seafood, as in linguine with clam sauce.
14. Which large pork sausage from Bologna is studded with cubes of fat?
Answer: Mortadella
Mortadella Bologna is a large cooked pork sausage studded with cubes of fat called lardelli. It has IGP (protected geographical) status, and American 'bologna' is a smoother version of it.
15. Cannoli, crisp pastry tubes filled with ricotta, come from which island?
Answer: Sicily
Cannoli are a traditional pastry from Sicily: fried, crisp shells filled with sweetened ricotta. The singular is 'cannolo', and the fillings vary from one part of Sicily to another.