Foodie Trivia

Happy St. Patricks Day! Are you celebrating tonight with some corned beef and cabbage? If so what country do you have to thank for this iconic dish?

Answer explanation

While this dish has strong ties to Ireland it was actually invented in New York City by Irish immigrants. The immigrants paired their low-cost homestyle cabbage with the corned beef they found in Jewish delis and lunch carts they found in their new city. And so corned beef and cabbage was born!

Where did the modern hamburger originate from?

Answer explanation

The hamburger was actually invented in the 13th century in central Asia. According to NPR, Genghis Khan and his army carried raw meat scraps under their saddles. The meat would tenderize as they galloped around and fought battles. When hunger hit, the horsemen would grab a patty of meat and eat up.

Contrary to pouplar belief, Caesar salad has nothing to do with Julius Caesar. Instead it was invented by a restaurant owner in this Latin American country.

Answer explanation

The salad was invented in Tijuana, Mexico by Italian-American restuarant owner Caesar Cardini. According to the story it was a very busy weekend in 1924 and his kitchen was running low on food. He a large group arrived for a meal he improvised and threw together a salad with whatever he could find. They loved it and spread the word and caesar salad as invented.

Nutella and Fanta both have this war to thank for their existence ...

Answer explanation

In 1946, after WWII, there was a shortage of cocoa. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker in Piedmont, Italy, concocted a paste with hazelbuts, sugar, and just a touch of cocoa. The paste could be sliced and eaten with bread. This treat was naemd Giandujot and in 1964 his son Michele improved the paste and created modern Nutella.

Fanta came about because after America joined WWII Coca-Cola stopped supplying syrup to their German subsidiary Coca-Cola GmBH. Max Kieth, the Germany company's CEO, decide to use food manufacturing remnants like apple peels and whey instead and thus created Fanta.

New York cheescake may be famous but this ancient civilization deserves the credit for creating this creamy dessert.

Answer explanation

Archeologists have found evidence of cheese molds from 2,000 BC in Greece. Mini cheesecakes were served to athletes at the first Olympics in 776 BC for energy before events. The earlierst recorded recipe for cheesecake comes from 230 AD by Athenaeus, a Greek author and grammarian.

Opened in Wichita, Kansas in 1921 this fortress of fast food was the first modern fast food chain.

Answer explanation

Walt Anderson was the originally owner and his frustration over handling meatballs on his griddle led to smash one flat with his spatula. He found this pancake shape much easier to handle and adopted this method and the rest is hamburger patty history.

This fast food chain's secret blend is protected in vault.

Answer explanation

Harland Sanders (a.ka. Colonel Sanders) finished his Original Recipe of 11 spices and herbs in 1940 and it is still a closely guarded secret.

A clever franchise owner in this Central American country invented the Happy Meal in the 1970s as a way to make more kid-sized meals at McDonlads.

Answer explanation

Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño developed the Happy in the mid-70s. McDonald's rolled out Happy Meals at all of their locations in 1979.

Where can you buy the most expensive hot dog in the world?

Answer explanation

The most expensive hot dog in the world is the "Junni Ban" which was created by a food truck in Seattle called Tokyo Dog in 2014. The price is $169 and a portion of the profts goes towards charity.

What was the first pizza company to deliver pizza to outer space?

Answer explanation

Pizza Hut delivered pizza to the International Space Station in 2001. The pizza was delivered by a Russian rocekt and the Russian space agency was paid by Pizza Hut about $1,000,000 to deliever it.