30 questions · true or false · Updated October 28, 2026

True or False Food and Cooking Questions

Tip: read the statement out loud, let people buzz, then open the answer.

1. 01Botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit.Show the answer ↓

   True

   It develops from the flower and contains the seeds: it’s even a berry. In the kitchen, though, it’s mostly used as a vegetable.

2. 02In Japanese, the word “sushi” means “raw fish”.Show the answer ↓

   False

   Sushi refers first and foremost to the vinegar-seasoned rice. Raw fish served on its own, in slices, is called sashimi.

3. 03Potatoes originally come from Europe.Show the answer ↓

   False

   They come from the Andes in South America, where they had been grown for thousands of years. They only reached Europe in the 16th century.

4. 04Maple syrup is made from the sap of a tree.Show the answer ↓

   True

   Maple sap is collected in early spring, then boiled for a long time: it takes several dozen gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.

5. 05Vanilla is the fruit of an orchid.Show the answer ↓

   True

   The vanilla pod is the fruit of a climbing orchid native to Mexico. Outside its native region, its flowers are often pollinated by hand.

6. 06Pasta cooked “al dente” is very soft and well done.Show the answer ↓

   False

   “Al dente” means “to the tooth” in Italian: the pasta is cooked but still slightly firm when you bite into it.

7. 07Marco Polo brought pasta back to Italy from China.Show the answer ↓

   False

   Dried pasta was already being made in Sicily in the 12th century, long before he returned from China in 1295. The legend spread mainly in the 20th century.

8. 08Peanuts grow underground.Show the answer ↓

   True

   After flowering, the flower stalk grows longer and pushes into the soil, where the pod forms. The peanut is a legume, a cousin of beans and peas.

9. 09Water always boils at 100 °C (212 °F), even high up in the mountains.Show the answer ↓

   False

   At altitude, air pressure is lower, so water boils below 100 °C. As a result, pasta and eggs take longer to cook.

10. 10White chocolate contains cocoa butter.Show the answer ↓

    True

    It’s made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk. It contains no cocoa mass, the brown part of the bean, which is why it’s so pale.

11. 11Kiwifruit originally comes from New Zealand.Show the answer ↓

    False

    It comes from China, where it was known as the Chinese gooseberry. New Zealand grew it on a large scale and renamed it after its national bird, the kiwi.

12. 12Cheddar cheese is named after a village in England.Show the answer ↓

    True

    It comes from Cheddar, a village in Somerset, in southwest England, where the cheese has been made for centuries. Some of it was traditionally aged in the nearby Cheddar Gorge caves.

13. 13Cinnamon is the bark of a tree.Show the answer ↓

    True

    It comes from the inner bark of cinnamon trees. As it dries, it curls up on itself to form cinnamon sticks.

14. 14Mushrooms belong to the plant kingdom.Show the answer ↓

    False

    Mushrooms belong to a kingdom of their own, the fungi, separate from both plants and animals. They don’t use photosynthesis.

15. 15Searing meat over high heat seals in its juices.Show the answer ↓

    False

    Experiments show that seared meat doesn’t hold on to its juices any better. Searing is mainly about building a tasty golden crust, thanks to the Maillard reaction.

16. 16Mayonnaise is an emulsion of egg yolk and oil.Show the answer ↓

    True

    You whisk the oil into the egg yolk little by little. The yolk contains lecithin, which lets the oil spread into tiny droplets for a smooth sauce.

17. 17Pineapples grow at the top of trees, like coconuts.Show the answer ↓

    False

    Pineapples grow close to the ground, in the center of a low plant with spiky leaves. Each plant usually produces just one fruit at a time.

18. 18Cooking in a bain-marie means putting the food straight into boiling water.Show the answer ↓

    False

    The dish holding the food is set inside a larger pan of hot water. This gentle heat keeps chocolate from burning and custards from curdling.

19. 19Cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts all belong to the same plant species.Show the answer ↓

    True

    They’re all varieties of one species, Brassica oleracea, bred over the centuries, just like cabbage, kale and kohlrabi.

20. 20The holes in Emmental cheese are caused by gas made by bacteria.Show the answer ↓

    True

    As the cheese ripens, certain bacteria release carbon dioxide, which gets trapped inside and forms the holes, known as “eyes”.

21. 21Green tea and black tea come from two different plants.Show the answer ↓

    False

    Both come from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The difference lies in the processing: black tea leaves are oxidized, green tea leaves hardly at all.

22. 22Carrots have always been orange.Show the answer ↓

    False

    The first cultivated carrots were mostly purple or yellow. Orange varieties took over much later, partly thanks to Dutch growers, around the 17th century.

23. 23Saffron is a spice that comes from a flower.Show the answer ↓

    True

    It’s the red threads (stigmas) of a crocus flower, picked by hand. It takes a huge number of flowers to get a little spice, hence its high price.

24. 24Guacamole is a Mexican dish made from avocado.Show the answer ↓

    True

    Its name comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and roughly means “avocado sauce”. It’s made with mashed avocado, often with lime, onion and chili.

25. 25Coconut milk is the clear liquid found inside a coconut.Show the answer ↓

    False

    That liquid is coconut water. Coconut milk is made by pressing grated coconut flesh with water.

26. 26Cutting an onion makes you cry because of a gas it releases.Show the answer ↓

    True

    When you cut an onion, it releases sulfur compounds that form an irritating gas. When that gas reaches your eyes, it triggers tears.

27. 27Botanically speaking, a strawberry is a berry.Show the answer ↓

    False

    The red, fleshy part isn’t the true fruit: the tiny “seeds” on its surface, called achenes, are the plant’s actual fruits.

28. 28Adding salt to water makes it boil much faster.Show the answer ↓

    False

    Salt actually raises the boiling point very slightly. In the amounts used for cooking, the effect is negligible: we salt the water mainly for flavor.

29. 29Paella originally comes from the Valencia region of Spain.Show the answer ↓

    True

    It was first made with rice, chicken, rabbit and vegetables. Its name also refers to the wide pan it is cooked in.

30. 30Blanching vegetables means dipping them briefly in boiling water.Show the answer ↓

    True

    Blanching means briefly pre-cooking food in boiling water, often before plunging it into ice water to keep its color and crunch.