Spices and Herbs Quiz
Cinnamon is bark, cloves are flower buds and pink peppercorns are impostors: 15 spice and herb questions.
Which spice is made from the dried inner bark of a tree?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is harvested by stripping the inner bark from young shoots of Cinnamomum trees, which curls into quills as it dries. True Ceylon cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka, while cassia is the stronger Chinese variety.
Most ground cinnamon sold in the US is actually cassia, which contains far more of the flavour compound coumarin than Ceylon cinnamon.
Which herb is the main ingredient of pesto alla genovese?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Basil
Genoese pesto is pounded from fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano or pecorino, and Ligurian olive oil. The name comes from pestare, the Italian verb for crushing with a pestle.
Ligurian cooks insist on small-leaved Genovese basil grown near the coast, and the variety holds a protected designation of origin.
Which spice gives American yellow mustard and curry powder their bright golden colour?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a rhizome in the ginger family, and its pigment curcumin stains everything it touches a deep yellow. It colours most curry powders and is what makes ballpark mustard so bright.
Turmeric was used as a dye for monks' robes in Asia long before it became a supplement, and it will stain a wooden spoon permanently.
The Scoville scale is used to measure what?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The heat of chilli peppers
Pharmacist Wilbur Scoville devised his scale in 1912 by diluting chilli extract in sugar water until tasters could no longer feel the heat. A bell pepper scores zero while a habanero can top 300,000 units.
Modern labs measure the capsaicin content directly with chromatography and convert the result into Scoville heat units.
Which spice defines the flavour and colour of a Hungarian goulash?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Paprika
Paprika, ground from dried sweet red peppers, is the soul of goulash and much of Hungarian cooking. It arrived with the Ottoman Turks and was bred into mild local varieties around Szeged and Kalocsa.
Hungarian paprika is sold in eight grades, from delicate and sweet to the hot erős, and good cooks add it off the heat so it does not scorch.
Cloves are which part of the clove tree?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Dried flower buds
Cloves are the unopened flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum, picked when they turn pink and dried until they darken into the familiar nail shape. The name comes from the Latin clavus, meaning nail.
The clove tree is native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, the original Spice Islands fought over by Portugal and the Dutch.
The fresh leaves of the coriander plant are known by what name in the United States?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Cilantro
Americans use the Spanish word cilantro for the leaves and reserve coriander for the dried seeds, which taste quite different. British and Australian cooks call both parts coriander.
For some people a genetic variation in smell receptors makes cilantro taste like soap, which explains the strong love-it-or-hate-it divide.
Vanilla pods are the fruit of which kind of plant?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
An orchid
Vanilla comes from the seed pods of climbing orchids in the genus Vanilla, native to Mexico. Outside its homeland the flowers must be pollinated by hand, one reason vanilla is such an expensive spice.
Edmond Albius, an enslaved 12-year-old on Réunion, worked out the hand-pollination method in 1841 that made vanilla farming possible worldwide.
Which herb completes the classic French bouquet garni alongside parsley and thyme?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Bay leaf
A traditional bouquet garni ties together parsley, thyme and bay leaf so the bundle can flavour a stock or stew and be lifted out before serving. Cooks sometimes add leek leaves or celery as a wrapper.
Bay leaves come from the laurel tree, the same plant whose leaves crowned victors in ancient Greece and Rome.
Mace is the lacy red covering that surrounds the seed of which spice?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Nutmeg
Nutmeg and mace both come from the fruit of Myristica fragrans: the nutmeg is the seed and mace is the crimson aril wrapped around it. Mace is dried separately and tastes a little lighter and more delicate.
Nutmeg was so valuable in the 1600s that the Dutch traded Manhattan to the English partly to secure the nutmeg island of Run.
Which of these peppercorns does not come from the Piper nigrum vine?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Pink peppercorn
Black, white and green peppercorns are the same fruit picked or processed at different stages. Pink peppercorns are the berries of South American Schinus trees in the cashew family and are only pepper in name.
Because of that cashew connection, pink peppercorns can trigger reactions in people with tree nut allergies.
Which single spice got its name because the English thought it tasted like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves combined?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Allspice
Allspice is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a tree native to Jamaica, southern Mexico and Central America. English traders coined the name in 1621 for its blended flavour, but it is one plant, not a mixture.
Jamaican jerk seasoning depends on allspice, and the wood of the same tree is traditionally used to smoke the meat.
Which herb does Ophelia hand out in Hamlet as the herb for remembrance?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Rosemary
In Act 4 Ophelia says, there's rosemary, that's for remembrance, as she distributes flowers in her madness. Rosemary had long been tied to memory and was worn at weddings and funerals in Shakespeare's England.
Rosemary's reputation has some science behind it: studies have found that its scent can modestly improve memory test performance.
Basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and sage all belong to which plant family?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The mint family
All five are members of Lamiaceae, the mint family, recognisable by their square stems, paired leaves and oil glands packed with aromatic compounds. Mint and lavender are in the same family.
The carrot family, Apiaceae, holds a different set of kitchen herbs: parsley, dill, coriander, fennel and chervil.
Which seed is the usual fifth ingredient in Chinese five-spice powder, alongside star anise, cloves, cinnamon and Sichuan pepper?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Fennel
Fennel seeds round out the classic five-spice blend, adding a sweet liquorice note that echoes the star anise. Some commercial blends swap in ginger or white pepper, but fennel is the traditional fifth.
The blend is meant to balance the five flavours of Chinese cooking: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and savoury.
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All Food and Drink quizzes →About the Spices and Herbs Quiz
Spices once moved empires. Cloves are dried flower buds, cinnamon is rolled tree bark, nutmeg and mace come from the same seed, and the pink peppercorn in your grinder is not a peppercorn at all. Herbs have their own secrets too: basil, mint, rosemary and thyme all belong to the same plant family.
These 15 questions ask what spices actually are, which plants they come from, and which dishes they define, from the paprika in a Hungarian goulash to the fennel seeds in Chinese five-spice. It suits cooks, curry lovers and anyone with a spice rack they want to understand better.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Hard. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What is the difference between a herb and a spice?
Herbs are the leafy green parts of plants, such as basil or parsley, while spices come from other parts: bark, seeds, roots, buds or fruit.
Which spices are in Chinese five-spice powder?
The classic blend is star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds, though some brands swap in ginger or white pepper.
Are coriander and cilantro the same plant?
Yes. In the US the fresh leaves are called cilantro and the dried seeds coriander, while British cooks call both coriander.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- Which spice is made from the dried inner bark of a tree?
Cinnamon Cinnamon is harvested by stripping the inner bark from young shoots of Cinnamomum trees, which curls into quills as it dries. True Ceylon cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka, while cassia is the stronger Chinese variety. Most ground cinnamon sold in the US is actually cassia, which contains far more of the flavour compound coumarin than Ceylon cinnamon. - Which herb is the main ingredient of pesto alla genovese?
Basil Genoese pesto is pounded from fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano or pecorino, and Ligurian olive oil. The name comes from pestare, the Italian verb for crushing with a pestle. Ligurian cooks insist on small-leaved Genovese basil grown near the coast, and the variety holds a protected designation of origin. - Which spice gives American yellow mustard and curry powder their bright golden colour?
Turmeric Turmeric is a rhizome in the ginger family, and its pigment curcumin stains everything it touches a deep yellow. It colours most curry powders and is what makes ballpark mustard so bright. Turmeric was used as a dye for monks' robes in Asia long before it became a supplement, and it will stain a wooden spoon permanently. - The Scoville scale is used to measure what?
The heat of chilli peppers Pharmacist Wilbur Scoville devised his scale in 1912 by diluting chilli extract in sugar water until tasters could no longer feel the heat. A bell pepper scores zero while a habanero can top 300,000 units. Modern labs measure the capsaicin content directly with chromatography and convert the result into Scoville heat units. - Which spice defines the flavour and colour of a Hungarian goulash?
Paprika Paprika, ground from dried sweet red peppers, is the soul of goulash and much of Hungarian cooking. It arrived with the Ottoman Turks and was bred into mild local varieties around Szeged and Kalocsa. Hungarian paprika is sold in eight grades, from delicate and sweet to the hot erős, and good cooks add it off the heat so it does not scorch. - Cloves are which part of the clove tree?
Dried flower buds Cloves are the unopened flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum, picked when they turn pink and dried until they darken into the familiar nail shape. The name comes from the Latin clavus, meaning nail. The clove tree is native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, the original Spice Islands fought over by Portugal and the Dutch. - The fresh leaves of the coriander plant are known by what name in the United States?
Cilantro Americans use the Spanish word cilantro for the leaves and reserve coriander for the dried seeds, which taste quite different. British and Australian cooks call both parts coriander. For some people a genetic variation in smell receptors makes cilantro taste like soap, which explains the strong love-it-or-hate-it divide. - Vanilla pods are the fruit of which kind of plant?
An orchid Vanilla comes from the seed pods of climbing orchids in the genus Vanilla, native to Mexico. Outside its homeland the flowers must be pollinated by hand, one reason vanilla is such an expensive spice. Edmond Albius, an enslaved 12-year-old on Réunion, worked out the hand-pollination method in 1841 that made vanilla farming possible worldwide. - Which herb completes the classic French bouquet garni alongside parsley and thyme?
Bay leaf A traditional bouquet garni ties together parsley, thyme and bay leaf so the bundle can flavour a stock or stew and be lifted out before serving. Cooks sometimes add leek leaves or celery as a wrapper. Bay leaves come from the laurel tree, the same plant whose leaves crowned victors in ancient Greece and Rome. - Mace is the lacy red covering that surrounds the seed of which spice?
Nutmeg Nutmeg and mace both come from the fruit of Myristica fragrans: the nutmeg is the seed and mace is the crimson aril wrapped around it. Mace is dried separately and tastes a little lighter and more delicate. Nutmeg was so valuable in the 1600s that the Dutch traded Manhattan to the English partly to secure the nutmeg island of Run. - Which of these peppercorns does not come from the Piper nigrum vine?
Pink peppercorn Black, white and green peppercorns are the same fruit picked or processed at different stages. Pink peppercorns are the berries of South American Schinus trees in the cashew family and are only pepper in name. Because of that cashew connection, pink peppercorns can trigger reactions in people with tree nut allergies. - Which single spice got its name because the English thought it tasted like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves combined?
Allspice Allspice is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a tree native to Jamaica, southern Mexico and Central America. English traders coined the name in 1621 for its blended flavour, but it is one plant, not a mixture. Jamaican jerk seasoning depends on allspice, and the wood of the same tree is traditionally used to smoke the meat. - Which herb does Ophelia hand out in Hamlet as the herb for remembrance?
Rosemary In Act 4 Ophelia says, there's rosemary, that's for remembrance, as she distributes flowers in her madness. Rosemary had long been tied to memory and was worn at weddings and funerals in Shakespeare's England. Rosemary's reputation has some science behind it: studies have found that its scent can modestly improve memory test performance. - Basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and sage all belong to which plant family?
The mint family All five are members of Lamiaceae, the mint family, recognisable by their square stems, paired leaves and oil glands packed with aromatic compounds. Mint and lavender are in the same family. The carrot family, Apiaceae, holds a different set of kitchen herbs: parsley, dill, coriander, fennel and chervil. - Which seed is the usual fifth ingredient in Chinese five-spice powder, alongside star anise, cloves, cinnamon and Sichuan pepper?
Fennel Fennel seeds round out the classic five-spice blend, adding a sweet liquorice note that echoes the star anise. Some commercial blends swap in ginger or white pepper, but fennel is the traditional fifth. The blend is meant to balance the five flavours of Chinese cooking: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and savoury.
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