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From the Kitchen
What familiar dishes are made of, and where they came from.
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Which spice is harvested from the stigmas of a crocus flower?
How Food Is Made
Bread, cheese, yoghurt and vinegar are all the result of controlled biology. Here is what is happening.
About this topic
A surprising share of the food in an ordinary kitchen is the product of deliberate microbial activity. Bread rises because yeast produces gas. Cheese sets because an enzyme separates milk into curds and whey. Yoghurt, vinegar, soy sauce and salami all depend on cultures doing predictable work under controlled conditions. These questions cover those processes rather than recipes. Knowing why bread rises or what curing actually does to meat makes cooking easier to reason about, and explains why the old preservation methods worked long before refrigeration existed.
Questions & answers
How Food Is Made: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1What makes bread dough rise?
- A Steam from the oven alone
- B Salt drawing in water
- C Gluten expanding when cold
- D Carbon dioxide produced by yeast Correct
Answer: D. Carbon dioxide produced by yeast
Why: Yeast ferments sugars and releases gas, which the gluten network traps. Soda breads use a chemical reaction instead.
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2Cheesemaking begins by separating milk into which two parts?
- A Fat and sugar
- B Casein and lactose
- C Curds and whey Correct
- D Cream and butter
Answer: C. Curds and whey
Why: An enzyme, traditionally rennet, causes the solids to coagulate. Whey is the liquid left behind.
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3Yoghurt is produced by adding what to milk?
- A Rennet
- B Live bacterial cultures Correct
- C Yeast
- D Vinegar
Answer: B. Live bacterial cultures
Why: The bacteria convert lactose into lactic acid, which thickens the milk and gives the sour taste.
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4Curing meat with salt preserves it mainly by doing what?
- A Drawing out water that microbes need Correct
- B Cooking the surface
- C Adding antibiotics
- D Sealing it from air
Answer: A. Drawing out water that microbes need
Why: Less available water means fewer bacteria can grow. Smoking and nitrites add further protection.
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5Vinegar is made when bacteria convert alcohol into what?
- A Lactic acid
- B Citric acid
- C Sugar
- D Acetic acid Correct
Answer: D. Acetic acid
Why: The word comes from the French for "sour wine". Almost any alcoholic liquid can become a vinegar.
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6Caramelisation is the browning of what?
- A Fats
- B Starch only
- C Sugars Correct
- D Proteins
Answer: C. Sugars
Why: The Maillard reaction is the related browning between sugars and proteins, and gives roast meat and toast their flavour.
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7Pasteurisation involves doing what to a liquid?
- A Adding preservatives
- B Heating it to kill most microbes Correct
- C Freezing it rapidly
- D Filtering it through clay
Answer: B. Heating it to kill most microbes
Why: It extends shelf life without sterilising completely, so pasteurised milk still needs refrigeration.
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8Olive oil labelled "extra virgin" has been produced how?
- A Pressed mechanically without heat or solvents Correct
- B Filtered three times
- C Blended with seed oil
- D Aged in barrels
Answer: A. Pressed mechanically without heat or solvents
Why: It must also fall below a set acidity limit. Heat and chemical extraction raise yields but lower the grade.
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9Tea leaves for black tea undergo which process that green tea skips?
- A Freezing
- B Salting
- C Smoking
- D Oxidation Correct
Answer: D. Oxidation
Why: Both come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. Green tea is heated early to halt oxidation.
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10Bread, beer and wine all rely on which single organism?
- A Algae
- B Lactobacillus
- C Yeast Correct
- D Mould
Answer: C. Yeast
Why: Saccharomyces cerevisiae ferments sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol; which one you want decides the process.
Read alongside this quiz
Why cooking works
Browning, resting, salting, seasoning a pan. The handful of chemical processes behind nearly every rule in the kitchen.
9 min readFrequently Asked Questions
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