How it works
Which seasoning is said to have died out under Rome, and which bird left the Americas with the turkey? These food history trivia questions run from the first farms through the Columbian exchange to the icebox and the toaster.
Read the full guide
Five rounds, from founder crops to the can opener
First farms and ancient tables has garum, dormice and the oldest bread crumbs yet found. The Columbian exchange follows cassava, bananas and the sweet potato across the oceans. Spice routes, sugar and salt goes from New Guinea to Madeira. Forks, menus and words at the table explains ketchup, margarine and the restaurant. Keeping food and kitchen inventions ends with ice, cans and the kitchen range.
Food history trivia questions for a dinner table
Each question comes with four choices. Pick one and the card shows the right answer, a sentence of reason and the article behind it, which settles most arguments before dessert. Ten questions make a set.
Questions and answers
What are some food history trivia questions?
Try these three. What was the Roman sauce garum made from? Which crop did Columbus carry to Hispaniola in 1493? Which tools did the first cans tell buyers to use? The answers are fish, sugarcane, and a chisel and hammer.
What is the Columbian exchange?
The widespread transfer of plants, animals and diseases between the Americas and the Old World from the late 15th century on. Maize, potatoes and tomatoes went one way. Rice, wheat, sugar cane and livestock went the other.
When was canned food invented?
In 1809 Nicolas Appert, a French confectioner, found that food cooked inside a sealed jar did not spoil, and in 1810 he was awarded a government prize. A patent for preserving food in tin cans followed in England in 1810.
When did people start using forks?
The personal table fork was in common use in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire by the 4th century. It was commonplace in Italy by the 14th century and spread through much of Europe only in the 18th.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 15, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article linked under it, such as Columbian exchange, History of sugar or Canning. Brands, restaurant chains, living people, records, and wine, beer and spirits are left out.