Food and drinks with special meaning help nourish us through the darkest time of the year. 

This week’s trivia challenge is a tour of culinary traditions from around the world. It was compiled by Sarah Phelan-Blamires, public services librarian at the Whitman County Rural Library District. The library’s online trivia challenge takes place at 5:30 tonight on the library’s Facebook page.


  1. This traditional German wintertime drink is served hot. It’s made with red wine, spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, citrus, sugar and sometimes garnished with fruit.

  2. In Eastern Europe, a _________ is hidden inside bread served on New Year’s or Christmas. Whoever gets the slice with this item receives good luck for the year.

  3. A cousin to eggnog, ________ is served cold, often spiked with rum. Traditional ingredients include coconut cream, three types of milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

  4. The fondness for fried foods during Hanukkah is in celebration of the miracle of the oil that kept a menorah lit. So ________, or potato pancakes fried in oil, are a traditional Hanukkah treat.

  5. Noche Buena, the traditional Christmas feast after midnight mass, features what meat as the main course?

ANSWERS


  1. Glühwein (aka mulled wine). 

  2. Coin. (The bread is called vasilopita in Greece, koledna pitka in Bulgaria, cesnica in Serbia and is served across the Balkans under other names.)

  3. Coquito.

  4. Latkes.

  5. Pork, specifically hamón (cured pork leg) or lechón (spit-roasted pig).