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.
- 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.
- 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.
- A cousin to eggnog, ________ is served cold, often spiked with rum. Traditional ingredients include coconut cream, three types of milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- 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.
- Noche Buena, the traditional Christmas feast after midnight mass, features what meat as the main course?
ANSWERS
- Glühwein (aka mulled wine).
- Coin. (The bread is called vasilopita in Greece, koledna pitka in Bulgaria, cesnica in Serbia and is served across the Balkans under other names.)
- Coquito.
- Latkes.
- Pork, specifically hamón (cured pork leg) or lechón (spit-roasted pig).