1.First there was the Great Train Robbery, then there was the Great Cheese Robbery. Which cheese merchant was victim to scurrilous fraudulence in 2024?
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2.Montgomery’s make the greatest cheddar, but what is the fate of this cheese when, god forbid, it does not make the grade?
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3.Which is the odd one out: croque monsieur, welsh rabbit, scotch woodcock, or French toast? And why?
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4.Which cheese gave its name to the fungus that creates the mould characteristic of a great many blue cheeses?
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5.A total of 250 gallons of milk go into each vat to make parmesan. How many cheeses are made from this one vat?
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6.The cheese Bermondsey Hard Pressed is made in London by William Oglethorpe. He is also responsible for one other great cheese. What is its name?
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7.Who is credited in beginning the revival of British cheese from his shop in Streatley, Berkshire in the early 1950s, writing two excellent works, one on British cheese and a second on French cheese?
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8.Which TV baking judge opened her first restaurant, a chophouse called Gina in Chingford this year?
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9.Whose voice is used for the restaurant critic Anton Ego in the animated film Ratatouille?
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10.Which film stars Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini about two brothers serving up a last spectacular dinner to try to save their threatened restaurant?
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11.Which art nouveau restaurant in Paris featured in the musical version of Colette’s Gigi?
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12.In Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman has to eat 50 of what?
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13.Alfred Hitchcock’s 1941 film Suspicion sees Cary Grant carry a tray with what upon it, illuminated by a lightbulb, to a terrified Joan Fontaine?
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14.In which film is Maggie Smith indignant when served shop-bought marmalade on her breakfast tray?
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15.Who played the title role in Babette’s Feast?
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16.In which film does Christoph Waltz hold a plate of apple strudel as if it is a weapon of torture?
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17.Skye Gyngell was renowned at Peterham Nurseries, then at Heckfield Place and at Spring in Somerset House. What was the name of the restaurant in London where Skye first worked that began this remarkable career.
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18.Eliza Doolittle sold flowers from Covent Garden. Eliza James, on the other hand, amassed a fortune by the time she died in 1927, having pretty much cornered the London monopoly enabling her to sell millions of bunches of what green leaf?
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19.What was started in a bakery on Pudding Lane in the 17th century?
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20.Which London market had a gander called Old Tom who was granted the freedom of the market for surviving the fate of 34,000 of his fellow geese reportedly slaughtered over two days?
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21.Who launched her new restaurant at the Royal Opera House this year?
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22.Which iconic Soho music venue was formerly a warehouse for Crosse & Blackwell, with vaults containing thousands of jars of pickles and conserves discovered upon its demolition?
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23.Which is the oldest fish restaurant in London, only open at weekday lunchtimes?
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24.Who illustrated the menus of Langan’s Brasserie, Odin’s and the Neal Street Restaurant?
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25.The transporting of enormous amounts of beef to feed the army of Napoleon III led to the creation of Johnston’s Fluid Beef. What is its more familiar name?
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26.A vitamin C-rich crop in Britain had its yield dramatically increased and used in its entirety during the second world war to make a cordial. What was it?
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27.After a great feast onboard a liner for Wilhelm II in 1913, the Kaiser exclaimed to the chef responsible: “I am the Emperor of Germany but you are the Emperor of Chefs.” Who was the chef?
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28.Continuing suspicious poisonings of Russian internationals, whistleblower Alexander Perepilichny died in 2017 after eating a bowl of soup made from what herb?
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29.This indefatigable author was commissioned by the government to write cookery books for nutrition and rationing during the second world war. Author of such works as The Victory Cookbook and We’ll Eat Again, who is she?
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30.Compton Mackenzie wrote a novel inspired by the story of a ship, the SS Politician, wrecked on a Hebridean island during the second world war. The novel was made into a successful film. What was the unfortunate ship’s precious cargo?
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31.In fashion, 2023 was “tomato girl summer”, 2024 was “brat summer” and, according to Harper’s, Vogue and others, 2025 was “______ girl summer”?
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32.In which recently departed author’s novel (not long ago adapted for TV) does Taggie O’Hara tie herself in knots while cooking chicken estragon?
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33.Which late, great restaurant critic also authored the cookery books for Le Caprice and the Ivy?
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34.In which Ian Fleming novel does James Bond drink his first americano cocktail?
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35.What was Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti the first to drink in space?
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36.Harry’s New York Bar, founded by Dundonian Harry MacElhone, is famous for being the first in Paris to serve what as a bar snack?
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37.In Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, two brothers are cooked in a pie to be eaten by their mother as a punishment. In which film is this macabre act performed with two poodles?
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38.Maurice Sendak wrote and illustrated a book about a young boy’s surreal dream of spending the night in a baker’s, where he assists in making a cake for the morning. What is the book called?
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39.Alfred Bird created custard powder for his wife as she suffered from an allergy to eggs. What else did he invent for her due to yet another allergy?
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40.“First catch your hare”, the oft misquoted first line of a recipe by Hannah Glasse, has inspired the title of many a cookbook. And particularly a book on the cooking of Africa, First Catch Your Eland. Who wrote it?
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This article was amended on 21 January 2026. An earlier version said that Chingford was in Essex, when it is in London.
Dining and Cooking