[For Seniors] Fun Food Trivia Quizzes You'll Want to Share

Strawberries are actually vegetables.

When I was a kid, every summer there was that rumor going around like “watermelon isn’t a fruit, it’s a vegetable.” Looking back, it’s kind of cute and charming how it came up year after year.

Come to think of it, strawberries are also classified as vegetables by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

It feels odd to call something that sweet and delicious a vegetable, doesn’t it? Surprisingly, bananas and pineapples are also categorized as vegetables.

That said, these are nowadays sometimes referred to as “fruit-type vegetables,” and are treated a bit differently from ordinary vegetables.

If it’s a sweet, tasty fruit, I just want to call them all fruit already.

Why is it that we don’t eat eel raw?

Eel has long been loved by the Japanese.

Dishes like unajū (eel over rice) and grilled kabayaki come to mind as delicious favorites.

However, you’ve probably never seen eel eaten raw.

Do you know why? It’s because eel blood is toxic, but the toxin is neutralized by heat.

As a guideline, heating at 60°C for 5 minutes makes it safe.

In recent years, processing techniques have advanced, making it easier to enjoy sashimi-style eel as well.

Take this opportunity to give it a try.

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Autumn is when delicious new rice is harvested. What is the most widely produced rice variety in Japan?

Autumn is also the rice harvest season.

So here’s a question: Which rice variety is produced the most in Japan? The correct answer is Koshihikari.

It’s a famous variety that everyone knows.

There are three main reasons for this.

First, it’s resistant to cold.

Second, it’s delicious and highly popular.

Third, it’s suitable for long-term storage.

However, although Koshihikari may seem perfect, it actually has a weakness: it’s vulnerable to wind and disease.

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When you can’t stop coughing, drinking a syrup made by soaking a certain vegetable in honey can calm it. What is that vegetable?

The correct answer is “daikon radish.” A compound found in daikon called isothiocyanate has anti-inflammatory effects, and honey contains an enzyme called glucose oxidase.

This enzyme reacts with oxygen in the air to produce hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide, also known as “oxydol,” has disinfectant properties—the same “oxydol” used to disinfect wounds.

Based on this, “honey daikon” appears to help soothe coughs by disinfecting the throat and reducing inflammation.

On a bunch of grapes, going along the stem in order of “top,” “middle,” and “bottom,” which part is the sweetest?

One of autumn’s seasonal flavors is grapes.

Many people love them, right? Here’s a quiz: “Which part of a bunch of grapes is the sweetest?” If you picture how grapes grow, you might guess it.

The correct answer is “the upper part near the stem.” Grapes start to ripen from the part closest to the stem, so the upper area becomes sweeter.

So when you eat them, if you start from the less sweet lower grapes and work your way up, you’ll likely enjoy them to the very last bite.

It could be a fun question to ask before serving grapes, too.

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When is the expiration date for the ice cream?

Chilled and delicious ice cream.

Many of you probably eat it often.

Here’s a question: do you know when ice cream expires? If you’re near a freezer, try taking out some ice cream and checking.

There’s probably no expiration date shown.

That’s because, in fact, ice cream doesn’t have a best-before date.

So you can technically eat ice cream that’s several years old.

However, that doesn’t apply if it has warmed up at some point or been opened.

Therefore, it’s basically recommended to eat it while it’s still new.

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What was asparagus originally meant for?

Asparagus has a slightly different form compared to other vegetables.

I’ve heard it takes at least three years from sowing the seeds to harvesting.

I’ve tried growing it a few times myself, but I never made it to harvest…

If you manage it properly, you can keep harvesting for about ten years.

Interestingly, asparagus was originally imported as an ornamental plant and only later became a food.

The curiosity of the person who thought, “Maybe I’ll try eating that plant that looks like a horsetail,” is pretty incredible, isn’t it?