Food Facts and Genius “Jeopardy”
We like to have fun when doing internal training in the office and we have a CEO (Justin Massa) who loves Jeopardy. Combine this with our menu platform Food Genius Reports, and you generate all sorts of useful facts. We thought it would be fun to share the questions and answers so that you can play with your colleagues or test your own menu knowledge.
The categories and questions are below. The answers are “blacked out”. To view the answer, just click and drag to highlight the text. Have fun!
| Proteins | Vegan Concepts | |
| 100 | ||
| Question | What percentage of red beans and rice menu items include andouille? | Are “meat substitutes” more commonly menued with chile peppers or poblano peppers? |
| Answer | 31% | Chile |
| 200 | ||
| Question | Which herb is most commonly menued with steak on independents, and which two vegetables are almost alway paired with them? | What is most commonly described as “plain”? |
| Answer | Rosemary, onion, and mushroom | Bread |
| 300 | ||
| Question | What % of menu items that contain andouille are served with beans but not necessarily red beans? | What is the most common vegetarian “mock meat” (assuming that restaurants know the definition of vegetarian)? |
| Answer | 1% | Chicken |
| 400 | ||
| Question | This protein is offered in one of five burgers served on brioche at independent restaurants. | Do tofu tacos seem to have one or more than one price peaks? |
| Answer | Bacon | More than one |
| 500 | ||
| Question | This cheap vegetable, when paired with a new york strip steak, actually increases its average price | For lettuce and tomato on independent menus, they are found in half as many ______ menu items as sandwich menu items. |
| Answer | Potato | Salads |
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| Fun with Meal Parts | Unamerican Cuisine (North & South) | |
| 100 | ||
| Question | Among sides, appetizers, and small plates, in what dish is lamb most commonly menued? | How are frog legs most commonly prepared? |
| Answer | Salad | Fried |
| 200 | ||
| Question | What type of nuts are most commonly menued with fruit and yoghurt dessert items, and what type of fruit is most commonly menued with that nut and yoghurt? | What is most commonly described as “plain”? |
| Answer | Walnuts, apples | Rice |
| 300 | ||
| Question | Is chicken or shrimp more frequently served as fried on a kids menu? | In which meal part will you most frequently find menu items with the word “sweet”? |
| Answer | Shrimp | Entree |
| 400 | ||
| Question | Which cuisine would typically describe 40% of the top 10 most menued appetizers in chains? | Is spicy more commonly paired with hot, is hot more commonly paired with spicy, or are they equally tied to one another? |
| Answer | Mexican / Latin American | Hot is more commonly paired with spicy |
| 500 | ||
| Question | In entrees, this flavor – made from a sweetener combined with a sauce – is nearly always served with poultry. | This vegetable is menued with 15% of lamb, when lamb is paired with its most frequently paired bread. |
| Answer | Honey mustard | Cucumber |
——————————————————————————————————————
| Guilty Pleasures | |
| 100 | |
| Question | Do independent restaurants menu more than one version of a sweet potato pie with pecans? |
| Answer | No – 10% of locations and 10% of items |
| 200 | |
| Question | What percentage of strawberry waffles are not specifically menued with whipped cream? |
| Answer | 43% |
| 300 | |
| Question | Across chains and independents, this sweet pie that is made with a vegetable is less common in the south – except Florida. |
| Answer | Rhubarb pie |
| 400 | |
| Question | Name at least one significant difference between nachos on Latin American menus v. non-Latin American menus. |
| Answer | Non-Latin American nachos are menued with chili 3x more commonly than Latin American nachos. |
| 500 | |
| Question | In comparing fudge brownies and fudge sundaes, which is more of a chain concept and which is more of an independent concept? |
| Answer | Brownie = Independent; Sundae = Chain |
One Comment
Hawaiian Pizza and its variations broke the mold years ago, combining sweet, tart pineapple with savory, salty ham to create a menu favorite across the country. While pineapple has become a mainstay on many pizzerias’ toppings lists, there is a world of fruits just waiting to find their way onto your pizzas. Mango, cranberries, apples, cherries, figs, avocados and even watermelon might be just what you’re looking for to ignite a wave of enthusiasm from your customers. Watermelon, for instance, may seem like an odd pizza topping. But when Executive Chef Jason Sondgroth at Paesanos in Sacramento, California, paired watermelon with prosciutto, feta and a balsamic reduction, it became a wonderland of palatable sensations. He says he wanted to create something that was reminiscent of a picnic. It became an instant hit, along with another creation: the Gorgonzola & Fuji Apple Pizza with olive oil, garlic, caramelized onions, spinach and mozzarella. If you are already offering fruit-based, house-made desserts, it’s as easy as creating a crave-able pizza, making those fruits available on the pizza line and training your pizza maker to get the right formula down and your servers to entice adventurous diners. What should you think about when it comes to incorporating fruit on pizza? The flavor combination is key. It’s a balancing act, according to co-owner and chef Brandon Case of Peel Wood Fired Pizza in Edwardsville, Illinois. Working with co-owner Patrick Thirion, Case says, “we like to pair the sweet and savory together and the hot and cold together.” For some pies, the fruit is baked right in, while for others, Case says, chilled fruit is used as a garnish. Either way, Case says the options enhance Peel’s menu offerings and carry a similar food cost to many of the other vegetables his restaurant uses.