Do You Have the Cooking Skills to Be a Chopped Champion?

By: Isadora Teich

5 Min Quiz

Image: Zero Creatives/Image Source/Getty Images

About This Quiz

"Chopped" is a massive hit that puts food industry professionals under intense reality TV pressure. We all love to watch it and criticize contestants, especially when they start to fight over the ice cream machine in the dessert round, but most people definitely could not hack it in the "Chopped" kitchen. After all, unless you are the kind of cook who is ready to turn octopus, birch water, bacon and candy corn into an incredible appetizer in under 20 minutes, you will probably get chopped. And you never know who will master the basket ingredients, and who will get embarrassingly schooled by them.

Can you take the heat? Or should you get out of the kitchen? Answer these tricky questions about cooking and baking techniques, flavor profiles, food safety and food prep, and see if you might just have what it takes to be a "Chopped" Champion. Are you a truly creative cook who knows food inside and out? Whether it's boxed mac and cheese or freshly prepared tortellini, are you ready to rock it out and make something truly interesting and delicious?

Take on this quiz on all things cooking and food and see if you are ready to be a true "Chopped" Champion!

What does it mean if pasta is al dente?

It's not too soft.

It's very hard.
It's spicy.

It's broken.

Is ground meat ever safe to eat rare or medium-rare?

Never

It depends on the meat.
Except for chicken, yes

Yes

If you want to freeze food fast, which of these kitchen appliances would you use?

Anti-griddle

Freezer
Air fryer

Oven

Au jus is sauce served with meats and sandwiches. What is its main ingredient?

Meat drippings

Beef stock
Onions

Salt

What types of foods would you usually blanch, or quickly boil in hot water before plunging them into ice water?

Vegetables

Fruits
Chicken

Fish

When you brine food, what do you traditionally soak it in?

Salt water

Spring water
Wine

Orange juice

When you cook onions on a low flame until they become sweet, soft, and dark, what are you doing to them?

Caramelizing them

Sautéing them
Browning them

Baking them

If a piece of duck is a confit, it has been cooked in its own:

Fat

Vinegar
Beer

Salt

Croquettes are made of breaded meat and/or vegetables. How are they traditionally cooked?

Fried

Sautéed
Barbecued

Baked

Cured fish has been pickled, smoked or fermented for what reason?

To preserve it

To clean it
To flavor it

To make it healthy

Which of these proteins should you never eat rare or raw?

Chicken

Lamb
Pork

Fish

When should you use a Dutch oven?

For long slow cooking

For baking only
Just for meat

For desserts

Who is more likely to use egg wash?

A pastry chef

A butcher
A sushi chef

A vegan chef

What is it called when you combine two edible liquids, such as oil and vinegar, that would naturally tend to separate on their own?

Emulsify

Mix
Engastration

Heating

When serving most meat or fish, what is it important that you do?

Remove the bones

Tenderize it
Crisp up the skin

Fry it

When you flambé food, you pour alcohol on it while it cooks and then do what to it?

Set it on fire.

Char it.
Turn off the heat.

Salt it.

Fondue is made of what melted food product?

Cheese

Butter
Maple syrup

Ghee

What main purpose do most garnishes serve on a plate?

Decoration

Extra flavor
The main meal

A palate cleanser

Which of these is an everyday example of an infusion, in which the flavors of a plant are extracted into a solvent?

Tea

Grape jelly
Everything bagels

Cheeseburgers

What is it called when you cut vegetables into long, thin strips?

Julienne

Dicing
Mincing

Quartering

Liquid nitrogen is used to do which of these to foods?

Flash-freeze them.

Cook them.
Soften them.

Make them poisonous.

What is it called when you soak food in a flavored liquid for a while before you cook it?

Marinating

Juicing
Pan frying

Caramelizing

According to which classic and influential cooking style are there five fundamental or "mother" sauces?

French

Italian
Russian

American

What is the main difference between pan frying and deep frying?

The amount of oil

The time it takes
The oil used

Nothing

What consistency should a well-executed puree have?

Creamy or liquid

Slippery
Grainy

Very thick

When you reduce a liquid, you increase its flavor and thickness. How would you do this?

Simmer it.

Boil it.
Fry it.

Blend it.

Roux are used to thicken sauces, soups and stews. They are made of a fat source and which other ingredient?

Flour

Eggs
Broccoli

Candy

When you shuck an oyster, what are you doing to it?

Removing the meat from the shell

Chopping it up
Spicing it

Boiling it

What goes on a charcuterie board traditionally?

Cured meat and cheese

Fruit and chocolate
Bread and dips

Cookies and milk

If food is described as having an umami flavor, what does it taste more like?

Savory

Spicy
Sweet

Salty

7 Minute Quiz 7 Min

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