2005
“USE YOUR NOODLE”
Pasta Trivia
A Pasta Party for the Radio
North Dakota produces two-thirds of the nation’s durum wheat – and that makes lotsa pasta! So
it couldn’t be more appropriate that North Dakotans join in the fun of celebrating National Pasta
Month in October, Pasta Lovers’ Week in North Dakota on October 23-29, and World Pasta Day
on October 25. By participating in this “Pasta Party on the Radio,” we’ll find out how much your
listeners know about the pasta in their pantry!
Your callers can compete for fabulous prize packages including a "Pasta LaVista" t-shirt
provided by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and pasta from Dakota Growers Pasta
Company of Carrington.
The following pages are stuffed as tight as cannelloni with facts and numbers in the form of 54
trivia questions in 5 fun categories. This feast for the mind includes:
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Pasta Around the World
Pasta-Tistics
Pasta Records
Pasta Nutrition
Let's Make a Meal
Alert your listeners to the question ahead of time or let the lucky caller select their own category
of expertise. Award prizes to the first caller, the seventh, or you pick the number. Convert
questions into fact or fiction, higher or lower, or open-ended formats if you'd prefer. Post the
results on your web site. The pastabilities are endless!
Compiled by the North Dakota Wheat Commission.
Prizes sponsored by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and Dakota Growers Pasta Company.
PASTA AROUND THE WORLD
Good news travels fast, and the person who first tasted pasta spread the word to people all
around the world. Pasta has traveled through time and history, gathering new shapes and
designs, and being cooked into many new dishes. Today pasta is truly a universal food, bridging
age and cultural boundaries on every continent as it is eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and
dessert. Join in celebrating World Pasta Day on October 25.
1. Which of the following countries was
not among the top 10 export destinations for
U.S. durum wheat in the 2004-05 marketing
year?
a) Algeria (1st - 10.3 million bushels)
b) Nigeria (4th - 1.5 million bushels)
c) Cuba (8th - 600,000 bushels)
d) Canada (our chief competitor of
global durum sales)
2. The third World Pasta Congress is
being held Oct. 23 to 26 in Barcelona,
Spain. Which of the following countries was
not host to either the first or second World
Pasta Congress?
a) Italy
b) Australia
c) Venezuela
3. Place the following countries in the
correct order in terms of per capita pasta
consumption: Tunisia, Greece, Italy, and
Venezuela.
1) Italy (1st - 62 pounds)
2) Venezuela (2nd- 28 pounds)
3) Tunisia (3rd- 26 pounds
4) Greece (6th - 19 pounds)
Source: Business Trends Analysts U.S. Pasta Market
Report, 2002
4. What people are on record as making
pasta as early as 3,000 B.C.?
a) Greeks
b) Romans
c) Chinese
5. What staple dish eaten in North
Africa is made from semolina milled from
durum wheat?
a) Couscous (pronounced (Kooskoos)
b) Bulgur
c) Taboule
d) Farina
6. What world traveler is rumored in
myth to have brought pasta to Europe after
visiting the Orient in the 14th Century?
a) Columbus
b) Marco Polo
c) The Pope
7. What share of the world's durum
wheat supply does the United States
typically produce?
a) 7 percent
b) 12 percent (Canada)
c) 25 percent (European Union)
8. Greeks called pasta "marcus" which
means "divine food" because they believed?
a) Pasta should be eaten only during
church services
b) You should kneel while eating pasta
c) Pasta is a gift from the gods
9. What pasta shape is named to honor
the conquest of a city?
a) Ditalini
b) Tortellini
c) Tripolini (little bows, named to
honor the Italian conquest of
Tripoli in Libya)
Compiled by the North Dakota Wheat Commission.
Prizes sponsored by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and Dakota Growers Pasta Company.
PASTA-TISTICS
1. According to a poll conducted by the
SWG research firm in Italy, what share of
Italians, both male and female, ranked pasta as
the main pleasure in life?
a) 33%
b) 25%
c) 10%
Note: Pasta ranked first over travel (27%), sex
(21%), reading (14%), and wine (4%).
7. In 2005, it's estimated that North Dakota
farmers will harvest 68.3 million bushels of
durum wheat, which is enough to make
approximately how many pounds of pasta for
each North Dakota resident?
a) 1,500 pounds
b) 3,000 pounds
c) 4,500 pounds
2. Based on a five-year average, North
Dakota grows what share of the nation's durum
wheat crop?
a) one-fourth
b) one-half
c) two-thirds
8. North Dakota's five pasta companies
annually produce about 600 million pounds of
pasta, which is enough for about how many
pounds for each of the state's residents per
year?
a) 127 pounds
b) 782 pounds
c) 946 pounds
3. According to a 2004 survey conducted
by Harris Interactive for Barilla Pasta, what
percentage of Americans make the common
error of rinsing pasta after cooking, a mistake
when serving warm because it washes away
natural starches that allow sauces to adhere to
pasta.
a) 35 percent
b) 51 percent
c) 76 percent
4. According to a 2004 survey conducted
by Harris Interactive for Barilla Pasta, what
percentage of U.S. adults cook pasta?
a) 44 percent
b) 51 percent
c) 88 percent
5. According to a 2004 survey conducted
by Harris Interactive for Barilla Pasta, what
percentage of U.S. adults cook pasta at least
once a week?
a) 35 percent
b) 51 percent
c) 88 percent
9. Approximately how much money does
the North Dakota farmer receive for the durum
used to make a pound of pasta?
a) about 8 cents
b) about 15 cents
c) about 25 cents
10. Since 1990, average durum yields in
North Dakota have increased by what percent?
a) 2 percent
b) 10 percent
c) 18 percent
11. According to the Centers for Disease
Control, since the U.S. government began in
1998 mandating fortification of enriched grain
foods like traditional pasta, cereals and white
bread, birth defects have decreased by what
percentage?
a) 10 percent
b) 15 percent
c) 23 percent
6. How many pounds of traditional pasta
can be made from a bushel of durum wheat?
a) 15 pounds
b) 25 pounds
c) 42 pounds
Compiled by the North Dakota Wheat Commission.
Prizes sponsored by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and Dakota Growers Pasta Company.
PASTA RECORDS
1. Mama mia! In 2002, Nintendo
announced the release of a new Super
Mario game starring legendary Italian
plumber and video game character Mario by
breaking the previous record for the World's
Largest Bowl of Pasta? How much did the
Nintendo bowl of spaghetti weigh?
a) 1/2 ton
b) 1 ton
c) more than 1.5 tons ( 3,265
pounds)
Note: The bowl was 3 feet high and 10 feet
wide. Six fans dressed as Mario dove into
the spaghetti for prizes.
2. Runners carbo-loading before the
big race will be interested in this "pastatistic." On Valentine's Day in 2004, the
Keeler Show, a television program, made
the world's largest bowl of pasta at a mall in
Hartford, N.Y. How much did it weigh?
a) 2 tons
b) 3 tons
c) more than 3.5 tons (7,355 pounds)
3. According to the Guinness Book of
World Records little book of "The Best
Gross World Records," a man from New
Mexico holds the record for shooting a
strand of spaghetti from his nose for what
distance?
a) 19 centimeters (7.5 inches)
b) 30 centimeters
c) 41 centimeters
4. The largest durum crop ever
harvested in North Dakota was produced in
what year?
a) 1981 (127 million bushels)
b) 1990 (103 million bushels)
c) 2003 (58 million bushels)
5. The largest statewide average
durum yield was achieved in North Dakota
in what year?
a) 1985 (35 bushels per acre)
b) 1992 (38 bushels per acre)
c) 2003 (30 bushels per acre)
6. What is the record year for the
largest number of acres ever planted to
durum in North Dakota?
a) 1976 (3.7 million acres)
b) 1981 (4.5 million acres)
c) 1999 (3.5 million acres)
7. In what marketing year was U.S.
usage of durum wheat at its highest?
a) 1960-61 (26 million bushels)
b) 1997-98 (96 million bushels)
c) 1998-99 (101 million bushels)
8. What was the record amount of U.S.
durum exported to Italy in the 2001-02
marketing year?
a) 5 million bushels
b) 10 million bushels
c) 25 million bushels
Compiled by the North Dakota Wheat Commission.
Prizes sponsored by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and Dakota Growers Pasta Company.
PASTA NUTRITION
1. Whole wheat pasta contains about 3
times more what than traditional pasta?
a) Calories
b) Carbohydrates
c) Fiber
7. How many ounces of grains should
the average American adult eat per day?
a) 2 to 3 ounces
b) 4 to 5 ounces
c) 6 to 8 ounces
2. As compared to whole wheat pasta,
traditional pasta (made with enriched
semolina milled from durum wheat) contains
more of what B-vitamin that helps prevent
birth defects?
a) Thiamin
b) Folic acid (or folate)
c) Niacin
8. According to the Dietary Guidelines
for Americans, a 1-ounce serving of cooked
pasta is about how much (depending upon
shape)?
a) 1/2 cup
b) 1 cup
c) 2 cups
3. To be considered whole grain, a
pasta product must contain all three parts of
a wheat kernel. Name these three parts.
a) Roots, stems and leaves
b) Chaff, hull and straw
c) Bran, germ and endosperm
4. Traditional pasta is made with
semolina milled from what part of the durum
wheat kernel?
a) Bran
b) Germ
c) Endosperm
5. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans recommend that what share of
our daily grain food servings be whole
grain?
a) One-fourth
b) One-third
c) One-half (at least 3 ounces)
6. What food group makes up the
largest share of the MyPyramid Food
Guidance System released by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in April?
a) Vegetables
b) Grains
c) Meats
d) Milk
9. Two ounces of dry pasta, or about 1
cup cooked, contains what share of the
recommended daily intake of folic acid?
a) 5 percent
b) 10 percent
c) 25 percent
10. Pasta is a source of folic acid.
Research shows beyond preventing neural
tube birth defects, potential benefits of folic
acid include all but which of the following?
a) Preventing heart disease
b) Preventing certain types of cancer
c) Helping to improve memory
d) Helping to lubricate joints
11. Research shows whole-grain foods
are associated with all but what?
a) Lower rates of heart disease
b) Lower rates of diabetes
c) Lower rates of chicken pox
d) Lower rates of certain types of
cancers
e) Weight control
12. What will make people fat?
a) Eating carbohydrates, such as pasta
b) Consistently overeating calories
— whether from carbohydrates,
fat or protein
c) Drinking too much water
Compiled by the North Dakota Wheat Commission.
Prizes sponsored by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and Dakota Growers Pasta Company.
LET'S MAKE A MEAL
1. What pasta sauce features olives as a
key ingredient?
a) Alfredo
b) Primavera
c) Puttanesca
2. A nest of folded angel hair pasta, such
as that made at La Rinascente Pasta in Hope,
N.D., is known as what?
a) A fideo (fe-DAY-oh)
b) A casserole
c) Ramen noodles
3. Which of the following is a pasta sauce
or dish made with vegetables?
a) Pesto
b) Primavera
c) Marinara
4. Which of the following can be added to
the water for boiling pasta?
a) Salt
b) Eggs
c) Wine
5. Which of the following is a pasta sauce
made with olive oil, fresh basil and garlic
a) Marsala
b) Alfredo
c) Pesto
6. What do noodles contain that most other
pasta shapes do not?
a) Semolina
b) Egg
c) Water
7. A cream-based pasta sauce with bacon
is called what?
a) Carbonara
b) Arrabbiata (spicy sauce)
c) Marinara
8. What name is given to pasta dishes
containing spinach?
a) Pesto
b) Primavera
c) Florentine
9. What name is given to pasta marinara,
or tomato-based sauces, containing meat?
a) Primavera
b) Bolognese
c) Anti-pasto
10. Which of the following is a small cupshaped pasta with hollows for holding sauce?
a) Manicotti
b) Orecchiette
c) Zita
11. What N.D. pasta company makes filled
pastas like ravioli and tortellini?
a) Dakota Growers Pasta Co.
b) Noodles by Leonardo
c) Golden Plains Frozen Food
12. Dreamfields is among the brands made
by which North Dakota pasta manufacturer?
a) Dakota Growers Pasta Co.
b) Noodles by Leonardo
c) Conte Luna Foods
13.
pasta?
a)
b)
c)
Which of the following is a tube-shaped
Fettucine
Penne (pronounced PEN-nay)
Rotini
14. What are the Italian words describing
how pasta should be cooked, tender yet still firm
to the bite?
a) Al dente (ahl DEN-tay)
b) All mushy
c) Al ditalini
Compiled by the North Dakota Wheat Commission.
Prizes sponsored by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and Dakota Growers Pasta Company.