Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A cheese named after a town, not a country

Edam is a mild, semi-hard cheese that originated in the town of Edam in North Holland and is traditionally coated in red wax, though it is also sold with a yellow or black coating. Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese, and Gorgonzola is a veined Italian blue cheese, so both belong to a different culinary tradition entirely. Dutch cheeses like Edam and Gouda are named after the towns where they were traded, which is why the names sound like places rather than recipes.

The many capitals of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has two cities that function as capitals. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, often shortened to Kotte, is the official legislative capital, while Colombo remains the commercial capital and the country's largest city. This split is a common source of confusion in quizzes, since Colombo is the name most travellers and news reports mention first.

Valentina Tereshkova and the first flight by a woman

Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first woman in space when she orbited the Earth aboard Vostok 6 in 1963. Before joining the space programme she had worked in a textile factory and was an amateur skydiver, which helped her qualify for the cosmonaut corps. Sally Ride later became the first American woman in space in 1983, and Anna Fisher was among the first female astronauts selected by NASA.

A dish that varies from kitchen to kitchen

Biryani is a spiced rice dish popular across South Asia, with regional versions in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and beyond. Recipes differ widely, but the dish typically layers or combines rice with meat, vegetables, yogurt and a blend of spices such as saffron, cardamom and cloves. Arepas belong to Venezuelan and Colombian cooking, while empanadas are found across Latin America and parts of Europe.