10 Foods That Aren’t From Where You Think
There are plenty of foods that are either named after places or are
assumed to come from certain places. The following is a list of certain
food origins that we’re frequently wrong about.
10German Chocolate Cake
German chocolate cake is delicious, but its name is lying to you; it’s not German at all. It
was
named after a German, though: a man named Sam German. He didn’t invent
the cake itself, but back in 1852, he created a chocolate bar. It was
different from normal chocolate (at the time) because it was
made for cooking, and it came to be called Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate.
The first time the recipe for this cake was published was way back in
the late ’50s. It was advertised in a Dallas newspaper and became
popular almost immediately. The demand for German’s baking chocolate
skyrocketed, and his name became synonymous with the dessert.
9 Baked Alaska
The Baked Alaska dessert was actually invented in New York City, most
likely in 1868—the same year the US purchased Alaska from Russia.
Charles Ranhofer, the chef who named it, called it
Baked Alaska
to cash in on the fame of the recently completed deal. It was
considered a luxury at the time, since making ice cream in the 1860s was
a laborious process and wasn’t yet mechanized.
8 French Dip
The French dip sandwich, perhaps unsurprisingly, isn’t from France.
It was invented at Phillipe’s in Los Angeles, in 1918. The first
sandwich of its kind came about by accident. The restaurant’s namesake,
Phillipe Mathieu, was making a sandwich for a police officer when he
accidentally dropped the roll into hot oil. The officer (supposedly
named French)
bought it anyway. He loved it so much that he returned the next day with his friends and they all ordered their rolls dipped in oil.
Another restaurant in the area, Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet, also
claim the invention of the French dip. In their version, they dipped the
bread in
jus (like
au jus) to make it softer for a customer that was on her way back from a
dentist’s appointment.
7 Coney Dog
The Coney dog may be attributed to Coney Island, but its true origins lie a few states west:
Michigan.
Much like the French dip, the exact origin is unknown, as there are
three different eateries that claim they invented the iconic dog. All
three restaurants are located in Michigan. So there you have it. While
we can’t be sure of the exact origin, we know it’s definitely not from
New York.
6 Curry Powder
The curry powder we know today is nothing like the original spice it
was supposed to mimic. It was heavily influenced by the British, and in
India it isn’t even referred to as curry. They call it masala, and there
are many different varieties. The curry powder we know best is what the
British produced when they tried to replicate the flavors they
encountered in traditional
Indian cooking. True Indian curry powder is custom-made to accompany whatever food is being prepared.
5 Maraschino Cherries
Maraschino cherries may have an Italian-sounding name, but they
actually come from Croatia. Originally, Maraschino was the name of a
liquor made from the Croatian Marasca cherries. Then fresh cherries were
preserved in their own alcohol, and that’s what a Maraschino cherry is
(or was). In the 1800s, they made their way to the US, where Americans
replaced the Marasca cherries with Queen Anne cherries, which grew in
Oregon. In 1912, the USDA formalized the term, and any non-Marasca
cherry had to be labeled as an
imitation product.
The Maraschino cherries you buy at the grocery store today are made
using a different method, one that’s alcohol-free. First they’re brined
in a liquid calcium solution. Then they’re placed in sweetened,
artificially colored syrup.
4 Ketchup
Ketchup may seem like an American invention since it’s a featured
condiment for almost every American food from meatloaf to eggs. However,
ketchup originated from a different type of sauce from
China,
which was made from fish. Five hundred years ago, Chinese sailors were
sailing down the Mekong coast when they found a sauce made from
fermented anchovies. The sauce was popular in Vietnam, and the Chinese
sailors gave it the name “ke-tchup.” This name is in the ancient
language Hokkien, and the last syllable, “tchup,” means “sauce.”
In the 17th century, British traders made their way to the region,
and they ended up discovering ke-tchup. One hundred years later, they
were hooked and ke-tchup became a prized possession.
3 Sauerkraut
“Sauerkraut” means “sour cabbage” in German, so you’d think it was a
German invention. While it goes well with most German food, the original
was Chinese. It came about around 2,000 years ago and was enjoyed by
laborers building the
Great Wall. The only real difference is that the Chinese fermented their cabbage in rice wine. The Germans draw out the water with salt.
It was popular with Chinese workers because it was a good vitamin
source, stored easily and did not spoil, and was a cheap and widely
available food.
2 Bologna
The bologna we eat today is nothing like the food it’s originally
based on. Bologna is supposedly named after the city in Italy, but the
meat it is most similar to is mortadella.
Mortadella
is actually from Italy but only slightly resembles bologna. It’s often
eaten by itself or as part of an appetizer platter with cheese, bread,
or sliced peppers and tomatoes. bologna is a sliced, processed meat and
is most often used in sandwiches.
Mortadella is of much higher quality and uses only the finest pork
meat. It is liberally sprinkled with cubes of pure pork fat and minced,
mixing everything together. The original stuff from Bologna will be
marked as such and will have added pistachios and black pepper.
1 Tempura
While we may attribute tempura cooking to the Japanese, it was
actually a Portuguese innovation. Evidence lies in old Moorish cookbooks
from the 13th century that feature tempura recipes. The word “tempura”
is actually thought to have derived from the Portuguese word “temporas”
which means “
Lent.”
This makes sense, as the Catholic population would eat fish on Fridays
and eventually decided to fry it—possibly because everything tastes
better when it’s fried.
Portuguese sailors (including traders and missionaries) spread it
throughout the world, and it took hold in Japan in the 16th century. It
spread to England as well, and is now part of their world-famous fish
and chips.
To get the maximum juice out of a lemon or a lime, roll it hard on the
kitchen counter using your palm. This releases more of the juice.
Before frying a fillet of fish, let it rest on a kitchen towel for a
few minutes on each side. The excess water will get absorbed and this
will enhance the flavour of panfried or sautéed fish.
It better to wipe or brush mushrooms clean of any dirt. They absorb
water easily, and washing them under a running tap or leaving them
soaked will make them taste watery.
When making a tomato based pasta sauce, add a little grated or ground
carrot. It adds a small element of sweetness and reduced the acidic,
sourness of tomatoes.
Avoid using tamarind, lime or other souring agents in green leafy
preparations. Acid reduces the nutritional properties of greens.
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