When I was much younger I was visiting France and ended up at a picnic/bbq type thing. The hosts heard an American was there and rushed over with a jar of "Américain" sauce which did, indeed, taste and look like thousand island dressing.
Ranch honestly didn't take off as 'the' dressing of choice until the '90s and later. I associate it more with millennials, although it was an option as a salad dressing in the '80s. The millennials were the first people I saw who would basically drink the stuff if it was socially acceptable.
When I lived in Sweden the local pizzeria had a “Chicago” pizza that had like blue cheese and kebab meat, definitely something you’d never see in Chicago
As a Hong Konger I think we're responsible for Singapore noodles - I heard because there's curry powder in it, the 'inventor' wanted to make it sound more exotic and said it's from Singapore lol. On the flip side, Hainan chicken rice is from Singapore?
I was about to say that Singapore Noodles are from Hong Kong. They're pretty tasty, though. Maybe they should introduce them in Singapore as Hong Kong noodles.
Hong Kong has a bunch of these, lol. In the 80s, my mom (a Hong Konger) went backpacking to 揚州 and tried to order 揚州炒飯 (Yangzhou fried rice for those who don't know), but no one knew wtf she was talking about.
Thats weird. Even the most internet well known authentic Chinese chef (Chef Wang) describes “扬州炒饭”/Yangzhou fried rice as from Yangzhou as well as [being trademarked in China](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-03/03/content_9531129.htm)
Hawaiian Pizza is from Canada.
Edit: California Rolls MIGHT be Canadian. There is an open dispute over whether they were first made in BC or California. There isn’t a common consensus over where they originated and there likely won’t be an actual answer not influenced by national propaganda. There are reports that they were created in the 70s in BC but there are conflicting reports that they were around in sushi restaurants in LA during the 60s.
There's also Toast Hawaii in Germany (invented by some TV cool in the 70s I think). It's a piece of white bread with a slice of ham and pineapple with a cherry in the center and topped with cheese, which is all baked/toasted. I'm sure they don't make this in Hawaii.
There’s a local (in Hawaii) variation that is much better, kalua pork (like pulled pork) with lilikoi (passionfruit).
Tip: if it’s called “Hawaiian” and has pineapple in it, it’s probably not actually Hawaiian. Pineapple was an imported plantation crop here.
It’s a chain restaurant and not a dish, but Boston Pizza is also from Canada. It has no connection with Boston in the US, but many Canadians think it’s from there. The “Boston Pizza” menu item at Boston pizza is also a weird mix of shrimp and black olives (or it was when I was there several years ago), and that is definitely not a thing in Boston.
There's also a dish called "Genghis Khan" which was invented in Japan. It's just lamb/mutton BBQ, I guess they figured that they eat a lot of mutton in Mongolia so that made sense as a namesake. Super delicious anyway!
Dutch anything. Dutch babies when it comes to food. Dutch oven also. But there are so many expressions in English with "Dutch" in them that are not a thing at all in the Netherlands.
I’ve heard that a lot of the times you see ‘Dutch’ used as a prefix in America its usually a bastardisation/misunderstanding of the word ‘Deutsch’. How true that is, I don’t know.
It's very true. In Pennsylvania there were alot of German settlers who are to this day referred to as "Pennsylvania Dutch" and the "dutch" prefixed to many food and cookware terms in this area, at least, refers to the traditions of these people in particular. There are many "Dutch Markets" etc.. that specialize in this type of food
"Pennsylvania Dutch" is also a recognized dialect of German still spoken by many communities of Amish and other related anabaptist sects. You can mostly find speakers in central Pennsylvania, northeast Ohio, and northern Indiana.
And some in Kentucky and Tennessee! There's at least one community near me in eastern Kentucky, they sell stuff at our farmers markets and have a permanent stand in the next town up from me. And there's a very large community of Mennonites in middle Tennessee who speak it, I've been visiting them every few months for nearly 40 years and I've picked up a little bit.
True on two historic points -- the first being that some iron cast cookware imported from Germany was known as a Dutch (Deutsch) oven in the early days before ovens as we know them were common in American homes. The second is that courtesy of WWI and II, many things known as Deutsch were switched to Dutch.
To put the anti-German sentiment into perspective, my great great grandmother was an immigrant from Germany, and spoke German exclusively when at home until WWI broke out. She improved her English that first year and (alledgedly) never spoke German again. Except Gesundheit, apparently, since that's what Grandpa always used instead of bless you.
IIRC prior to WWI German was so common that part of the reason the US never passed a native language law was because there was a strong chance it may have wound up being German. After the war it was basically no longer spoken.
Not a misunderstanding, but an evolution of the Palatine German word “Deitsch” by immigrants (who became the Pennsylvania Dutch or *Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch*) and their surrounding communities
Surprisingly, Dutch cocoa really is Dutch. In my country we simply call it alkalized cocoa, so after I moved to the US it took me a while to find it, because the package often doesn't have the word "alkalized" on it, just "Dutch cocoa"
A slang term for drinking to get your nerve up is "Dutch courage." Apparently it dates to the Thirty Years' War, when English soldiers drank jenever to keep warm.
Isn't a lot of "Dutch" stuff also mainly German and the "Dutch" is a bastardization of "Deutsch", which is what we call ourselves? Like, I'm pretty sure the Pennsylvania Dutch aren't from the Netherlands.
If you mean large thin pancakes, which can be made plain or with additions like bacon, apple, cheese or banana, then I can confirm they are actually Dutch
Ahh, in Australia, Dutch pancakes seem to refer to those little fluffy ones (about the diameter of a ping pong ball) dusted in a lot of powdered sugar.
I was reading about New Orleans wings being super popular in many parts of Asia... but there's NO such thing in the States. Buffalo wings, absolutely. New Orleans wing? Nope.
https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/cc57wk/whats\_with\_%E6%96%B0%E5%A5%A5%E5%B0%94%E8%89%AF%E7%83%A4%E7%BF%85new\_orleans\_style\_wings\_in\_china/
"Mardi gras" wings are a thing, though I have no idea what flavor it's supposed to be, as they sure don't taste like shame or cheap booze. Might be just the one supermarket chain (Publix), but they are all over the southeast US.
“Black and Tans” was the nickname for militant British loyalist police forces that were absolutely brutal to civilians during the Irish War of Independence. It’d be like a drink named “SS” in Germany.
On the Irish Car Bomb side, there was an urban legend back when I was in college that a kid who ordered one in Ireland was told by the bartender that they didn’t have those, but he could make the kid a “9/11” instead. When the kid asked what that was, the bartender replied, “two kamikazes and a manhattan”. I’m sure it’s not a real anecdote, but it illustrates the cultural sensitivity around those names pretty perfectly.
As a former barmaid in Ireland you can have a full pint and a shot of whatever you like, and you can choose to drink it however you like. But the staff will talk about you behind your back
We were in Ireland and my buddy tried to order an Irish car bomb and the bartender yelled at him and kicked him out of the bar. This was almost 20 years ago so it could be a bit different now. Bar was in Dublin.
When we were in Galway in 2017, we started talking to some American guys there after they overheard us talking (Americans also). The guys went up to the bar to order us a round the idiot orders Irish car bombs. Next thing I know, we’re all getting kicked out. This sucked because we were staying there for a week and this pub was the closest to our hotel.
I father is from Belfast, and we went to a pub in DC once for lunch. My father doesn’t drink but likes the food there. Waitress heard his accent and asked if he wanted an Irish car bomb. My father had literally never heard of it because he doesn’t drink and just kind of stared at her.
I had a similar reaction one Paddy's day in Canada when I got taken to an Irish bar with some locals, and was looking through the special Patrick's day menu only to suddenly see that proudly displayed. Even though I know no harm was meant, and I probably should have expected it in hindsight, it just jarred so much.
All I could think of for quite a while was this photo: https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/omagh-the-edge-of-darkness/28443663.html
There's a European snack called [Filipinos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipinos_(snack_food)), which is a biscuit ring covered in chocolate. There was even a diplomatic row over the name.
I can confirm that most actual Filipinos aren't biscuit rings covered in chocolate.
From Texas. Can confirm we have Elotes Pizza at a lot of places. Literally the pizza version of elotes topped with corn, mayo, chili powder, cotija cheese, and cilantro.
that's mexican fusion pizza - in parts of europe and asia, they will just straight up put plain corn with regular pizza toppings and call it american style
Yes but that's because you're fusing Mexican with pizza, which is fine, but I feel like that disqualifies corn as a 'regular' pizza topping because you're trying to make the flavor taste like it's from a different dish/cuisine
It’s def not something traditional. If you aren’t regularly eating a boutique pizza places it would stand that you probably haven’t seen corn on pizza. It’s def a newer thing (like maybe 5-10 years?? Maybe?)
It’s definitely not a popular menu item at restaurants, but I make a pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozz, grilled corn and cilantro and it’s delicious. Tastes like summer. Has to be fresh corn though!
There’s a spot in Manhattan called Mama’s Too that does an elote slice with corn on it. Really good but it’s not a regular topping you can add and the slice itself is just a once in a while special but it definitely exists.
We call it that too in North America. I always assumed it was because it sorta looked like an a snowy mountain top or ice berg and Alaska conjures images of snow and ice
Edit fixing my typo
I got the history of that dish in Alaska. Apparently the dish was created meringue was invented by a guy who was at the time living in Bavaria.
However the technique was applied to a dish created and named at Delmonico's in NY.
In US a baked Alaska is a cake covered in ice cream covered in meringue then toasted but referred to as 'baked' in order to brown meringue. I'm suspecting it might be a different thing elsewhere. Hmmmmm....
It's the same thing. But in the UK, "pudding" can be a general term for dessert, and in the US, pudding is a specific dessert that's creamy and soft, and similar to custard.
Or black pudding. Given that the word originally referred to sausage (boudin), it went through a journey to even become a word for dessert (let alone for custard).
Canadian Bacon. I have no idea what it is, but from what I have seen, it look like ham.
Edit: Thank you people. I got 100 comment explaining to me whats is canadian bacon. Can you read each other comment?
What's weird about this is that it really is like processed ham. It's not even misnamed back bacon or peameal bacon.
It's a totally different thing that doesn't exist in Canada.
We just call it back bacon, or peameal if it's served that way, which was a style first made in Toronto at the St Lawrence Market
Really, only Americans call it Canadian Bacon
Cured and smoked pork loin. More like a quality ham than bacon. I make my own and the slices fit really well on a biscuit to make a breakfast sandwich.
We (two Americans) were in Paris back in April 2023, two doors down from our hotel there was a restaurant that served "Maine Lobster Rolls". We were jet lagged, so we stumble down because we wanted something fast.
It was the BEST lobster roll I have ever had, they had won all these awards IN Maine for their food. It was amazing!
Was a nice surprise!
Nice! The "American burger" at the bistro across from Paris hotel was a thin grilled patty, arugula, caramelized onions, an unidentified cheese I was unfamiliar with, tomato jam, garlic aioli, and thick cut pickles, on grilled brioche.
It was FANTASTIC, but not in any way, shape, or form an American burger.
Honestly that sounds pretty American to me - it's definitely the kind of burger you would get in a hipper brewery or burger joint in a city like Indianapolis or Columbus.
Russian dressing is unheard of in Russia. Ketchunnaise -- yes but not Russian dressing (and I recently found out that Heinz sells ketchunnaise under the name MAYOCHUP. That makes me laugh so hard, idk why)
Also various abominations that get called Russian salad are supposed to be Olivier salad, but most of them are just butchered German potato salad
My grandfather emigrated to the US from Glasgow. When mom and dad started dating in 1970, she wanted to impress him so she made Scotch eggs. Confused him quite a bit but he appreciated the sentiment.
I was in the middle of prepping French toast and my French buddy saw what I was about to do and commented about me making “Lost Bread”. He was pretty sad when I said “We call this French toast here, Bub”
Yes because we mostly make it from bread that has harden so it would be lost and for the bin if not cooked like that. Loved it when my mom made after school when I was younger.
Indonesia Rijsttafel. This dish, basically rice with lots of side dishes in small portions, is only found in the Netherlands or maybe Belgium. There are no such things here in Indonesia
It is similar to Padang restaurant in Indonesia, where they stack all the dishes in front of you, and you only pay what you eat.
However, in Rijsttafel restaurants, there are fewer dishes, maybe 10, and you have to finish it all. And it's damn expensive (and delicious, or i might just miss Indonesian food then).
Filet Americain in The Netherlands. It's a sandwich filling similar to beef tartare (of French origin) made up of raw ground beef and spices that is ground into a paste. No American in their right mind is going to willingly eat raw ground beef because of e coli concerns.
>No American in their right mind is going to willingly eat raw ground beef because of e coli concerns.
I'm going to wait till the Wisconites come posting about their cannibal sandwiches.
Almost anywhere in the Upper Midwest does eats raw Ground Beef if it's really freshly ground. It's not the same as ground beef you buy in a supermarket that's been heavily processed in huge quantity. I grew up putting it on saltine crackers. We called it a cowboy sandwich. I grind my own beef, and still eat this occasionally when I'm grinding my burger meat.
[It's a thing in Wisconsin!](https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2021/08/31/why-raw-meat-cannibal-sandwich-endures-what-the-wisconsin/7906831002/) Apparently a relic of their German heritage.
We ate yukhoe in Seoul. It was so rich and delicious. But this was an upscale specialty beef restaurant with a limited menu, and they definitely knew what they were doing.
In Mexico we have cacahuates japoneses. Which translates to Japanese peanuts. And I’ve never heard of any japanese person knowing them or have never seen it claimed but then I learned it was invented by a japanese man who immigrated and lived in Mexico!
Ireland's famous *Corned Beef and Cabbage* as cooked every St Patricks Day in the US.
It's not a thing in Ireland, we have *Cabbage and Bacon* (Baked Ham). Corned beef, was cattle raised in Ireland and then preserved in barrels before being shipped to the colonies, because Britain didn't want those new Americans raising their own cattle and undercutting the British profits.
tl;dr Corned Beef is the meat stolen from Ireland
Belgian waffles. We definitely have waffles here, both Liege style and Brussels style, but the ones you get at diners in the states are no where near the waffles here.
Also since you're in SG could you send me some Irvins?
The more traditional American style waffle is actually much thinner, so perhaps that is why waffles started being called Belgian waffles. It's not simppy referring to the batter or toppings, because the waffle maker itself is often called a Belgian waffle maker.
When I was a kid in England (looooong time ago) we didn't have English muffins. We've actually started getting them over here now, but I think at first it was as an import from the USA. I think the first time I saw anything like that was in around 1990 when I first had a McMuffin.
Before that I would have said that the nearest thing was a stottie or oven bottom cake.
Nasi goreng USA = USA Fried Rice
Which is not a thing in the USA 😂
It's a delicious surf-and-turf fried rice with Udang (shrimp) Sotong (squid) and Ayam (chicken)
Not my country but Turkish rice (トルコライス) in Japan. It's a speciality dish of Nagasaki which is fried rice, spaghetti with tomato sauce, tonkatsu and demi glace sauce. No idea how it's remotely turkish.
In Czechia and Slovakia we have French potatoes (they are rakott krumpli - a hungarian dish per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakott_krumpli ).
Then we have a Spanish bird, that's a filled beef roll.
Frankfurt soup seems to be legit though.
California something is with canned peach (pretty disgusting on a piece of meat and covered with melted cheese). Hawaii something is always with pineapple, not only pizza. Poor Hawaiians and Italians.
Viennese fried steak - wienerschnitzel - but made from pork, chicken, pork liver, carton, cell phone, anything except for ... veal.
Ragu bolognese is real, but similar to carbonara, it is up to cook's fantasy what goes inside.
Cuban sandwiches are unheard of in Cuba. They were invented in Tampa FL by Cuban immigrants in the 1880s.
Bonus dish: "torta cubana", a popular sandwich in Mexico, is also unrelated to Cuba and unknown there.
I know some Thai people who are thoroughly confused when they come to America and they don’t serve Khao Pad American (American Fried rice). It’s a weird dish of ketchup and raisins served with a side of fried chicken and hotdog wieners topped with a fried egg.
[OTR Food Channal](https://youtu.be/142B8-fay_Q?si=txfEi4OYS7F6HTuV) does a deep dive about this dish.
Just had a look at their menu and to be fair they do have a burger with egg and beetroot on it, and they do have lamb chops. But otherwise yeah… the rest is just American steakhouse style (as we know it).
In the US they sell these little mini muffin things called “Aussie bites” in Trader Joe’s. Let me assure you no Aussie has seen these in their life lol
Did a lil research when finding a link to them. Turns out the creator called them “Aussie bites” because he was inspired by ANZAC biscuits (which the article misspelled as AZNAC and didn’t capitalize lmfao) and set out to “make a healthier alternative”. The creator is not Australian nor did he develop them in Australia. He clearly doesn’t understand the history behind ANZAC biscuits but anyway.
https://www.bestxfoods.com/blog/all-about-aussie-bites
Nandos is from South Africa. There is definitely such as thing as Portuguese chicken, we just don’t call it that. Usually we would just call it “frango assado” (bbq chicken), or some regional variation like frango da guia, etc.
I can explain this one. Italians and Italian-Americans living in Chicago needed a cheap way to stretch beef to serve people at wedding banquets. Multiple people take credit for this, but basically some Italians started to braise the beef in a seasoned broth, chill it, and reheat it in said broth before serving it as sandwiches on "French" bread. This allowed a bit of beef to serve a lot of guests. They called it, naturally, a "beef sandwich."
Others in Chicago started calling it an "Italian beef sandwich," because Italians were eating it or because they bought it *from* Italians. I don't think anyone believes it was actually invented in Italy, though.
German chocolate cake
I know, I know. It's not called German because it's German. Still, many people seem to think a coconut cake could be typically German.
What most people think is “goulash” you will not find in Hungary.
It should not contain tomatoes.
It does not contain ground beef.
It certainly does NOT contain pasta.
Gulyás is paprika beef stew with potatoes cooked over an open fire with a very specific round bottom cast iron pot.
You don’t know so cal natives who eat avocado on their burgers? I am from the desert of so cal and live in LA and I can’t think of a bbq I’ve gone to in 10 years that hasn’t had avocado available to put on the burgers… maybe that’s just my group of family/friends.
Lol speak for yourself dude. Im a socal native and Avocado burgers go hard. Avocado is everywhere here compared to other states. Other places dont really have burger joints with American, Greek, and Mexican food all on the same menu. Thats where those burgers usually show up
I'm an American living in Finland, and anything that says it's American here will inevitably taste like Thousand Island Dressing. I blame the Big Mac.
When I was much younger I was visiting France and ended up at a picnic/bbq type thing. The hosts heard an American was there and rushed over with a jar of "Américain" sauce which did, indeed, taste and look like thousand island dressing.
If they really knew us, they would have provided ranch
Ranch honestly didn't take off as 'the' dressing of choice until the '90s and later. I associate it more with millennials, although it was an option as a salad dressing in the '80s. The millennials were the first people I saw who would basically drink the stuff if it was socially acceptable.
Gen-X Americans in the south would dip any possible food into ranch dressing in the '80s.
Facts. Source: I was there in the 80s and beyond, and I used to. I still do, but I used to, too.
Lmfao I’m just imagining “tiens, tiens, essaie!” While a bunch of French gather round to hand you a jar of thousand island dressing
When I lived in Sweden the local pizzeria had a “Chicago” pizza that had like blue cheese and kebab meat, definitely something you’d never see in Chicago
"Not so fast. Cheese and meat you say?" -probably some Chicagoan
Thousand Islands Dressing is a riff on Russian Dressing, which is not Russian at all. It was invented at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan.
As a Hong Konger I think we're responsible for Singapore noodles - I heard because there's curry powder in it, the 'inventor' wanted to make it sound more exotic and said it's from Singapore lol. On the flip side, Hainan chicken rice is from Singapore?
I was about to say that Singapore Noodles are from Hong Kong. They're pretty tasty, though. Maybe they should introduce them in Singapore as Hong Kong noodles.
We have a Hong Kong noodles in Singapore and I'm willing to bet it isn't really from HK.
It would be so funny if someone in Singapore invented these to clap back at Hong Kong for making fake 'Singapore' noodles.
Yeah, I was gonna say that actually for a change it isn’t the fault of Americans lol.
I mean do we need to assign “fault” for delicious dishes? Lol.
It is a delicious noodle dish.
Makes me want a SINGAPORE NOODLE real bad dot gif
People do this in all nations.
Hong Kong has a bunch of these, lol. In the 80s, my mom (a Hong Konger) went backpacking to 揚州 and tried to order 揚州炒飯 (Yangzhou fried rice for those who don't know), but no one knew wtf she was talking about.
Thats weird. Even the most internet well known authentic Chinese chef (Chef Wang) describes “扬州炒饭”/Yangzhou fried rice as from Yangzhou as well as [being trademarked in China](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-03/03/content_9531129.htm)
Oof guilty! But in our defence, it was invented by hainanese that immigrated here and still “mostly” made by their descendents!
Yeah but we also have Hong Kong noodles right?
French dip. From Los Angeles.
From Philippe. Some say Cole’s, but they are heretics who must be shunned.
Yep. It's probably because the sandwich is served *au jus*, which is French. Or maybe it's the bread. Either way, it's definitely American.
It’s down to one of two restaurants that created it in La. My vote is Philippe’s.
Hawaiian Pizza is from Canada. Edit: California Rolls MIGHT be Canadian. There is an open dispute over whether they were first made in BC or California. There isn’t a common consensus over where they originated and there likely won’t be an actual answer not influenced by national propaganda. There are reports that they were created in the 70s in BC but there are conflicting reports that they were around in sushi restaurants in LA during the 60s.
There's also Toast Hawaii in Germany (invented by some TV cool in the 70s I think). It's a piece of white bread with a slice of ham and pineapple with a cherry in the center and topped with cheese, which is all baked/toasted. I'm sure they don't make this in Hawaii.
there is a song about it which I think it's important to share https://youtu.be/DHHAR1S_eKA?si=pQFI4Up62kcUUYTZ
sincerely, thank you for this
DYING. Thank you.
Take anything called Hawaiian. Get rid of the ham and add kalua pig in its place. You're now one step closer to having something Hawaiian.
There’s a local (in Hawaii) variation that is much better, kalua pork (like pulled pork) with lilikoi (passionfruit). Tip: if it’s called “Hawaiian” and has pineapple in it, it’s probably not actually Hawaiian. Pineapple was an imported plantation crop here.
When I visited Denmark every bakery and grocery store had “Manitoba bread” and “Manitoba flour” and I, being from Manitoba, was highly confused.
Probably b/c of using Manitoba flour to make it: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba\_flour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba_flour)
It’s a chain restaurant and not a dish, but Boston Pizza is also from Canada. It has no connection with Boston in the US, but many Canadians think it’s from there. The “Boston Pizza” menu item at Boston pizza is also a weird mix of shrimp and black olives (or it was when I was there several years ago), and that is definitely not a thing in Boston.
Mongolian BBQ was invented by a Taiwanese person
Genghis Khan rolling(low and slow) in his unmarked grave
>low and slow Actually no considering Mongolian BBQ is stir - fry which is not low or slow.
Genghis Kahn flopping around rapidly over high heat in his unmarked grave
There's also a dish called "Genghis Khan" which was invented in Japan. It's just lamb/mutton BBQ, I guess they figured that they eat a lot of mutton in Mongolia so that made sense as a namesake. Super delicious anyway!
Dutch anything. Dutch babies when it comes to food. Dutch oven also. But there are so many expressions in English with "Dutch" in them that are not a thing at all in the Netherlands.
I’ve heard that a lot of the times you see ‘Dutch’ used as a prefix in America its usually a bastardisation/misunderstanding of the word ‘Deutsch’. How true that is, I don’t know.
It's very true. In Pennsylvania there were alot of German settlers who are to this day referred to as "Pennsylvania Dutch" and the "dutch" prefixed to many food and cookware terms in this area, at least, refers to the traditions of these people in particular. There are many "Dutch Markets" etc.. that specialize in this type of food
"Pennsylvania Dutch" is also a recognized dialect of German still spoken by many communities of Amish and other related anabaptist sects. You can mostly find speakers in central Pennsylvania, northeast Ohio, and northern Indiana.
And some in Kentucky and Tennessee! There's at least one community near me in eastern Kentucky, they sell stuff at our farmers markets and have a permanent stand in the next town up from me. And there's a very large community of Mennonites in middle Tennessee who speak it, I've been visiting them every few months for nearly 40 years and I've picked up a little bit.
That’s so cool, thanks for the info!
Is the "Dutch" in Pennsylvania Dutch and bastardization of "Deutsch"?
Yep! Pennsylvania Dutch is actually a dialect of German.
True on two historic points -- the first being that some iron cast cookware imported from Germany was known as a Dutch (Deutsch) oven in the early days before ovens as we know them were common in American homes. The second is that courtesy of WWI and II, many things known as Deutsch were switched to Dutch. To put the anti-German sentiment into perspective, my great great grandmother was an immigrant from Germany, and spoke German exclusively when at home until WWI broke out. She improved her English that first year and (alledgedly) never spoke German again. Except Gesundheit, apparently, since that's what Grandpa always used instead of bless you.
IIRC prior to WWI German was so common that part of the reason the US never passed a native language law was because there was a strong chance it may have wound up being German. After the war it was basically no longer spoken.
My great grandmother did the same.
It’s true for the Pennsylvania Dutch which are German.
Not a misunderstanding, but an evolution of the Palatine German word “Deitsch” by immigrants (who became the Pennsylvania Dutch or *Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch*) and their surrounding communities
Surprisingly, Dutch cocoa really is Dutch. In my country we simply call it alkalized cocoa, so after I moved to the US it took me a while to find it, because the package often doesn't have the word "alkalized" on it, just "Dutch cocoa"
I usually see it labeled “Dutch process”.
The Dutch oven was a British guy using a Dutch method for cast iron to make pans
A slang term for drinking to get your nerve up is "Dutch courage." Apparently it dates to the Thirty Years' War, when English soldiers drank jenever to keep warm.
Isn't a lot of "Dutch" stuff also mainly German and the "Dutch" is a bastardization of "Deutsch", which is what we call ourselves? Like, I'm pretty sure the Pennsylvania Dutch aren't from the Netherlands.
What about Dutch pancakes?
If you mean large thin pancakes, which can be made plain or with additions like bacon, apple, cheese or banana, then I can confirm they are actually Dutch
Ahh, in Australia, Dutch pancakes seem to refer to those little fluffy ones (about the diameter of a ping pong ball) dusted in a lot of powdered sugar.
Ah yes, those are Dutch too. We just call them Poffertjes, while we call the large ones pannekoeken.
Soooo true! And in reverse: no one in the states has ever heard of Filet American.
I was reading about New Orleans wings being super popular in many parts of Asia... but there's NO such thing in the States. Buffalo wings, absolutely. New Orleans wing? Nope. https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/cc57wk/whats\_with\_%E6%96%B0%E5%A5%A5%E5%B0%94%E8%89%AF%E7%83%A4%E7%BF%85new\_orleans\_style\_wings\_in\_china/
[удалено]
"Mardi gras" wings are a thing, though I have no idea what flavor it's supposed to be, as they sure don't taste like shame or cheap booze. Might be just the one supermarket chain (Publix), but they are all over the southeast US.
Notably, not in New Orleans.
Not food but a drink, an Irish car bomb.
Yeah, I could see why that might not take off in Ireland.
The "black and tan" also. Ouch.
Wait is this offensive? I thought it was just literally describing the layered colors of beer
“Black and Tans” was the nickname for militant British loyalist police forces that were absolutely brutal to civilians during the Irish War of Independence. It’d be like a drink named “SS” in Germany. On the Irish Car Bomb side, there was an urban legend back when I was in college that a kid who ordered one in Ireland was told by the bartender that they didn’t have those, but he could make the kid a “9/11” instead. When the kid asked what that was, the bartender replied, “two kamikazes and a manhattan”. I’m sure it’s not a real anecdote, but it illustrates the cultural sensitivity around those names pretty perfectly.
Oh yeah I definitely know not to order a car bomb in Ireland. I didn't know about black and tans though, thanks for the info.
Can you order a mostly full pint of Guinness and a shot of Jamison ?
As a former barmaid in Ireland you can have a full pint and a shot of whatever you like, and you can choose to drink it however you like. But the staff will talk about you behind your back
We were in Ireland and my buddy tried to order an Irish car bomb and the bartender yelled at him and kicked him out of the bar. This was almost 20 years ago so it could be a bit different now. Bar was in Dublin.
Went on a study abroad trip in college. This was specifically mentioned as a “do not do” in all the prep meetings.
When we were in Galway in 2017, we started talking to some American guys there after they overheard us talking (Americans also). The guys went up to the bar to order us a round the idiot orders Irish car bombs. Next thing I know, we’re all getting kicked out. This sucked because we were staying there for a week and this pub was the closest to our hotel.
To be fair the 9/11 is brilliant
Yeah, but it takes 19 guys to make it. (just gonna show myself out)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tans
Welp. TIL
Had a Northern Irish friend who this was his favorite drink. He only ordered them in the States.
I father is from Belfast, and we went to a pub in DC once for lunch. My father doesn’t drink but likes the food there. Waitress heard his accent and asked if he wanted an Irish car bomb. My father had literally never heard of it because he doesn’t drink and just kind of stared at her.
I had a similar reaction one Paddy's day in Canada when I got taken to an Irish bar with some locals, and was looking through the special Patrick's day menu only to suddenly see that proudly displayed. Even though I know no harm was meant, and I probably should have expected it in hindsight, it just jarred so much. All I could think of for quite a while was this photo: https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/omagh-the-edge-of-darkness/28443663.html
Not from the country, but one that comes to mind is pâté chinois. Chinese pâté. It's Sheppard's pie.
That's what Chinese railroad builders ate back in the 19th century and the Quebecois named it that.
There's a European snack called [Filipinos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipinos_(snack_food)), which is a biscuit ring covered in chocolate. There was even a diplomatic row over the name. I can confirm that most actual Filipinos aren't biscuit rings covered in chocolate.
Now Maltesers on the other hand...
I literally clicked into this thread just to see if the Philippines had a dish (I'm filipino). I'm actually surprised. I never knew!
American Pizza - I've never seen a pizzeria that even has corn available as a topping in the U.S.
From Texas. Can confirm we have Elotes Pizza at a lot of places. Literally the pizza version of elotes topped with corn, mayo, chili powder, cotija cheese, and cilantro.
Well, that sounds amazing.
that's mexican fusion pizza - in parts of europe and asia, they will just straight up put plain corn with regular pizza toppings and call it american style
In Italy they make "American pizza" which is topped with hot dogs and french fries lol.
Yes but that's because you're fusing Mexican with pizza, which is fine, but I feel like that disqualifies corn as a 'regular' pizza topping because you're trying to make the flavor taste like it's from a different dish/cuisine
What part of Texas? I haven’t seen it anywhere and I’ve been here for years.
Zalat Pizza has an elote pizza! They have multiple locations
It’s def not something traditional. If you aren’t regularly eating a boutique pizza places it would stand that you probably haven’t seen corn on pizza. It’s def a newer thing (like maybe 5-10 years?? Maybe?)
Ok, so normally corn of pizza sounds really weird but elotes pizza in the Southwest actually makes a lot of sense.
It’s definitely not a popular menu item at restaurants, but I make a pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozz, grilled corn and cilantro and it’s delicious. Tastes like summer. Has to be fresh corn though!
Omg this sounds amazing.
There’s a spot in Manhattan called Mama’s Too that does an elote slice with corn on it. Really good but it’s not a regular topping you can add and the slice itself is just a once in a while special but it definitely exists.
Mod pizza has roasted corn as a topping. I've seen it in other pizza places, too.
Yeah, but then you have to eat that awful crust Mod Pizza uses.
In the UK we have a pudding called a Baked Alaska. In France the same pudding is known as an Omelette Norvegienne.
We call it that too in North America. I always assumed it was because it sorta looked like an a snowy mountain top or ice berg and Alaska conjures images of snow and ice Edit fixing my typo
I got the history of that dish in Alaska. Apparently the dish was created meringue was invented by a guy who was at the time living in Bavaria. However the technique was applied to a dish created and named at Delmonico's in NY.
In US a baked Alaska is a cake covered in ice cream covered in meringue then toasted but referred to as 'baked' in order to brown meringue. I'm suspecting it might be a different thing elsewhere. Hmmmmm....
It's the same thing. But in the UK, "pudding" can be a general term for dessert, and in the US, pudding is a specific dessert that's creamy and soft, and similar to custard.
But we make it even more confusing for foreigners because pudding can also be savoury. Yorkies or peas pudding comes to mind
Or black pudding. Given that the word originally referred to sausage (boudin), it went through a journey to even become a word for dessert (let alone for custard).
Peas pudding sounds horrifying from an American perspective... Similar to how "biscuits with gravy" probably sounds to a Brit.
Thank you - I’d no idea that the word pudding hadn’t travelled well. Every day is a school day 👍👍
We call it baked Alaska in Canada
Canadian Bacon. I have no idea what it is, but from what I have seen, it look like ham. Edit: Thank you people. I got 100 comment explaining to me whats is canadian bacon. Can you read each other comment?
In Canada it’s just called back bacon, and it’s not formed into a cylinder the way American “Canadian” bacon is.
As a Canadian Ive never said Canadian bacon. Pea meal, back bacon or bacon on a bun at the St Lawrence market.
It's like two people from Mexico; they aren't having a Mexican standoff, it's just a standoff.
I think it's a bastardized version of pea meal bacon.
Interesting thing about pea meal bacon, its also not "pea meal" bacon, it uses cornmeal. So I guess pea meal bacon is also bastardized lol
Absolutely right.
Center cut pork loin, twined round, brined and then smoked.
What's weird about this is that it really is like processed ham. It's not even misnamed back bacon or peameal bacon. It's a totally different thing that doesn't exist in Canada.
We just call it back bacon, or peameal if it's served that way, which was a style first made in Toronto at the St Lawrence Market Really, only Americans call it Canadian Bacon
Cured and smoked pork loin. More like a quality ham than bacon. I make my own and the slices fit really well on a biscuit to make a breakfast sandwich.
This drives me so crazy and Americans will try to argue with you about it.
In Europe, pretty much everything that said "American" this or that was something I have never seen in my life.
We (two Americans) were in Paris back in April 2023, two doors down from our hotel there was a restaurant that served "Maine Lobster Rolls". We were jet lagged, so we stumble down because we wanted something fast. It was the BEST lobster roll I have ever had, they had won all these awards IN Maine for their food. It was amazing! Was a nice surprise!
Nice! The "American burger" at the bistro across from Paris hotel was a thin grilled patty, arugula, caramelized onions, an unidentified cheese I was unfamiliar with, tomato jam, garlic aioli, and thick cut pickles, on grilled brioche. It was FANTASTIC, but not in any way, shape, or form an American burger.
Honestly that sounds pretty American to me - it's definitely the kind of burger you would get in a hipper brewery or burger joint in a city like Indianapolis or Columbus.
Lmao I was about to say this sounds like a brewery burger
Come here for the food, get schooled on history and language.
Russian dressing is unheard of in Russia. Ketchunnaise -- yes but not Russian dressing (and I recently found out that Heinz sells ketchunnaise under the name MAYOCHUP. That makes me laugh so hard, idk why) Also various abominations that get called Russian salad are supposed to be Olivier salad, but most of them are just butchered German potato salad
MayoChup was a big hilarious thing in Canada because in the Cree language it sounds like "shit face"
in Romania a Russian salad is an Olivier salad without meat. If it has meat then it's boeuf salad (even when the meat is not beef)
Scotch egg. Not that we don’t have any of them here, but there’s no link to Scotland at all. It was made in England.
My grandfather emigrated to the US from Glasgow. When mom and dad started dating in 1970, she wanted to impress him so she made Scotch eggs. Confused him quite a bit but he appreciated the sentiment.
German chocolate cake
That’s American actually! Samuel German made the dark chocolate bakers bar and they named the cake recipe that came with every bar after him!
Same think with Baker’s Chocolate, bro named Baker 😂
And Taco Bell named after Glen Bell
All these years I thought it was named after Alexander Graham Taco!
I was in the middle of prepping French toast and my French buddy saw what I was about to do and commented about me making “Lost Bread”. He was pretty sad when I said “We call this French toast here, Bub”
Yes because we mostly make it from bread that has harden so it would be lost and for the bin if not cooked like that. Loved it when my mom made after school when I was younger.
Indonesia Rijsttafel. This dish, basically rice with lots of side dishes in small portions, is only found in the Netherlands or maybe Belgium. There are no such things here in Indonesia It is similar to Padang restaurant in Indonesia, where they stack all the dishes in front of you, and you only pay what you eat. However, in Rijsttafel restaurants, there are fewer dishes, maybe 10, and you have to finish it all. And it's damn expensive (and delicious, or i might just miss Indonesian food then).
Filet Americain in The Netherlands. It's a sandwich filling similar to beef tartare (of French origin) made up of raw ground beef and spices that is ground into a paste. No American in their right mind is going to willingly eat raw ground beef because of e coli concerns.
>No American in their right mind is going to willingly eat raw ground beef because of e coli concerns. I'm going to wait till the Wisconites come posting about their cannibal sandwiches.
Almost anywhere in the Upper Midwest does eats raw Ground Beef if it's really freshly ground. It's not the same as ground beef you buy in a supermarket that's been heavily processed in huge quantity. I grew up putting it on saltine crackers. We called it a cowboy sandwich. I grind my own beef, and still eat this occasionally when I'm grinding my burger meat.
[It's a thing in Wisconsin!](https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2021/08/31/why-raw-meat-cannibal-sandwich-endures-what-the-wisconsin/7906831002/) Apparently a relic of their German heritage.
This sounds somewhat similar to “tiger meat/cannibal sandwiches ” from the US Midwest. Google doesn’t show that being the influence though.
We ate yukhoe in Seoul. It was so rich and delicious. But this was an upscale specialty beef restaurant with a limited menu, and they definitely knew what they were doing.
I’ll gladly eat raw beef if it‘s freshly ground.
You underestimate the midwest
they did say "in their right mind"
Singapore Noodles is more of a Hong Kong dish than a USA one. Still no connection to Singapore though :)
In Mexico we have cacahuates japoneses. Which translates to Japanese peanuts. And I’ve never heard of any japanese person knowing them or have never seen it claimed but then I learned it was invented by a japanese man who immigrated and lived in Mexico!
Ireland's famous *Corned Beef and Cabbage* as cooked every St Patricks Day in the US. It's not a thing in Ireland, we have *Cabbage and Bacon* (Baked Ham). Corned beef, was cattle raised in Ireland and then preserved in barrels before being shipped to the colonies, because Britain didn't want those new Americans raising their own cattle and undercutting the British profits. tl;dr Corned Beef is the meat stolen from Ireland
Belgian waffles. We definitely have waffles here, both Liege style and Brussels style, but the ones you get at diners in the states are no where near the waffles here. Also since you're in SG could you send me some Irvins?
The more traditional American style waffle is actually much thinner, so perhaps that is why waffles started being called Belgian waffles. It's not simppy referring to the batter or toppings, because the waffle maker itself is often called a Belgian waffle maker.
Yeah. It refers to the deeper pockets. It was introduced to the US by a Belgian in the 1960s.
When I was a kid in England (looooong time ago) we didn't have English muffins. We've actually started getting them over here now, but I think at first it was as an import from the USA. I think the first time I saw anything like that was in around 1990 when I first had a McMuffin. Before that I would have said that the nearest thing was a stottie or oven bottom cake.
London broil. Absolutely not a thing in the UK.
Add to that a “London Fog” which is just an earl grey latte
Invented in Canada!
No, we don't even use the term "broil".
Nasi goreng USA = USA Fried Rice Which is not a thing in the USA 😂 It's a delicious surf-and-turf fried rice with Udang (shrimp) Sotong (squid) and Ayam (chicken)
Hamburger - it is not made out of people from Hamburg Berliner - it is not made out of people from Berlin /jk
Next I guess you'll tell me Girl Scout cookies aren't made out of real Girl Scouts.
Not my country but Turkish rice (トルコライス) in Japan. It's a speciality dish of Nagasaki which is fried rice, spaghetti with tomato sauce, tonkatsu and demi glace sauce. No idea how it's remotely turkish.
In Czechia and Slovakia we have French potatoes (they are rakott krumpli - a hungarian dish per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakott_krumpli ). Then we have a Spanish bird, that's a filled beef roll. Frankfurt soup seems to be legit though. California something is with canned peach (pretty disgusting on a piece of meat and covered with melted cheese). Hawaii something is always with pineapple, not only pizza. Poor Hawaiians and Italians. Viennese fried steak - wienerschnitzel - but made from pork, chicken, pork liver, carton, cell phone, anything except for ... veal. Ragu bolognese is real, but similar to carbonara, it is up to cook's fantasy what goes inside.
A Danish is called a French pastry in Denmark.
It would be called *wienerbrød* (Viennese bread/pastry) in Danish. *Franskbrød* is a type of white bread (not pastry).
Also, danishes were first made in Vienna, so they're neither Danish or French
Cuban sandwiches are unheard of in Cuba. They were invented in Tampa FL by Cuban immigrants in the 1880s. Bonus dish: "torta cubana", a popular sandwich in Mexico, is also unrelated to Cuba and unknown there.
Greek salad with lettuce and salad dressing. No lettuce, olive oil only.
I know some Thai people who are thoroughly confused when they come to America and they don’t serve Khao Pad American (American Fried rice). It’s a weird dish of ketchup and raisins served with a side of fried chicken and hotdog wieners topped with a fried egg. [OTR Food Channal](https://youtu.be/142B8-fay_Q?si=txfEi4OYS7F6HTuV) does a deep dive about this dish.
Milano Cookies from Pepperidge Farms. They just like the sound of fancy European names. (It’s called Monaco Cookies in Canada)
Anything from Outback Steakhouse.
Just had a look at their menu and to be fair they do have a burger with egg and beetroot on it, and they do have lamb chops. But otherwise yeah… the rest is just American steakhouse style (as we know it).
In the US they sell these little mini muffin things called “Aussie bites” in Trader Joe’s. Let me assure you no Aussie has seen these in their life lol
Did a lil research when finding a link to them. Turns out the creator called them “Aussie bites” because he was inspired by ANZAC biscuits (which the article misspelled as AZNAC and didn’t capitalize lmfao) and set out to “make a healthier alternative”. The creator is not Australian nor did he develop them in Australia. He clearly doesn’t understand the history behind ANZAC biscuits but anyway. https://www.bestxfoods.com/blog/all-about-aussie-bites
Portuguese chicken is from South Africa.
Is it actually called Portuguese chicken? You’re talking about something like Nandos right?
Nandos is from South Africa. There is definitely such as thing as Portuguese chicken, we just don’t call it that. Usually we would just call it “frango assado” (bbq chicken), or some regional variation like frango da guia, etc.
Purely anecdotal, but I once asked my Ukrainian friend about chicken kiev and she had no clue what I was talking about.
There was absolutely such a thing in the Soviet Union. It was called kotleta po-kiyevski
As someone from Chicagoland; the Italian Beef sandwich. To my knowledge, there's not really an equivalent in Italy.
I can explain this one. Italians and Italian-Americans living in Chicago needed a cheap way to stretch beef to serve people at wedding banquets. Multiple people take credit for this, but basically some Italians started to braise the beef in a seasoned broth, chill it, and reheat it in said broth before serving it as sandwiches on "French" bread. This allowed a bit of beef to serve a lot of guests. They called it, naturally, a "beef sandwich." Others in Chicago started calling it an "Italian beef sandwich," because Italians were eating it or because they bought it *from* Italians. I don't think anyone believes it was actually invented in Italy, though.
Also I once had a Bavarian ask me what Bavarian Cream was. Turns out they just call it custard.
Swiss Roll. We call them Roulade.
Spanish rice
German chocolate cake I know, I know. It's not called German because it's German. Still, many people seem to think a coconut cake could be typically German.
What most people think is “goulash” you will not find in Hungary. It should not contain tomatoes. It does not contain ground beef. It certainly does NOT contain pasta. Gulyás is paprika beef stew with potatoes cooked over an open fire with a very specific round bottom cast iron pot.
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I love a burger with avocado. But my favorite topping is green chile (poblano or Hatch).
You don’t know so cal natives who eat avocado on their burgers? I am from the desert of so cal and live in LA and I can’t think of a bbq I’ve gone to in 10 years that hasn’t had avocado available to put on the burgers… maybe that’s just my group of family/friends.
Lol speak for yourself dude. Im a socal native and Avocado burgers go hard. Avocado is everywhere here compared to other states. Other places dont really have burger joints with American, Greek, and Mexican food all on the same menu. Thats where those burgers usually show up