Greetings, fellow food lovers! There’s nothing better than some pigs in a blanket on game
day, chips on the side, and a big apple pie for dessert, eh? Now, whether you’re American
or not, could decide how you just imagined all those fun foods I mentioned. And wait,
there’s more! Check out some other popular dishes in the US that look different around
the world…
1. Pancakes Let’s say you’re an American tourist in
Russia. You wake up, and you’re craving a big stack of fluffy pancakes smothered in
butter and syrup. Oooh, that hits the spot! You ask for a menu in English, scan it for
your morning treasure, and boom – there it is: pancakes. “I’ll have that, please!”
The waiter brings your breakfast out, you look down, and you’re stunned to see what
looks like wimpy paper-thin French crepes on your plate! “Hey, man, what gives?!”
Well, pancakes date back to Ancient Greece and Rome. Before they were officially dubbed
“pancakes” in America, they used to be called “Indian Cakes.” Crepes, on the
other hand, have nothing to do with pancakes in terms of origin since they date back to
13th-century France. (Kinda gives you the “crepes”, eh?)
2. Toast Speaking of breakfast, when it comes to toast,
my, do the French have an imagination! American “toast” is just a toasted piece of bread.
Of course, you gotta throw some butter and jelly on that bad boy! But if you’ve ever
had French toast, well, you know it’s a sweet delight of white bread soaked in a mixture
of beaten eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. I guess that’s why they don’t
need those big thick pancakes in France! And I imagine they don’t call it “French”
toast over there. (And if you keep goofing this up, then I imagine YOU’RE toast…)
3. Pigs in a blanket Alright, it’s football Sunday, and you’ve
rolled some mini-hotdogs up in dough and threw ‘em in the oven. If the game you’re watching
involves big dudes in helmets & pads throwing an almond-shaped ball around – and you refer
to your game day snack as “pigs in a blanket” – you must be American. If you’re in the
UK, that dish would involve wrapping hotdogs in bacon (and that “football” you’re
watching would be what we call “soccer” in the US!). Now here’s where it gets trippy:
the equivalent of American pigs in a blanket is called a “sausage roll” in the UK.
Yankees call the British variety “bacon-wrapped hotdogs.” (Boy, that just sucks all the
fun right out of it, doesn’t it?)
4. Bacon Since we’ve touched on the topic of bacon,
let’s get that straight too. Bacon in the US comes from the pig’s belly and is served
in thin crispy strips coated with fat. In the UK, “bacon” is from the pig’s back,
and it’s less fatty, thicker, chewy, and served in round slices. It’s kinda like
what Americans refer to as a “Canadian bacon” or maybe a combination of the US and Canadian
types. So, if you’re from the UK and you’re having a hard time finding some proper “bacon”
in the US, maybe ask for the Canadian variety, eh!
5. Pudding Now, my fellow Americans will imagine a creamy
custard dessert when they think of pudding. If you were to travel to the UK, you’d get
something way different. The British definition of pudding is anything that’s been boiled
in something else. For example, in the UK and Ireland, they have the infamous “black
pudding” that’s served for breakfast – it’s also called –wait for it -- “blood sausage.”
(Really? Well that just ends it for me right there.) They also have sweet puddings, but
that would be the cake-like dish we call “flan” in the US. “Flan” in the UK, however,
is what Americans know as “fruit pie.” (Phew, how confusing. As Shakespeare might
have said “A Pie by any other name, would taste as sweet”… except for that blood
sausage thing…)
6. Eggs Ok, eggs are eggs no matter where you go in
the world. I’ll take mine scrambled, please. But the thing is, stores in Europe don’t
keep them refrigerated like they do in the US. America does it for safety reasons: the
Department of Agriculture determined that the most effective way to fight salmonella
is by refrigerating eggs. But that doesn’t mean European countries don’t take their
own safety precautions to fight bacterial food poisoning. In some parts of Europe, they
leave the original coating on the eggs, (there’s an original coating?) and that coating protects
them from contamination. In other parts, they vaccinate hens to keep the eggs disease-free.
7. Breadsticks I’m sure you know we have the Italians to
thank for this tasty Mediterranean treat. However, when it comes to the original breadsticks
(a.k.a. “grissini”), the food migration game didn’t go as planned. You see, when
we ask for breadsticks in an American restaurant, we get soft pieces of doughy bread and garlic
that we can dip in sauce. But if you were having lunch in an Italian restaurant and
asked for breadsticks, you’d actually get the original version of “grissini” – crispy
baked breadsticks that can accompany your salad or be crunched on as a snack on its
own.
8. Ketchup Ketchup is another one of those culinary items
that got lost in translation. In America, you know that familiar red paste made from
tomato, vinegar, sugar, and all the accompanying spices. However, if you go to Australia and
ask for ketchup on your burger, the waiter might give you a funny look and say, “You
mean tomato sauce?” This goes back 80 years ago when ketchup hadn’t made its way to
Australia yet, and they used to serve tomato sauce as a condiment instead. Now, even though
ketchup has made its way to Australia, it hasn’t changed in terms of language. (And
while we’re here, don’t even get me started on that whole Ketchup vs. Catsup deal.)
9. Chips One of the most traditional dishes in the
UK is fish and chips. But if you’re an American and you didn’t know better, you’d be imagining
someone eating fish and a handful of Lays or Doritos. But what they call “chips”
are what Americans know as “French fries.” On the flipside, in the UK, Australia, New
Zealand, and South Africa, what we call chips (the round things sold in half-empty bags),
they call crisps. As for the “French” part of the American naming, that goes waaay
back to the 1800s or even earlier, when potatoes (not necessarily the sticks we know today)
were fried “in the French manner.” “French-fried” back then was pretty much what we call “deep-fried”
today.
10. Cookies The American understanding of “cookie”
comes from the Dutch word “koekje,” which means “small cake.” And when you think
about it, that’s pretty much what cookies are! Only, maybe they’re a little crunchier.
But in most other English-speaking countries except for Canada, cookies are called “biscuits.”
In fact, they only use the term “cookies” to describe the chocolate chip ones in particular.
As for those fluffy little rolls Americans know as “biscuits,” those are called “scones”
elsewhere. Now, here’s my question: what do they call the sweet cookie-biscuit hybrid
we know as “scones” in America? Hmm…
11. Jelly On a related point, as an American, I smother
my biscuits (not cookies or scones!) in butter and jelly. If you’re in the UK, you’re
probably imagining me hopelessly trying to spread some Jell-O on my bread because for
you, “jelly” is my Jell-O and my “jelly” is your jam! (Ow, my brain!) Of course, we
have “jam” in the US, but it usually has chunks of fruit in it unlike smooth creamy
jelly! So, travelers beware! (This kind of mix-up could end up putting YOU in a Jam-
which in this context means a tough spot! (Oh, my head is spinning…)
12. Pie Now back to desserts. Mmm, I could go on and
on about pie. Pumpkin, apple, blueberry, cherry – *ahem* anyway, pies in some parts of the
world aren’t the sweet fruity round pastries we know and love in the US. In Greece, for
example, pies are savory, and the dough isn’t as fluffy. They can be made with cheese, spinach,
mushrooms, and even some meat! These kinds are also popular in the UK, Australia, New
Zealand, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, to name a few.
13. Milky Way bars Alright, I know your stomach is growling up
a storm by now, so here’s our final example of a familiar food that might throw you a
surprise if you eat it abroad. If you love American Milky Ways, wait until you try the
European version! It’s also made of chocolate and nougat, of course, but it doesn’t have
that layer of caramel in it. I imagine Milky Way bars in Europe taste pretty similar to
the 3 Musketeers bars we have in the US. And if you’re curious, it got the name Milky
Way because it can float in a glass of milk! (Really. Yeah, go try it! I’ll wait. No.)
Alright, Bright Siders, I’d say it’s time for lunch, what do you think? Before I go
fill my belly, I’d like to ask you about the food in your region – is it cooked or
referred to differently in other parts of the world? Let me know down in the comments!
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