Hi I’m John Green.
Welcome to my salon.
This is Mental Floss on YouTube and did you know that Italian wedding soup is not actually
Italian?
The dish originated in Spain before it was brought to Italy.
Also, our English name for Italian wedding soup is a mistranslation.
The soup’s actual name means "married soup" in Italian, referencing the “marriage”
between the ingredients.
It has nothing to do with weddings.
And that’s the first of many foods that don’t come from where you think they come
from that I’m going to tell you about today!
Taquito is Spanish for “small taco,” but it’s not Mexican like you might think.
It was actually developed in southern California in the 1930s.
Two separate restaurants get some credit for the dish: Cielito Lindo and El Indio Mexican
Restaurant.
Chicken Tikka Masala can be found at pretty much every Indian restaurant in the U.S. and
the UK.
But, it’s not actually from India.
There are a few different origin stories, but most agree that it’s from the UK.
One story is that it was invented in Glasgow by the Asian kitchen staff of a restaurant
who wanted to make something that would be appealing to their clientele.
Nashua, New Hampshire is the place of origin of Russian dressing, not Russia.
It was invented around 1910 by a caterer and grocer named James E. Colburn.
And Italian dressing isn’t Italian.
It originated in the United States.
And you will not be surprised to learn that French Dressing is not French.
We don’t know exactly when it was invented, but we DO know that it was Kraft’s first
pourable dressing product in 1925.
Our French Llama is of course also American.
Not actually, he was made in Vietnam.
Speaking of things the French people didn't invent, the baguettes that the French know
and love might be more Austrian than French, although this one is controversial.
In the 19th century, France got steam ovens thanks to the Austrian man, August Zang.
Before that, the French also typically used whole grains rather than white flour for their
bread.
So, some say baguettes aren’t really French.
For instance, in 2007, the French Poilane baking company stopped producing baguettes,
arguing that they were Austrian.
Whether or not he’s responsible for baguettes, Zang definitely brought croissants to France,
so they are verifiably Austrian.
In fact, similar dishes have existed there since the 13th century.
Okay, last thing the French didn't invent: French toast.
The breakfast food actually dates back to the 4th or 5th century, where it has been
found in a book of recipes in Latin.
The name French Toast probably emerged in England sometime around the 17th century.
The U.S. usually gets credit for the modern hamburger, despite the food being named after
the German town of Hamburg.
There were many early European predecessors to the hamburger, though, like a beef patty
recipe from the early 4th century Rome.
Then, there was the similar Hamburg steak in the late 19th century, but it was a filet
of beef often served raw.
We don’t know who in the U.S. made the hamburger that we know today, but it emerged sometime
between the late 19th century and early 20th century.
French fries aren’t American, though.
They’re probably Belgian, although the French also like to take credit for them and I'm
not going to get in the middle of that fight.
But Belgians have uncovered stories from the late 17th century about their ancestors deep-frying
fish and then, when the river froze over, they deep-fried potatoes to look like fish.
Pasta primavera is not Italian.
It was actually invented in 1975 by a New York chef named Sirio Maccioni who was vacationing
in Canada.
He then brought the dish back to the United States.
So it was technically invented in Canada, but by an American.
Crab Rangoon is not authentic Chinese food.
It was inspired by Burmese cuisine actually, but invented in the U.S.
We know it has been around since the fifties where it was served at the restaurant Trader
Vic’s in San Francisco.
Speaking of which, the pupu platter is not Chinese -- it’s actually from Hawaii.
In Hawaiian, “pū-pū” means “appetizer.”
The dish was brought to the rest of the U.S. in 1934, where it was served at a Hawaiian
restaurant in California named “Don the Beachcomber.”
Which is not really a restaurant name so much as a person name, but whatever back then they
had weird restaurants.
And then eventually, American Chinese restaurants also adopted the name.
We don't even know if Chinese finger traps are Chinese.
My whole world just fell apart.
Caesar salad sounds like it should be Italian.
Julius Caesar was from Rome and everything.
But, it turns out that it’s Mexican and not named after Julius Caesar.
It WAS however invented by an Italian immigrant.
His name was Caesar Cardini.
He ran some restaurants in the U.S. and Mexico and he started serving his salad in the 1920s.
But he's perhaps best known for starring in our very first mental_floss video.
Speaking of mental_floss and Mexico, if you watch our Misconceptions show, then you’ll
probably know that chimichangas WERE NOT invented in Mexico.
The exact inventor is unknown, but they probably came from a restaurant worker in Arizona.
Okay, let’s speed up.
Mongolian barbecue isn’t Mongolian -- this style of cooking came from Taiwan in the 1950s
Like a lot of American Chinese food, egg rolls are not Chinese.
We don’t know exactly who invented them, but we do know that they’re westernized
Chinese food.
Spring rolls however ARE Chinese.
Fortune cookies were invented in the U.S. and popularized in the 20th century in California.
The Hunanese get credit for General Tso’s chicken, but you won’t find it in Hunan,
China.
It probably originated in Taiwan or New York.
Garlic bread isn’t Italian -- it has been part of American cuisine since around 1947.
Spaghetti with meatballs wasn’t invented in Italy either.
It was first made by Italians who were living in New York City in the early 1900s.
We invented all of the great foods!
Russian dressing, spaghetti with meatballs, but not apple pie.
There’s a recipe for the dessert from 1381 in England.
And finally I return to my salon to tell you that fajitas are not actually Mexican food.
They were invented in Texas during the 1930s.
And the Oxford English Dictionary claims that the word itself wasn’t even found in print
until 1971.
Thanks for watching Mental Floss on YouTube, which is made with the help of all these nice
people.
I'm going to keep talking for a second so their names stay up on the screen and you
should read all of them.
They're very nice people, really.
Anyway thanks for watching and as we say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome.