Tasting the local delicacies is a huge part of travel – and one we can’t wait to get back to when it’s safe to do so. Traditional recipes are interwoven with culture, history and identity in cities and countries around the world. So what happens when it isn’t exactly clear where a certain food or recipe originated? From counter-claims to places that have a long-running beef (burger) with one another, here are a few tasty dishes people get a bit testy over…
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Apple pie: UK vs. USA
The saying ‘American as apple pie’ – commonly used to describe someone or something typically American – seems to suggest this comforting, classic dessert was invented in the US. But it was a 1924 ad for suits that first used the phrase. And even the apples sliced into the pie originate from elsewhere, being native to Asia. The first written reference to apple pie was in 1381 in England.
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Apple pie: UK vs. USA
The recipe, by The Canterbury Tales author Geoffrey Chaucer, called for a pastry crust packed with apples, pears, figs and raisins – but not even a teaspoon of sugar. Whether you prefer your pie à la mode (with ice-cream), topped with a thick dollop of clotted cream or in a cardboard sleeve, from McDonald’s, is another matter entirely.
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Fried chicken: USA vs. Scotland
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Fried chicken: USA vs. Scotland
The Colonel launched that world of wings, legs and sharing buckets in 1952. Yet it’s widely claimed that it was actually the Scots who first brought fried chicken to the USA. It was common in Scotland to fry strips of chicken in fat, and 18th-century immigrants took that with them when they settled in the American south. They probably didn’t use 11 herbs and spices, though…
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Baklava: Turkey vs. Greece
This sticky dessert – made with gossamer-thin filo pastry and nuts, drenched in syrup – might be sweet, but it certainly isn’t simple. In fact, several countries claim this as their national pastry, most fervently Turkey and Greece. Baklava’s origins are as layered as the sweet treat itself, partly because its history stretches so far back.
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Baklava: Turkey vs. Greece
It’s believed the earliest version was under the Assyrian Empire in 800 BC, when bread dough was baked with honey and nuts, and that the Ancient Greeks developed phyllo (or filo) pastry for a more delicate version. The Ottoman Empire, encompassing Greece, Turkey and other nations, popularized the dessert, which was apparently perfected in 17th-century Istanbul.
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Chicken tikka masala: UK vs. India
This creamy, mildly spiced chicken curry is widely considered to be Britain’s national dish. And it’s also claimed it was invented in the UK – at a restaurant in Glasgow, to be precise. In 1970 Ali Ahmed Aslam, of Glasgow’s Shish Mahal curry house, apparently emptied a can of tomato soup over a chicken tikka dish a customer complained was “too dry”.
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Chicken tikka masala: UK vs. India
He stirred in yogurt and some extra spices, and a British icon was born. It isn’t that simple, though, of course. There are counter-claims that the origins of chicken tikka masala lie in India where, under the British Empire, sauce was added to dry, fiery curries to suit palates unaccustomed to spice. Another theory is that it’s a take on butter chicken, a traditional Punjabi recipe.
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Crème brûlée/Crema Catalana: France vs. Spain
These desserts are the same, yet different. They’re both set custards, sprinkled with sugar and grilled or blow-torched to create a burnt, crackable caramel crust. Crema Catalana tends to be flavored with citrus zest. In a World Cup–worthy contest, both France and Spain claim to have invented the concept.
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Crème brûlée/Crema Catalana: France vs. Spain
Yet this fight isn’t just between the chicken and the egg (custard) – there’s also an English version, Trinity Burnt Cream, which legend says a college student came up with at Cambridge’s Trinity College in the 17th century.
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Cuban sandwich: Miami vs. Tampa, Florida, USA
If you like bread, meat and cheese, the Cuban sandwich is a winner. It’s basically layers of meat, cheese, meat, mustard, meat, pickles, meat… That it’s a satisfying beast of a sandwich is tough to argue with, but where it was actually invented is in dispute, with the Floridian cities of Tampa and Miami both claiming the sandwich as their own.
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Cuban sandwich: Miami vs. Tampa, Florida, USA
The consensus among food historians is that it was invented in Tampa’s Ybor City, a neighborhood founded by cigar magnates in 1885 – and it’s officially the city’s signature sandwich. Yet Miami argues there’s no definitive proof, and also reckons its version is better (because it doesn’t have salami). You can taste delicious sandwiches in either city, though.
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Feta: Greece vs. the world
No one is disputing that feta cheese is Greek – at least, not that we know of. It’s classified as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product by the European Commission, and has been recognized as an original Greek product since the 1920s. What some countries have argued, however, is that they should be allowed to use the name.
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Feta: Greece vs. the world
The salty, tangy, crumbling white cheese can only be legally called feta if it has been produced in Greece with at least 70{c33c21346ff5e26ab8e0ae3d29ae4367143f0d27c235e34c392ea37decdb8bed} sheep’s milk, and many have seen that as unfair. There have even been instances of cheese being illegally branded as feta in the past few years.
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French fries: France vs. Belgium
You might assume the cue is in the name. I mean, they’re called French fries, right? One of the most popular theories is that President Thomas Jefferson’s French chef made some chipped potatoes ‘in the French manner’, giving the burger-loving side its moniker and introducing what has become one of the USA’s favorite foods.
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French fries: France vs. Belgium
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Falafel: Egypt vs. Israel
These tasty little chickpea balls have become a street-food staple around the world. But their origins are wrapped in layers of intrigue. Several Middle Eastern countries – Egypt, Israel, Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine – claim to have created falafel.
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Falafel: Egypt vs. Israel
Falafel is often seen as a Jewish food and Israel’s national dish, usually eaten stuffed in pitta pockets. Yet facts suggest it’s most likely it was invented in Egypt, where it’s called ta’amiya. And, in any case, Egyptian falafel has been voted as the world’s best – so that’s a clear win.
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Kimchi: South Korea vs. Japan
The spicy condiment kimchi is one of Korea’s greatest exports – and the country’s national dish. There is even evidence that salted and fermented cabbage kimchi existed 1,500 years ago. Yet, in 1996, Japan controversially claimed the dish as an official food at the Atlanta Olympics.
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Kimchi: South Korea vs. Japan
For South Korea, however, kimchi is a fundamental part of the country’s culture and national identity. Different varieties, using vegetables from carrots to radishes, are made and consumed at home, while the fermented flavors have become hugely popular around the globe.
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Cornish pasty: Devon vs. Cornwall, UK
These two southwestern counties have a habit of falling out over food, and the humble Cornish pasty has really stirred up conflict over the years. Yes, it’s called a Cornish pasty, and the story goes that these meat-and-veg pastry pockets were popularized in the 17th and 18th centuries as a handheld meal miners could easily take to work.
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Cornish pasty: Devon vs. Cornwall, UK
But other evidence has thrown their origins – and potentially the name – into doubt. Dr Todd Gray, an academic at Exeter University, claimed a document describes the making of pasties in Devon 236 years before a written account of pasties in Cornwall. A Cornish counter-claim argued that cave drawings suggest pasties existed in that county in primitive times.
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Potatoes: Chile vs. Peru
Spuds are pretty simple, right? Wrong. There are actually more than 4,000 varieties of potato native to Peru alone, and it’s widely held they were first cultivated in the Peruvian Andes. Most people agree that the starchy tubers originate in South America. But Chile also has a claim to potato fame.
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Potatoes: Chile vs. Peru
Studies have shown that more than 90{c33c21346ff5e26ab8e0ae3d29ae4367143f0d27c235e34c392ea37decdb8bed} of modern potato varieties could be traced back to the region around Chiloé Island in southern Chile – while contradictory research shows all potatoes derived from a single ancient variety found by Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side.
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Jollof rice: Nigeria vs. Ghana
Although jollof rice – often simply called ‘jollof’ – is widely seen as a Nigerian dish, several other West African countries stake a claim. A Guardian newspaper poll found that the majority of readers thought the dish was Ghanaian, followed by Senegal, Nigeria, Botswana and finally Cameroon.
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Jollof rice: Nigeria vs. Ghana
All agree that it’s delicious, and should be made with a base of rice, tomatoes, onions and chilies, wherever it originally comes from. Arguing over whether it should be served with meat, seafood, vegetables – or all of the above – is another matter altogether.
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Pavlova: New Zealand vs. Australia
Putting meringue, cream and fruit together wasn’t a novel idea when this classic centerpiece dessert first appeared in the Antipodes. There’s Eton mess, for a start, said to have been invented in 1893. Yet the pavlova is regarded as a national dish in both Australia and New Zealand.
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Pavlova: New Zealand vs. Australia
Both countries argue they invented the dish – a crisp meringue with whipped cream and berries piled on top – in honor of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured the places in the 1920s. Food historians have backed either side, though the Oxford English Dictionary settled – or perhaps fueled – the debate by updating the entry with the detail that the first recorded pavlova recipe appeared in New Zealand, in 1927.
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Scotch egg: England vs. Scotland
You’d be forgiven for thinking the Scotch egg was invented in Scotland, for obvious reasons. It’s hard to find a pub (or chip shop) that doesn’t serve a version of these beloved sausage-and-egg balls. But the story isn’t as simple as the name suggests.
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Scotch eggs: England vs. Scotland
Several places claim to have laid the golden-breadcrumbed egg. One story – and the most widely believed – is that London’s Fortnum & Mason department store came up with the recipe in 1738, as a snack for wealthy people on carriage rides. It’s also argued that it derives from a similar northern Indian snack, nargisi kofta – or that it may be Scottish after all, created by farmers as a cheap, handheld meal.
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Stuffed vine leaves: Armenia vs. Azerbaijan
Would a vine by any other name taste as sweet (or savory)? Vine leaves wrapped around rice, herbs, spices and – sometimes – meat are ubiquitous in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, with different names from dolma (Turkey) and dolmathakia (Greece) to warak enab (Lebanon).
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Stuffed vine leaves: Armenia vs. Azerbaijan
But it’s neighboring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan – both of which call their stuffed grape leaf dish tolma – that have most strongly disputed their origin. The steamed, piquant parcels were declared Azerbaijan’s national dish. In response, Armenia launched its annual Tolma Festival to promote it as an indigenous food.
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Cream tea: Devon vs. Cornwall, UK
This is one that may never be settled. Did Cornwall first come up with that quintessentially British classic, the cream tea – or was it neighboring Devon? Scones, jelly and endless cups of tea will always be involved, often joined nowadays by fondant fancies and neat finger sandwiches.
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Cream tea: Devon vs. Cornwall, UK
Yet the counties have fought about who started the tradition – with Devon even campaigning for protected status of its cream tea. And there’s another, far fiercer debate: does the cream go on first, or the jelly? In Devon, it’s always cream on scone, while a Cornish tea is traditionally jelly first. Either way, it’s scones at dawn. Or mid-afternoon.
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Vichyssoise: France vs. USA
Vichyssoise is yet another food that sounds French but is in fact believed to have been first cooked somewhere else. This smooth soup, made with onions, leeks, potatoes and cream and served cold, is even named after the French town Vichy. Yet it’s widely held that it was first simmered up in the US.
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Vichyssoise: France vs. USA
It was French chef Louis Diat who apparently came up with the idea, inspired by a similar hot soup from his childhood, serving the elegant chilled version at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York in 1917. Others claim it has Basque origins, with a version of potato and leek soup served in the Spanish region for more than 200 years.
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Spaghetti bolognese: UK vs. Italy
The spag bol that became a UK dinner party staple in the 1960s clearly has roots in Italy, though many argue it’s quite a different dish to the latter’s tagliatelle al ragù, which is typically made with the flatter pasta noodles and has a slow-cooked sauce of shin of beef, pancetta, tomatoes, carrots, onion and white wine.
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Spaghetti bolognese: UK vs. Italy
The British spin, now served in restaurants around the world, became popular as pasta turned into a home kitchen staple. First of all, the pasta is usually rounded spaghetti noodles, while the sauce is a ragù made with ground beef, simmered with tomatoes, veg and a splash of red wine.
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Waffles: USA vs. Netherlands
Waffles are a beloved food in the US, whether it’s with fruit and cream (and sometimes bacon) for breakfast or paired with fried chicken and doused in syrup. Yet, while the waffle iron was patented in the US in 1869, the criss-crossed favorite was brought over by Dutch colonists in the 17th century.
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Waffles: USA vs. Netherlands
Even Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is believed to have been involved, starting a craze when he brought a waffle iron back from France in the 1790s. And the history gets even more, well, waffly. The waffle iron has also been traced back to Ancient Greece, when primitive versions were used. Then there are Belgian waffles, which look pretty much the same but are thicker and more cake-like in texture.
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Hamburgers: USA vs. Germany
Hamburgers are American, right? The modern incarnation might be attributed to at least four Americans – Wisconsin’s Charlie Nagreen, Connecticut’s Louis Lassen, Oklahoma’s Oscar Weber Bilby and the Menches brothers from New York – but the beloved bite is actually German in origin.
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Hamburgers: USA vs. Germany
The idea of putting a ground meat patty in a (brötchen) roll came over from Northern Europe with German immigrants and spread across the States. So while it’s a core part of American cuisine it’s indelibly associated with the German city of Hamburg.
Elizabeth Wills-O’Gilvie and Janine Fondon share a passion for food. For Wills-O’Gilvie, it’s food to nourish the body. For Fondon, it’s food for thought and knowledge for the growth of the mind. Each recipient of the prestigious 2020 William Pynchon Award drew from family experience and from observations of society […]
