Some foods trigger unequivocal American pride – the hot dog, hamburger, macaroni and cheese, apple pie. So you might be surprised that these and other “American” foods were, in fact, created elsewhere. Sometimes they were even popular in other countries, but the US eventually seemed to take credit for the culinary invention. Serving as a melting pot of cultures, the United States has long taken traditional foods from other countries and put its own spin on them.
Although these foods are not any less tasty because they’re not American-bred, you might hesitate the next time a friend asks if you want to get some “American” grub.
Fried chicken is inexplicably tied to the American South – though US citizens everywhere enjoy it. Although most assume the recipe originated somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line, it actually came about much farther north (and east).
Fried chicken was likely first cooked up in Great Britain – either Scotland or England.
One of the first known recipes of fried chicken was found in a 1747 cookbook, which describes the process of frying battered chicken. Another record of fried chicken comes from biographer James Boswell, who wrote in his 1773 diary entry about eating what was essentially fried chicken on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
It’s theorized that these Scottish and English settlers brought their fried chicken recipes to the Southern US, where enslaved people prepared the dish. Over time, the food became a much beloved entree of Southern meals.
Peanut butter has a long history in America. In 1895, John Harvey Kellogg filed a patent for a peanut paste process. The product was made specifically to treat ailments at the Battle Creek Sanitarium – essentially a wellness spa where huge names like Amelia Earhart, Sojourner Truth, and Henry Ford all sought Kellogg’s treatments.
Kellogg, however, didn’t invent peanut butter. That honor goes to Marcellus Gilmore Edson of Canada, the creator of peanut paste and holder of the first patent.
Chewy, fruity Starburst candies were not created in the US – and initially had a different name. Starburst, released in 1960 in the UK as “Opal Fruits,” got a new name when introduced in the United States.
In 1967, a new candy called M&M’s Fruit Chewies hit shelves. But the candies weren’t performing as well as Mars wanted, so the company renamed them again, to Starburst.
When Mars tried to change Opal Fruits to Starburst in the UK, an uproar ensued – and Opal Fruits were brought back for a limited time.
How ironic is it that perhaps the most American dessert was actually created in the land of the country’s former rulers?
Apple pie can trace its roots to England in the 14th century. In a recipe from 1381, the pie called for apples – along with saffron, pears, and raisins.
Yet these pies often weren’t made with sugar, and the crust wasn’t meant to be eaten; it was more of a baking container for the fruity innards to cook.
The American connection to apple pie might have taken off in the latter part of colonial history, when colonists often had to show some improvement of land to maintain ownership of it, and fruit trees were an easy way to add value.
With plenty of spare apples lying around, pie was an easy way to put them to good use.
In America, you can find dozens, if not hundreds, of varieties of macaroni and cheese. From homemade to boxed dinners, nearly everyone has their preferred way to prepare the adored pasta dish.
But again, this meal is a transplant. We got our mac and cheese recipe from a country known for its penchant for pasta: Italy.
The first mac and cheese recipe dates back to the 13th century, and was found in an Italian cookbook. Back then, the dish called for pasta cut into 2-inch squares, which were cooked in water, then tossed with a grated cheese (most likely Parmesan).
Macaroni and cheese gained popularity in the US during the time of the colonists – with Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef, James Hemmings, likely creating the recipe we love today.
Although mayonnaise has a presence elsewhere in the world, it’s a staple in almost every diner in America. Yet, this condiment was created far from American shores.
Two countries claim to have invented mayonnaise: Spain and France.
Spain’s story is that after the country won a battle during the Seven Years’ War at Port Mahon on the Mediterranean island of Minorca (now part of Spain), Duke de Richelieu’s chef wanted to create a special sauce for the celebration. Lacking cream, the chef invented a sauce consisting of egg and oil, and named it “mahonnaise” after the port. It’s also been suggested that the chef got the recipe from the island’s residents.
The French don’t have a specific origin story to pit against the Spanish tale – they mostly come back to the origin of the name of “mayonnaise,” which could have come from “manier,” meaning “to handle,” or “moyeu,” an old French word for yolk.
By the 18th century, however, the French had popularized the sauce, which is likely how it became known in America. Once it reached the US, it became a popular ingredient in dishes like potato salad, tomato salad, and Waldorf salad (a very popular dish of the late 1800s).
Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ have long battled it out for the title of the best doughnut in the US. But the first doughnuts could be from one of two locations on a different continent: the Netherlands or United Kingdom.
A recipe for olykoek, or fried dough balls filled with fruits, nuts, or spices, was found in a Dutch cookbook from 1667. It’s believed that when the Dutch settled in the northeastern United States, they brought the recipe with them, adding eggs and butter to lighten the consistency of the batter.
The Brits, however, claim that residents of Hertfordshire would fry balls of dough to celebrate Fat Tuesday while the rest of the country snacked on pancakes to celebrate the day before Lent. The first colonists brought this recipe to the US.
Watermelon is extremely popular in the United States, especially during summer. But it turns out this fruit wasn’t native to the United States, or even North America.
Watermelon, or at least its ancestor, started growing in Africa around 5,000 years ago. But the ancient watermelon was nothing like what we enjoy today – it was bitter with hard, green flesh.
Over the centuries, humans cultivated and chose sweeter seeds until they created the juicy melon that exists today.
Eventually, watermelon spread across the world through trade, and different varieties were created, which is how America ended up with its watermelon.
French fries get a lot of love across the world, but Americans really like their fries – seasoning and preparing them in dozens of different ways.
French fries are neither French nor American. Some claim that a street vendor in Paris created them. But most historians agree that Belgians were the masterminds behind the dish.
In the 17th century, Belgians decided to fry thin potato strips to echo fried fish during winter, when they couldn’t catch any more fish for the season. They were dubbed “French” perhaps because French is spoken in Belgium, or the word (lowercase) supposedly also refers to the way the potatoes are prepared: The word “french” as a verb means to cut a food into strips for cooking.
The fried spud’s overseas journey might have been thanks to Thomas Jefferson, who first served potatoes in a “French manner” in 1802.
Grilling hamburgers on a hot summer day is an American pastime. And although Americans had a hand in the final version of the beloved food item, the foundation of the hamburger (AKA the burger) was created elsewhere, not surprisingly in Hamburg, Germany.
This version of the hamburger, called “chopped beef,” was essentially a beef patty served with gravy, onion, and potato.
The sandwich we now know was actually created in the US Midwest, when several different state fairs decided to put the “hamburger steak” on bread, to make it more portable to eat.
In the US, you can find nearly every kind of candy bar, from marshmallow to nugget to caramel-filled. But for perhaps the most famous variety – the chocolate bar – Americans can thank the British.
In 1847, Joseph Fry wanted to make popular liquid chocolate into a solid form. He concocted a mixture of sugar, cocoa, and cocoa powder, creating a paste thick enough to shape into a mold. However, this original candy bar was more bittersweet than the sugary treat we’re used to.
Chocolate bars really took off in America when Milton S. Hershey created the first American-made milk chocolate bar – which grew into t
Chowing down on a hot dog at a baseball game – is there a more American scene? Well, there might be – because hot dogs weren’t actually invented in America.
We have to go across the pond to Germany for the origins of the sausage treat, but the actual creation site is hotly debated.
In one corner, Frankfurt claims it created the hot dog in 1484 – which is why one of the nicknames for a hot dog is “frankfurter.” On the other side of the country is Vienna (known as Wien in Germany), which locals claim was the true origin site for hot dogs, or as they say, “wienerwurst.”
We can thank Nathan Handwerker for the hot dog craze in America. Handwerker was a Polish immigrant who opened a little hot dog stand in 1916 you may have heard of – Nathan’s Famous.