Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Yesterday I had a funny conversation with a Russian about russian salad and all these stuffs called « russian » and barely heard of in Russia ... It also works with other stuffs like roller coaster named « russian mountains » in several languages and, interestingly, « American mountains » in russian :)

...But let's get serious and focus on food. There are actually tons of such things : it took me time to understand what a french toast was. I might have seen more jamon york in Spain than in UK, and the ragù eaten in Bologna has few in common with the worldwide famous spaghetti sauce...

surely you guys also have lots of funny ones to share ?

ICH BIN EIN BERLINER.

I didn't know that french toast and pain perdu were the same thing for like...16 years. Because my family all pronounces it really really really cajunized so it sounds more like "pain padu" It took way too long for me to figure out it was only me and my family and my cousins that ever talked about "pain padu" and hey, maybe that's not even a thing.

I never heard of Russian salad so I looked it up and the comments on the recipe were this
"Usually people outside of former-USSR call it Russian Salad, however its original name is Salad Olivier.

This salad was and maybe still is the most traditional dish for the home New Year celebration for russian people. Hope you will like it too."

So I'm guessing that isn't true?

Mexican Wedding cookies are the ones I thought were funny. Maybe they are called wedding cookies because they are white?

Hot Dog! It's not a place but still, it's not a dog!



I made the for a work party and someone later called them Latino Wedding cookies! I think it was a misguided attempt at being PC.

I looked up hot dog on Wikipedia... umm, something I probably didn't need to know although it seems there is some controversy on the origin of the name, early hot dogs suspected ingredients is one theory.

I had to investigate on "salade olivier" - yeah apparently they say this russian salad actually comes from there (no idea whether it is common in russia though?) anyway: I should have specified that I was actually referring to spanish russian salads ... (that apparently contain olives and/or tuna or seafood) :P

..annnnnnd: wikipedia says mexican wedding cookies are also called "Russian tea cakes" !

Oh I found that one, that is interesting. The comment I saw about that is:
"The name for potato salad in Spain is ensaladilla rusa, or Russian Salad. Why? It is said that a Russian invented the salad in the late XIX century. We don’t know what the original Russian salad was like, but the Spanish have made their own version and eat it as a tapa or a side dish. Many families even prepare home-made mayonnaise to dress it."

So maybe one guy, who lived in Spain and happened to be Russian invented it?

yes, inspiration travels and get adapted to the local taste and available food :)

...That's like a filled donut, right? (cherry jam?)

People speak of "Long Island bagels" in certain places I could name, but in the New York region (including Long Island), they're "everything bagels."

It's interesting how the place name food names are almost always rejected in the place itself, even where you don't have language barriers. Kind of interesting. Not that interesting.

I mean...french fries, amirite?

why does a california burrito have potatoes? not that i'm complaining about the potatoes, but shouldn't that be an idaho burrito?

English muffins.

In Dutch, steak tartare on bread is known as Filet Americain.

There's French dressing in the US that probably doesn't come from France. I may be wrong about that.

I guess American cheese is an exception to the rule.

Belgian waffles! I wish we had vegan Belgian waffle trucks like PDX does.

Russian salad is called French salad here and in a few neighbouring countries. Now, this is wrong.

Jerusalem artichokes aren't from Jerusalem. Words for Jerusalem and sunflower are similar in Italian. And they aren't artichokes.

"Swiss chard isn't native to Switzerland, but the Swiss botanist Koch determined the scientific name of this plant in the 19th century and since then, its name has honored his homeland." http://www.natureandmore.com/products/swiss-chard

From Wikipedia: "The Brussels sprout has long been popular in Brussels, Belgium, and may have originated there." www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq.html#brussels (I can't open that reference)
But, the name of the genus, Brassica, is too similar to Brussels, for the name to not be distorted Brassica sprouts :/

Turkey is called Turkey because they came to Europe via Turkey. Many people here call pumpkins, and also corn, "Turkinja" - "Turk(ish woman)".

Woah I had no idea they were referred to as Long Island bagels. I would have assumed they were talking about bagels in general that are made in Long Island.

They're "everything bagels" out here too. I've never heard the term "Long Island bagels."

Me neither, I think mumbles is making stuff up (again)

Bismarck icing nozzles (the long thin kind you'd use to fill a donut). No idea.

Italian salad dressing is not Italian...but then again, many recipes considered Italian are not Italian! Like Italian bread.

Buffalo wings are just called chicken wings in buffalo.