Even Chinese street food you bing “Pancakes” are akin to pizza.
tempura
The Japanese get all the credit for this style of cooking, which is not unique to Japan.Credit: iStock
The Japanese get all the credit for this style of cooking, but there is nothing unusual about battering and frying various types of ingredients, especially vegetables and fish. In fact, it was the Portuguese who introduced the technique to Japan in the 16th century, and Jewish Portuguese immigrants who launched fish and chips in England in the 1860s.
In India, pakoras i bhajis they are very similar to tempura and have been included in cookbooks for a thousand years.
sauerkraut
There's nothing more German than this sauerkraut dish, right? bad
The name is uniquely German, as the concept probably originated in ancient Roman times and has equivalents in Central and Eastern Europe.
The only thing German about sauerkraut is the name.Credit: iStock
Pickling vegetables is also widespread in other cuisines, from Iranian and Turkish to Chinese. The most famous these days might be kimchi. It doesn't have to be spicy, although kimchi has a different texture to sauerkraut because it uses Chinese cabbage.
Apple pie
The expression “as American as apple pie” originated in the early 20th century, when apple pies became (obscurely) associated with patriotism.
Apple Pie: Not so American.Credit: Alamy
Many other people must have been surprised to hear that apple pie was American. Recipes for apple pie appeared in European apple-producing nations as early as the 14th century.
Apple pie is particularly associated with England, Sweden and the Netherlands. Variations include tart (France), cake (again in Sweden) and strudel (Austria).
Dumplings
Dumplings are likely reminiscent of China, although the Chinese language has no general word for dumplings, using jiaozi, huntun (or cheeky), baozi and others according to the style.
Dumplings are widespread in Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Italy.Credit: Wayne Taylor
This should alert you to the huge variation in cooked and filled dough. This simple culinary delight is found everywhere, from West Africa to Brazil, from Jamaica to Central Asia.
And although dumplings have faded from British and French cuisine, they remain widespread in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and (as ravioli and tortellini) in Italy.
samosas
The samosa is not originally from India, but from Central Asia, where today it can be snacked on samsa, which are similar and often triangular in shape, but baked instead of fried.
Indian samosas are not so different from Cornish pasties.Credit: iStock
Then there is Burmese samosa, which is often cut into salad, the sambousek of Arabic cuisine, Southeast Asian curry puff and the borek and its variants in the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East.
And are samosas really that different from business figures and Cornish pasties?
Schnitzel
The origin of the Wiener (or Vienna) schnitzel is obscure, but it emerged in the 1830s, probably inspired by cutlet Milanese from northern Italy. But it doesn't matter, as the schnitzel is not unique.
All variations of the schnitzel are probably inspired by the cotoletta alla milanese of Northern Italy.Credit: Eddie Jim
Poland has its own version (kotlet droboiwy), and France has cordon bleu stuffed with cheese and ham, which probably originated in Switzerland.
Argentina has layers of milanese with mozzarella, and Australians have parmigiana, actually an American invention from the 1950s. And let's not forget the Japanese tonkatsu
ice cream
While it is true that Europeans are responsible for the global spread of ice cream, similar foods have existed for a long time, for example, since 550 BC in Persia.
Malaysian ice kacang is a long-standing variation on the ice cream theme.Credit: iStock
The ancient Romans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and the 16th-century Mughals in India are among the people who used shaved ice to produce sherbets and sweets, and a 13th-century Syrian cookbook first recorded the manufacture of artificial ice.
indian kulfi, Syrian drink and the ice of Southeast Asia kacang are the current variations on the theme.
nachos
Nachos are a Tex-Mex creation that dates back to 1943.Credit: Walter Peeters
Nothing more Mexican than nachos, eh? We imagine the Aztecs must have been eating them forever.
Nachos are actually a Tex-Mex invention dating back to 1943, although Mexico had earlier equivalents such as toasted French fries or French fries are older: they originated in Britain before the beginning of the 19th century, when they were first described in a cookbook.
In the Caribbean and Southeast Asia, other ingredients such as plantain and cassava are chopped, and the Indonesian shrimp cracker is centuries old.
