# Foreign food taken and made their own?



## Korin_Mari (Mar 18, 2015)

Ramen has become so wildly popular over the past few years and izakaya food (Japanese bar food) is super trendy (and if you're in NY, expensive). But if you really think about it... Ramen isn't REALLY Japanese. It is NOW, but it wasn't originally. Originally, it was Chinese. And honestly, a lot of izakaya food came from somewhere else too. There is of course, nothing wrong with this. It happens with any country that has been occupied, lost a war, or interacts with different countries. To list a few, Japanese curry was derived from British navy food (which obviously came from India), doria probably came from Italy somehow, and Japanese people mix all sorts of odd things with spaghetti. I don't know where half of my favorite Japanese comfort food comes from. All I know is that it is listed under "yoshoku" or western food. It's all food that they've adopted and changed to match their taste. 

I was wondering what food other countries have taken and made their own in this way. Anything in your home country?


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## Zwiefel (Mar 18, 2015)

Tex-Mex would be a good example in the US.
I believe spaghetti was originally invented by the Chinese and imported into Italy.


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## Timthebeaver (Mar 18, 2015)

British curry house (Anglo-Indian/Bangladeshi). So good.

Such is its popularity, in 2001 the then Foreign Secretary (Robin Cook) declared Chicken Tikka Masala the national dish.


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## Zwiefel (Mar 18, 2015)

Oh, almost forgot one of my favorites: Indo-Chinese...very popular in India.


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## TurdMuffin (Mar 18, 2015)

Tomatoes started in the americas and aare pretty prevalent in italian cuisine.
On the other side pizza in america (chicago, nyc) has been made our own as opposed to italian.


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## Lizzardborn (Mar 18, 2015)

Check the Russian/Eastern Europe/Balkans/Arab cuisines. It is a giant mix, with just enough innovation to make stuff interesting. 

The way dishes travel trough cultures is fascinating. Where I live there is Russian Salad, in Russia it is known as French Salad - it was brought to Russia during the Napoleon wars and so on.
Pita, dumplings, flat breads, dips - almost any item is absolutely traditional and representing the soul of the nation and digging deeper you find that it was borrowed from somewhere else.


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## schanop (Mar 18, 2015)

Chilli made its way to Sichuan, Thailand, and other South East Asia countries.

More than half of Thai street food is Chinese in origin.


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## Mucho Bocho (Mar 18, 2015)

General Tso Chicken

General Tso's chicken is a sweet, slightly spicy, deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in American Chinese restaurants. The dish is most commonly regarded as a Hunanese dish, although it was unknown in China and other lands home to the Chinese diaspora before it was introduced by chefs returning from the United States.

The dish is named after General Tso Tsung-tang, or Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty general and statesman, although there is no recorded connection to him. The real roots of the dish lie in the post-1949 exodus of chefs to the United States.


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## ecchef (Mar 18, 2015)

Taco rice.


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## Zwiefel (Mar 18, 2015)

ecchef said:


> Taco rice.



I need this. right. now.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_rice

It's nachos with rice instead of chips!


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## erickso1 (Mar 18, 2015)

Zwiefel said:


> Oh, almost forgot one of my favorites: Indo-Chinese...very popular in India.



There's an indo-Chinese place in Austin that's supposed to be quite good. It's called Chicken Lollypop. 

I haven't been, but people here love it. It's in the back of a convenience store in north Austin.


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## ecchef (Mar 18, 2015)

Zwiefel said:


> I need this. right. now.
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_rice
> ...



The thing with taco rice is that all the ingredients are available in the states, so that you can make the real deal back home. So is it considered of foreign origin made with domestic ingredients in the US then as well? 

Another one is 'tuna mayo' onigiri. Basically a rice ball filled with tuna salad. Quite a good snack actually.


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## Fritzkrieg (Mar 18, 2015)

We have some good Poutine here, co opted from Canada.

Also, currywurst is a strange hybrid!


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## easy13 (Mar 18, 2015)

Jamaican Chinese Food - Jamaican/Chinese (Miami,Brooklyn), Hawaiian Plate Lunch - Japanese/Portugese/Hawaiian/American (Hawaii), Yaka Mein - Chinese/Japanese/African Anerican (New Orleans), Delta Tamales - Latin America/America (Mississippi Delta)


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## daveb (Mar 18, 2015)

Beer.


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## mhlee (Mar 18, 2015)

Fish Tacos in Baja. Japanese Tenpura (I purposely put the "n" in there because that's the correct sound in Japanese, not "tem") brought to Mexico by Japanese farmers and adopted by Mexicans in Baja as a filling for tacos.


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## Castalia (Mar 18, 2015)

Food on the island of Mauritius is quite a hybrid of African Creole, Indian, Chinese, French, British given the history there. All the food is delicious but it is up there on the list of eclectic cuisines.

http://www.mijorecipes.com/category/easy-mauritian-recipes/

http://ile-maurice.tripod.com/index.html


I was lucky enough to spend about two weeks there in 2010. Yum!

:hungry:


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## ecchef (Mar 19, 2015)

mhlee said:


> Fish Tacos in Baja. Japanese Tenpura (I purposely put the "n" in there because that's the correct sound in Japanese, not "tem") brought to Mexico by Japanese farmers and adopted by Mexicans in Baja as a filling for tacos.



And brought to Japan by the Portuguese. Good call on the correct pronunciation Mike.


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## Korin_Mari (Mar 19, 2015)

Castalia said:


> Food on the island of Mauritius is quite a hybrid of African Creole, Indian, Chinese, French, British given the history there. All the food is delicious but it is up there on the list of eclectic cuisines.
> 
> http://www.mijorecipes.com/category/easy-mauritian-recipes/
> 
> ...



Wow, that's awesome! I wonder if I can find Mauritius food in NY. I've never even heard of this place before! So curious.



ecchef said:


> And brought to Japan by the Portuguese. Good call on the correct pronunciation Mike.



Interesting! I didn't know tenpura was brought by the Portuguese. I was always curious, when Japan started frying things. I know castella is Portuguese.


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## Korin_Mari (Mar 19, 2015)

Zwiefel said:


> I need this. right. now.
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_rice
> ...



Omg what? I didn't know this was a thing. Sounds so good!


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## toddnmd (Mar 19, 2015)

Mucho Bocho said:


> General Tso Chicken
> General Tso's chicken is a sweet, slightly spicy, deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in American Chinese restaurants. The dish is most commonly regarded as a Hunanese dish, although it was unknown in China and other lands home to the Chinese diaspora before it was introduced by chefs returning from the United States.
> The dish is named after General Tso Tsung-tang, or Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty general and statesman, although there is no recorded connection to him. The real roots of the dish lie in the post-1949 exodus of chefs to the United States.



In January, a documentary was released about this dish--it is called "The Search for General Tso." I recommend it as worth watching (ideally while eating some of the dish!)


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## mhlee (Mar 19, 2015)

ecchef said:


> And brought to Japan by the Portuguese. Good call on the correct pronunciation Mike.



And, likewise re: the Portuguese.


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## Castalia (Mar 19, 2015)

Korin_Mari said:


> Omg what? I didn't know this was a thing. Sounds so good!



NYT article about travel and food there, but no North American Mauritian restaurants that I know of. Maybe an enterprising restauranteur will create Mauritian Outback Steakhouse, but I hope not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/travel/04mauritius.html?_r=0

vg:


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## Asteger (Mar 19, 2015)

Zwiefel said:


> I believe spaghetti was originally invented by the Chinese and imported into Italy.



Wive's tale, Zwiefel!


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## Zwiefel (Mar 19, 2015)

Asteger said:


> Wive's tale, Zwiefel!



Chinese wives, presumably?


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## TurdMuffin (Mar 19, 2015)

Cows were brought to the US and not much is more murrican than red meat


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## ecchef (Mar 19, 2015)

Korin_Mari said:


> Omg what? I didn't know this was a thing. Sounds so good!



You need to get down to our neck of the woods!


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## MikeHL (Mar 20, 2015)

Chinese egg tarts where a take on English and Portuguese egg custards. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## panda (Mar 20, 2015)

jajangmyeon - originally chinese noodle dish but became korea's national food.


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## Korin_Mari (Mar 20, 2015)

ecchef said:


> You need to get down to our neck of the woods!



Wait Dave, where are you? I thought you were in Okinawa. 

By the day, I love tuna mayo onigiri!! Oh man, have you tried the tamago kake onigiri? You can find it in Seven Elevens. It's SO good.


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## ecchef (Mar 20, 2015)

I am. It's shorts & t shirt weather already. :wink:

Haven't tried the Tamago kake yet, but the egg & 'spam' at FamilyMart isn't bad, if you ignore the un-healthiness of it.


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## JMJones (Mar 20, 2015)

I recently read that corned beef is not that popular in Ireland but was more of an Irish immigrant dish in the US due to the Irish closeness to Jewish immigrant's food such as pastrami.


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## strumke (Mar 20, 2015)

JMJones said:


> I recently read that corned beef is not that popular in Ireland but was more of an Irish immigrant dish in the US due to the Irish closeness to Jewish immigrant's food such as pastrami.



TRUE! I made a slew of corned beef for a work party last Tuesday and the contractors from Dublin never had it before. I'm happy that I gave them some awesome home cured beef, but they saw it as an American adaptation of their holiday.


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## Keith Sinclair (Mar 21, 2015)

daveb said:


> Beer.



Think most cultures enjoy & brew beer in modern societies, it has been around since beginning of agriculture. :beer:

The best Ramen I ever had was in Hokkaido.

The reason England has any good food is because of the immigrant population from former colonies & other various countries who bring in their culinary traditions.:whistling:


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## jimbob (Mar 21, 2015)

Can thank the French for some I my favourite Vietnamese food like pho and bhan mi


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## Zwiefel (Mar 21, 2015)

keithsaltydog said:


> Think most cultures enjoy & brew beer in modern societies, it has been around since beginning of agriculture. :beer:
> 
> The best Ramen I ever had was in Hokkaido.
> 
> The reason England has any good food is because of the immigrant population from former colonies & other various countries who bring in their culinary traditions.:whistling:



actually the food that the english were the best at was the spit roast...but there's not much of a market for that anymore. which is a [email protected] shame.


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## Korin_Mari (Mar 24, 2015)

jimbob said:


> Can thank the French for some I my favourite Vietnamese food like pho and bhan mi



Pho is french?!


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## daveb (Mar 24, 2015)

Who else would mispronounce a three letter word?:groucho:


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## panda (Mar 24, 2015)

how did london broil get its name? the brits i've met have never heard of it so it's clearly a 'murcan thing.


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## Korin_Mari (Mar 24, 2015)

daveb said:


> Who else would mispronounce a three letter word?:groucho:



LOL pho real. :laugh:


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## Korin_Mari (Mar 24, 2015)

panda said:


> how did london broil get its name? the brits i've met have never heard of it so it's clearly a 'murcan thing.



I heard that people gave it a fancy name as a way to market cheap meat. No clue though.


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## kostantinos (Mar 24, 2015)

i have a rather interesting one: Greek salad

This type of salad in the shape and form it is sold and prepared in United States originated in United States and got the name "Greek salad" because of its origins . It has been rather common and not noticeable as much of the immigrant food ways in the states until WWII when Greeks decided to resist the Italian invasion and later on the German war machine . 

Then somehow it become popular due to the praise the Greeks received for fighting back at a much more well equipped enemy and keeping the German forces Occupied for months and away from Russia--- Some credit the loss and destruction rendered to German forces in the harsh Russian winter to the months lost in the mediterranean fighting Greece-- .The social economics and view of the general public had changed dramatically in foreign countries after WWII and that created another opportunity for society to explore the foods and culture of Greece.

For those of you that have experience possibly with Greek food you might know by now that the american versions don't hold much but as a reference point to their Greek versions . Typically this type of salad would be called village salad or summer salad in Greece -&#935;&#969;&#961;&#953;&#945;&#964;&#953;&#954;&#951; &#951; &#920;&#949;&#961;&#953;&#957;&#951; &#963;&#945;&#955;&#945;&#964;&#945;- referring to the season it is most enjoyable, and it is usually composed of Feta ,tomatoes,red onions, olives ,oregano. During its many years of existence from Ancient times ---not in this form of course--- and until now things got added to the general forms of the salad e.g cucumbers are originally Persian of origin , Green bell peppers came from America , tomatoes came from the new world as well so yeah the Greek salad is an adaptation of an adaptation , and evolution that started thousands of years ago and evolved many many times to have the shape and form it has today .
You will Find that there has been a lot of cross over between cultures through the years and because of wars , occupation and vast empires that came and gone by now have affected societies in many different levels as well as with food.


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