I saw this in Reader’s Digest, written by Brandon Spektor, entitled “6 Foods you’d never guess were American”
Garlic Bread
Thought it was from Italy, it’s actually from Michigan: one tale is that soldiers serving in Italy during World War II were spoiled on bruschetta. Savvy chefs met the returning troops’ demand by slathering toasted white bread with garlic and margarine. In 1970, Cole’s Breads planted a foodie flag in Mcihigan by selling the world’s first frozen garlic bread.
Fortune Cookie
Thought it was from China, it’s actually from California: Tweaking a Japanese recipe, Makoto Hagiwari claims his San Francisco teahouse invented the modern paper-stuffed fortune cookie in 1914; David Jung says it was his Los Angeles noodle shop in 1918.
Chimichanga
Thought it was from Mexico, it’s actually from Arizona: Several chefs claim teh chimi as theirs, including the founder of El Charro Cafe. In 1950, she fumbled a burrito into some frying oil, she says. There were kids around, so she blurted out “chimichanga!” instead of the cuss word she wanted to use. The name stuck.
German Chocolate Cake
Thought it was from Germany, it’s actually from Massachusetts: The man who invented the sweet, dark chocolate at the core of this cake wasn’t German bu this name was. Boston Baker Sam German created a new type of bakingchocolate for Baker Chocolate Company in 1852; 100 years later, a Dallas paper popularized the recipe for “German chocolate cake.”
English Muffin
Thought it was from England, it’s actually from New York: Samuel Bath Thomas called his creations “toaster crumpets” when he debuted them at his New York baker, which opened in 1880. The term english muffins came later and you still see the name “Thomas” on english muffins in stores today.
Cuban Sandwich
Thought it was from Cuba, it’s actually from Florida: Tampa and Miami fight over where it was originated, but are in agreement that the sandwich was started as a cheap lunch offered to Cuban immigrants that were working in Florida’s cigar factories in the late 1800’s.