The whole purpose of naming a dish or a food item should be to give a general idea of the ingredients or what it contains. Now to add a dash of humor, or even to mislead us, foods are often given misleading names which have nothing to do with the ingredients or even the origin of the dish. Similarly, you’ll often find that certain dishes contain the name of a place in them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the dish originated there. Take for example, hamburgers. The term “ham” is usually used specifically to denote pork or pork related meats. However, hamburgers usually refer to beef burgers. Interesting, isn’t it? Similarly, there are numerous food items which come with misleading names.
Here are some of them:
Bombay Duck
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For those of you who didn’t know, the Bombay Duck is not really a duck. As a matter of fact, it refers to a kind of fish. In Mumbai (previously Bombay), the local fishermen know this kind of fish by the name Bombil. During the British Raj, it was the British who named it Bombay Duck.
Buffalo wings
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Come on, chickens have wings, hence the name “chicken wings” is pretty apt. But buffaloes? How does that work? Turns out, the name has nothing to do with what buffalo meat, rather chicken is used in the dish. The dish, rather originated from the state called Buffalo in the United States. Talking of this dish, if you have not yet watched The Great Chicken Wing Hunt, go watch it to have a good laugh over this dish!
Gunpowder
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Say what? Who eats gunpowder? Of course, no one. If you did, you wouldn’t be alive today. So what do people mean, when they talk about gunpowder in their food? In South India, an amalgamation of the various spices creates a bright red color and is fiery to taste as well. Thus, the name gunpowder is pretty apt to describe it.
Caesar Salad
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According to popular belief, the famed Caesar salad has something to do with Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor. But in reality, there is nothing like that. For those of you who didn’t know, the Caesar salad is named after the man who invented it – Caesar Cardini.
Hot dog
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This has to be the funniest one. As a child, you must have wondered what the name meant. Well I truly did! Of course, hot dogs have nothing to do with dogs or even dog meat. Hot dogs are a thin piece of sausage stacked between a loaf of bread that has been sliced into half. This is usually served with mustard and sauce. But no one really knows why the dish has been named so. Come to think of it, does a hot dog remind anyone of Weenie from the popular children’s cartoon, Oswald?
These are just some of the many examples of foods and dishes that aren’t what they seem. Like these, there are several misleading names that are quite interesting when you dig into it. For instance, French fries have nothing to do with the French cuisine. As a matter of fact, French fries come from a Belgian origin. And the fruit kiwi does not have anything to do with the bird from New Zealand!
Do you know of more such food names that are deceptive? Comment below to share with our readers!
Read Also: Have You Tried These Crazy Junk Foods?
