8 Foods That Don't Come From Where You Think

The sandwich was not invented in England. The fourth Earl of Sandwich did not invent the sandwich. As the legend goes Edward Montagu, too absorbed in his gambling addiction, ordered a servant to place beef between two slices of bread so that he could continue with his cards. The combination of filling 'sandwiched' between bread was hence named after the Earl.

People have been putting things between bread since 'things' and 'bread' were a thing, what the Earl did was name the assemblage. The first sandwich on record is actually the product of a 1st century BC rabbi by the way.

This doesn't stop us from associating the sandwich with the Earl and the place of origin as Britain and therein lies a problem. We look at a particular dish and either through the name or the design or even bad information make assumptions on where the food came from. It's not a world ending problem but by not knowing the truth it keeps us from learning more about our shared history, we all gotta eat after all.

Sometimes the mistake is just plain ignorance, like when an American supermarket invented 'puff dog' by wrapping a sausage in puff pastry, this of course is a sausage roll. They invented nothing, just cause for embarrassment.

Sauerkraut is really important. It may not seem that way but when you look at the impact it had on the age of exploration then it's hard to ignore Sauerkraut's standing in history. Despite its importance sauerkraut is really a marmite kind of food either you love it or hate it. But a defining trait of the pungent product is that is very much German... or is it? Sauerkraut has been a staple of the German diet since the 1600s, before Germany was even Germany.

Despite being so linked to Germany it was used as an idiom for German people, Sauerkraut is very much a product of the China who would ferment shredder cabbage in rice wine. It was eaten by labourers constructing the great wall of China and was brought to Europe by Genghis Khan sometime in the 13th century.