French Dip au Jus
Something this messy couldn't have possibly come from France. And it didn't. It's another Los Angeles original, with two restaurants competing for the title of truly original French dip.
Image via Skinny Taste
Garlic Bread
But all the Italian restaurants serve it! Well, they're not really Italian, either. Garlic bread became a thing after WWII veterans demanded food they ate while overseas. Margarine and garlic on toast was the closest they could get to bruschetta.
Image via PBS
General Tso's Chicken
General Tso's chicken is the result of Chinese immigrants trying to get Americans to like their food. The food from the Hunan region was too spicy for the bland Euro palate. So New York restaurateurs dumped in a bunch of sugar and — surprise, surprise — it became an instant (American) classic.
Image via wikipedia
Nachos
A Texas tortilla factory came up with the idea of melting cheese and piling on other available ingredients in order to sell the leftover bits of their unsold tortillas.
Image via studio212
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Nothing says Italian like spaghetti and meatballs — but only to Americans. Because it's not even really an Italian dish, certainly not with such big meatballs.
Image via Food Network
Vichyssoise
Nothing says old-school French like a bowl of chilled potato vichyssoise soup. But only if that old school is in New York, where the dish was created.
Image via Capital New York
Cuban Sandwich
The Cuban sandwich was created to sell to Cubans working at cigar factories — in Florida. Which really is what explains that whole yellow mustard thing.
Image via Food Network
English Muffins
Somehow, crumpet-like things called English muffins happened, but it was in, again, New York, where apparently all fake ethnic food made its debut.
Image via BrowneyedBaker
German Chocolate Cake
This classic has been a fake ethnic food for more than 150 years, which explains why we'd eat something with the texture of sticky cuticles. The "dark" chocolate used to make the cake was created by a guy named Sam German. And he wasn't even really German, either.
Image via the Recipes Book
Fortune Cookie
And, of course, no meal from a Chinese restaurant in the U.S. ends without the passing out of fortune cookies. Cracking open these treats and reading your fortune isn't an ancient tradition nor inspired by Confucius. They're straight outta California.
