# Foods named after geography **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343 "2004-02-21T07:14:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/1 "2004-02-21T07:14:17Z")
While traveling in the NE part of the U.S., I kept running into something called a Michigan sandwhich. I’ve lived in Michigan most of my life and never heard of one. So what other geogrphically named foods can’t you get in the area they’re named after? (Boston or Manhattan clam chowder, Boston baked beans, Coney Islands, etc.) Also, if anyone knows what constitutes a Michigan sandwhich, I’d greatly appreciate the knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/2 "2004-02-21T07:37:49Z")
A classic example is the traditional French Canadian _Pâté chinois_ (Chinese pâté), a type of shepherd’s pie. There’s nothing even remotely Chinese about it. The name apparently comes from the dish being served to Chinese immigrants working on the trans-Canadian railroad, back in the 19th century. In Quebec, and apparently Vermont also, a michigan is a type of hot-dog. [Read about it here.](http://www.pressrepublican.com/michigans/michigans_duquette.htm) In certain parts of Japan, ramen is called _chuka-soba_, or “Chinese soba”. In China, the exact same dish is called “Japanese lamien”. ---
**Author:** ![sam239](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@sam239](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sam239)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/3 "2004-02-21T07:48:25Z")
not sure, but how 'bout Canadian bacon? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/4 "2004-02-21T07:54:28Z")
This doesn’t count really, since it’s not geographically named, but the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee is in the middle of a dry county (a place where liquor cannot be bought to those unfamilar with the term) so even though it’s produced there, you can’t legally buy it nor, do I think, can the tasters even swallow it. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/5 "2004-02-21T09:10:00Z")
How about Thousand Island dressing? Philly cheesesteaks? Buffalo wings? Hang on. You said things you can’t get in the places they’re named after. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/6 "2004-02-21T09:10:51Z")
French Toast Russian Dressing ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/7 "2004-02-21T13:54:04Z")
Cuban sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/8 "2004-02-21T15:17:21Z")
> [@Antonius Block](#): > > French Toast > Russian Dressing … or even French dressing, as a matter of fact. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/9 "2004-02-21T19:21:08Z")
Long Island Ice Tea Baked Alaska Yorkshire Pudding ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/10 "2004-02-21T19:42:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Cuban sandwich. Is this a whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/11 "2004-02-21T20:33:19Z")
It seems that 50% of the people here only read the subject lines, not the posts themselves. In the east and midwest I have seen a “Denver Omlette”, which has diced bell peppers and ham in it. I suppose you could get one here, but I have never seen it on a menu. Bell peppers are kinda mild for the taste buds of this region. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/12 "2004-02-21T20:37:11Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > Is this a whoosh? No, a Cuban sandwich is very good! It has sliced ham and roast pork, swiss cheese, pickles, and perhaps mustard or mayo, all piled on Cuban bread (similar to French bread, but usually softer and sweeter, and made with lard!) and pressed so it comes out crispy and melty. Awesome sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/13 "2004-02-21T20:52:58Z")
Danish pastry Sauce espagnole Hollandaise sauce Portugeuse bread Swedish meatballs Belgian chocolates Dutched cocoa Polish sausage ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/14 "2004-02-22T03:22:03Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > No, a Cuban sandwich is very good! Yes, I know what a Cuban sandwich is, and I understand that for you carnivore types, they certainly represent an epoch of sandwichery. **However** , I was asking if **Bricker** was trying to whoosh us by suggesting that you can’t get a Cuban sandwich in Cuba. Cuban sandwiches were introduced to the U.S. by Cuban immigrants, so presumably they’re something which came from Cuba, or at least a version of something that could be had in Cuba back when Cubans were able to get ham and pork in sufficient quantities. Am I wrong in my understanding of their origins, was Bricker wrong in how he read the OP or was there, as I initially suggested, a whoosh in progress? Inquiring minds would like to know! ---
**Author:** ![violacrane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c57346/32.png) [@violacrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violacrane)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/15 "2004-02-22T05:00:02Z")
In Siena, Italy I came across a “London” sandwich (can’t remember what London is in Italian, sorry). This was obviously based on the common or garden British egg salad sandwich – lettuce, tomato, cucumber and hard boiled egg between two slices of bread – but this version used a single slice of bread and had some kind of aspic to stick the egg etc onto it. I thought it was kinda sweet that someone had wanted to recreate the egg salad sandwich they had had in London and they were pretty good, I went back for a second one. ---
**Author:** ![Melandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Melandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melandry)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/16 "2004-02-22T17:28:40Z")
The Caffe Americano- while of course now you can get these at any Starbucks I can’t imagine that when this espresso-based imitation of American drip coffee was first invented you could get one anywhere in America. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/17 "2004-02-22T21:25:49Z")
The elementary school I went to when I was growing up in New York would sometimes serve what they always referred to on the menu as “Real Italian Pizza”. I have never been to Italy but I am reasonably confident that nowhere in that lovely country would you be served something that resembled this particular item. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/18 "2004-02-22T22:45:43Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > Cuban sandwiches were introduced to the U.S. by Cuban immigrants, When would that have been? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/19 "2004-02-23T00:06:24Z")
There is pastry commonly found in Germany called “The Americaner”. It is rarely found in the United States, and places that serve it usually just call it “The Black and White Cookie.” I read an article saying that some bakeries were renaming “The Americaner” to “The Peace Pastry” as revenge for the whole freedom fries business. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/20 "2004-02-23T00:19:19Z")
Jalapeños are named after a place in Veracruz called Jalapa. Tequila was first made in the town of Tequila, Jalisco Tecate beer is made in Tecate, Baja Califronia The Ceasar Salad is named after the Ceasar hotel in Tijuana, Baja California (the hotel doesn’t exist anymore) Tabasco sauce is named after the state of Tabasco [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343.md?page=2)