# Foods that were separated at birth **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111 "2017-06-16T13:22:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/1 "2017-06-16T13:22:45Z")
Yesterday, I tried fried halloumi for the first time. It looked like tofu. It tasted like tofu. It _textured_ like tofu. Has anyone ever seen halloumi and tofu in the same room together? Didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/2 "2017-06-16T13:26:00Z")
I eat both on a regular basis, and I am utterly confused; they’re nothing alike in taste or texture to me. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/3 "2017-06-16T13:30:14Z")
Well, my mother said it wasn’t quite “real” halloumi because it was probably made from cow milk instead of sheep or goat, maybe that’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/4 "2017-06-16T16:22:29Z")
Germany and India, of all places, managed to independently come up with the same salad. Except Germany calls it “gerkensalat”, and India calls it “raita”. And every culture on the planet has some sort of dumpling. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/5 "2017-06-19T02:41:22Z")
There’s one food every culture on Earth invents independently, so it’s never borrowed from anywhere else: The [Swadesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swadesh_list) meatball. More seriously, multiple cultures independently invented something which can be broadly described as “flat bread with stuff on it”, with the precise nature of the bread and the stuff varying by place. ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/6 "2017-06-19T02:53:32Z")
Why does every culture (except Moslems) like pork with beans? Baked fish encased in mud Roasted tongue Gelatinized front legs Ham for the rear legs Cured or salted belly Steaks ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/7 "2017-06-19T03:09:52Z")
Sounds like every dinner with my family. “Mom! Can I have another serving of gelatinized front legs?” “Not until you finish your baked fish encased in mud! I spent all day scooping up that mud and it’s not going to waste!” ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/8 "2017-06-19T04:20:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Germany and India, of all places, managed to independently come up with the same salad. Except Germany calls it “gerkensalat”, and India calls it “raita”. > > And every culture on the planet has some sort of dumpling. Huh? To me, raita is a sort of cacik-like yoghurt-based dip with cucumber, while gurkensalat is simply sliced cucumbers done up as a salad… Except for the cucumber, they don’t seem terribly alike to me. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/9 "2017-06-19T04:26:22Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Sounds like every dinner with my family. > > “Mom! Can I have another serving of gelatinized front legs?” > “Not until you finish your baked fish encased in mud! I spent all day scooping up that mud and it’s not going to waste!” Mmmmm, yeah. Especially for Shabbes. BARF!! 😕 Keep going, nothing to see here… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/10 "2017-06-19T04:48:10Z")
Sausages, Wine-like drinks, sometimes cheese (not so much in Asian or African locales). Pork Shoulder is used heavily and differently in different cultures and developed separately even though pork was introduced to the culture from somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/11 "2017-06-19T07:04:17Z")
I’ve never had the OP’s cheese but many cheeses throughout the world are feta-esque. Rak , ouzo, sambuca, arak, mastika, pastis, and absinthe are all pretty similar, except that the last two are yellow and green, respectively, while the rest are clear in their unmixed state. Most turn cloudy white with water. Lots of foods are claimed equally by the Greeks, Turks, and Armenians. Not to mention various Middle East countries. Sometimes identical, but different names. > [@Chronos](#): > > Germany and India, of all places, managed to independently come up with the same salad. Except Germany calls it “gerkensalat”, and India calls it “raita”. > > And every culture on the planet has some sort of dumpling. In what world is raita the cousin of cucumber salad? I (and Google) know it as something very similar to tzatziki (yogurt sauce). There might be an Indian salad that has it mixed in there of course. ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/12 "2017-06-19T07:18:49Z")
What I’m wondering is why every culture (except Inuit?) would bother to cultivate cucumber. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/13 "2017-06-19T12:46:42Z")
Well, I’ve had Indian salad consisting of cucumbers in yogurt dressing described as “raita”, and I’ve had a German salad consisting of cucumbers in sour cream dressing described as “gerkinsalat”. OK, I’ll grant that yogurt and sour cream aren’t exactly the same thing, but they’re awfully close. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/14 "2017-06-19T14:12:03Z")
I gave up sour cream long ago in favor of yogurt. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/15 "2017-06-19T15:32:38Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#): > > What I’m wondering is why every culture (except Inuit?) would bother to cultivate cucumber. Because cucumbers are yummy, of course. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/16 "2017-06-19T15:41:44Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Because cucumbers are yummy, of course. Along with tomatoes, they are my favorite summer vegetables (and don’t start with the fruit business.) Delicious and thirst quenching. Plus without them, you don’t have pickles (as in pickled cucumbers) and relish! What hamburger or hot dog is complete without one of these? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/17 "2017-06-19T17:06:42Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I gave up sour cream long ago in favor of yogurt. But they’re both so good in such completely different ways! Yogurt in indian curries or with dried fruit and grains thrown in, sour cream for chili-based dishes, baked potatoes to name but a few of each’s uses. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/18 "2017-06-19T17:53:41Z")
Scrapple and white pudding. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/19 "2017-06-19T18:28:27Z")
Milk and veal? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111/20 "2017-06-19T18:41:35Z")
I’m not sure if this ii exactly what you’re looking for but unripe mango tastes like carrots to me (with a little bit of sweetness). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-were-separated-at-birth/789111.md?page=2)