# That's not what that recipe means! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558 "2020-04-25T15:51:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/41 "2020-04-25T20:46:25Z")
I once had a “four-cheese” pizza at some place in the hinterland that included American cheese as one of the four cheeses.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/42 "2020-04-25T20:50:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > EDIT: **Acsenray** , the original “ketchup” was a fish sauce, and I’ve heard of mushroom and banana ketchups as well. Of course, none of those others caught on in the US. > [@terentii](#): > > Tomato ketchup caught on in America around the turn of the 20th century. Through most of the 19th, it could have been almost anything, and was used to camouflage the taste of spoiled or otherwise substandard meat. > > History Channel recently aired a very good documentary series on the origins of American food, everything from breakfast cereals to McDonald’s. Yes, I know the historical meaning of “ketchup” was fish sauce, but I’ve never seen any non-tomato-based ketchup in India, so I wonder why they need to specify. > [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, “enchilada” literally means “peppered”. The sauce might contain tomatoes, but it certainly shouldn’t be primarily tomatoes. > [@Colibri](#): > > Calling it “peppered” could be misleading in some places as well, thinking it might mean green or black pepper. Best to stick to chilies. Yes, I think it’s useful to make a distinction between “pepper” (piper) and “chili” (capsicum). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/43 "2020-04-25T20:54:15Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > The one that comes to mind for me is “tart” . > > I was on a cruise several years ago and this one drove me crazy. There were frequently menu items, both sweet and savory - described as a tart. Leek and cheese tart, apple tart. > > To me, as an American, a tart is a miniature- usually single serving -pie. But apparently the “miniature” part is an American thing. Because what you got was a slice from a full-sized pie. > > It’s a presentational thing and it didn’t materially change the taste of the dish, but I kept expecting a cute single serving pie and that’s not what I got. “Tartlet”? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/44 "2020-04-25T21:01:32Z")
Here in the US ‘corn flour’ is finely ground corn meal and ‘corn starch’ is corn starch. In the UK and other countries ‘corn flour’ is corn starch, and I have no idea if they can easily find corn meal that finely ground. I have heard of people using curry powder where curry leaves were called for because “It’s just ground up curry leaves, right?” I’ve seen baking soda used to tenderize beef called baking powder in more than one recipe that appeared to be translated. I found out the hard way you do not want to tenderize beef with baking powder. It will react with the fat and make it taste like soap. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/45 "2020-04-25T22:09:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The Yorkshireman and the Canadian are being very subtle. RealityChuck, could you oblige us with a Chicagoan’s specific objections to that recipe? The recipe uses a beef hot dog, fresh green relish, sport peppers (a particular variety) and a poppy seed roll. This recipe is a big deal in Chicago; you don’t mess with it. > **[Chicago-style hot dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago-style_hot_dog)** > > A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers (a variety of Capsicum annuum), and a dash of celery salt. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be "dragged through the garden" due to the m The canonical recipe ... ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/46 "2020-04-25T22:18:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It’s probably like eating a pizza with a knife and fork in New York. I occasionally will eat pizza with a knife and fork, depending on its structural integrity. I’m an iconoclast, just busting icons left and right. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/47 "2020-04-25T22:34:28Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I once had a “four-cheese” pizza at some place in the hinterland that included American cheese as one of the four cheeses.:eek: Exactly this! Swing and a miss… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/48 "2020-04-25T22:39:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Hamburgers come to mind immediately. For a long time, and as recently as the 80s/90s, the quintessential American ground beef burger was a mystery to Europeans, who couldn’t seem to get the idea that the only ingredient was ground beef and not ground ham. I’ve had them with ground pork, with ham, with mystery ingredients, etc. They weren’t all bad, but they weren’t hamburgers. > > I ordered a pepperoni pizza at a Pizza Hut in Frankfurt, Germany in the 80s. I found out that pepperoni there meant those very long banana peppers instead of meat. Sounds like an authentic Albany steamed ham. Peperone are banana peppers in Italy (whereas peperoncini are hot). Not the sliced sausage. But somehow I think this is indeed an error, unless sweet pepper as a primary ingredient is some regional specialty. > [@Colibri](#): > > It’s probably like eating a pizza with a knife and fork in New York. Eating pizza with a knife and fork is weird anywhere in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/49 "2020-04-25T22:49:04Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I occasionally will eat pizza with a knife and fork, depending on its structural integrity. > > I’m an iconoclast, just busting icons left and right. I watched a pal of mine eat a plate of nachos with a knife and fork. I had to ask. We were in a bar, so it was a meal out, so it was eaten with a knife and fork. How could it be any other way? Fingers? In a _restaurant_? What the hell was wrong with me? There was no irony, no joke. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/50 "2020-04-25T22:56:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **TriPolar** : > > I’ve seen baking soda used to tenderize beef called baking powder in more than one recipe that appeared to be translated. I found out the hard way you do not want to tenderize beef with baking powder. It will react with the fat and make it taste like soap. The component of baking powder that would be reacting with the fat to produce soap would be the baking soda. Using anything containing baking soda, or any other base for that matter, as a meat tenderizer just sounds like a bad idea, to me. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/51 "2020-04-25T23:05:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The component of baking powder that would be reacting with the fat to produce soap would be the baking soda. Using anything containing baking soda, or any other base for that matter, as a meat tenderizer just sounds like a bad idea, to me. That was my assumption as well, however, baking soda is frequently used to tenderize beef and doesn’t produce that reaction. ---
**Author:** ![CatastrophicFailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@CatastrophicFailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatastrophicFailure)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/52 "2020-04-25T23:20:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Here in the US ‘corn flour’ is finely ground corn meal and ‘corn starch’ is corn starch. In the UK and other countries ‘corn flour’ is corn starch, and I have no idea if they can easily find corn meal that finely ground. I tried to find it in both Australia and the UK and never could. I recently saw a product referred to as “quick polenta” in a BBC recipe and wondered if it would work as a replacement for cornmeal. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/53 "2020-04-25T23:27:54Z")
> [@CatastrophicFailure](#): > > I tried to find it in both Australia and the UK and never could. I recently saw a product referred to as “quick polenta” in a BBC recipe and wondered if it would work as a replacement for cornmeal. Cornmeal is not overly common in the UK, and while it does come in different finenesses of grind, it’s often the case that a supermarket will only have one variety if they have any at all. I’ve certainly used polenta for cornbread, but whether it’s comparable to any given grind of cornmeal, I can’t be certain. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/54 "2020-04-25T23:43:17Z")
When I lived in New Zealand, I found the mayonnaise to be quite different than what I was used to in the US. It seemed sweeter, almost like Miracle Whip in the US. It was different enough that it prompted me to learn how to make my own mayonnaise from scratch in order to get something I liked. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/55 "2020-04-25T23:44:08Z")
My high school Spanish classes taught a sort of bastardized Castilian Spanish, but being in Southern California, we were mostly exposed to Mexican Spanish. This led to some real confusion, like being taught that a “torta” was a cake when we all knew damn well it was a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/56 "2020-04-25T23:48:46Z")
When I lived in New Zealand, I found the mayonnaise to be quite different than what I was used to in the US. It seemed sweeter, almost like Miracle Whip in the US. It was different enough that it prompted me to learn how to make my own mayonnaise from scratch in order to get something I liked. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/57 "2020-04-26T03:37:04Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > I watched a pal of mine eat a plate of nachos with a knife and fork. I had to ask. We were in a bar, so it was a meal out, so it was eaten with a knife and fork. How could it be any other way? > > Fingers? In a _restaurant_? What the hell was wrong with me? > > There was no irony, no joke. OK, that’s weird. And when no one is watching, I often eat pizza with a fork and knife. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/58 "2020-04-26T04:22:19Z")
Go to Anderson, Indiana and order an Italian beef sandwich at Art’s. They’ll ask you if you want mangoes on it. Any guesses as to what mangoes are? green bell peppers ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/59 "2020-04-26T04:47:15Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > OK, that’s weird. And when no one is watching, I often eat pizza with a fork and knife. Nothing to be ashamed of if you’re dentally challenged. In Italy, BTW, they eat pizza with the slices folded over front-to-back so nothing slides off. (Their crusts are thinner than your average American crusts.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558/60 "2020-04-26T04:48:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > When I lived in New Zealand, I found the mayonnaise to be quite different than what I was used to in the US. It seemed sweeter, almost like Miracle Whip in the US. Sounds like salad cream. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-what-that-recipe-means/852558.md?page=4)