Simple idea: I’m English so I’m well aware that in London, nobody knows what a London Broil is. The name is spurious, however tasty the beef may be.
There’s a product in the UK - maybe elsewhere too - called French Mustard, which is not French, but was invented in England. It’s (understandably) sometimes confused with the genuinely French Dijon Mustard, but isn’t dijon, and isn’t French.
A Danish friend of mine tells me that Danish Pastries are known as Viennese Bread (but in Danish) in Denmark, because nobody there believes they’re indigenous. Maybe slightly disingenuous, that one, because they are now a Danish speciality, but still, there’s sort of a fake origin story in the name.
So, in the spirit of fighting ignorance: what else isn’t from the place enshrined within its name? I don’t just mean the various stories about curries invented in the UK which thus masquerade as Indian, unless they’re called something like Bangalore Chicken but were invented in Leicester. I’m specifically looking for misleading geographical names.
The examples given are culinary, but I’ll take answers about anything!
I felt that instinctively when I first heard of it: its American popularity coupled with my never having heard of it till adulthood (despite being pretty conversant with France’s culinary exports to the UK) gave me doubts. It just doesn’t feel like a French thing, somehow!
