Random Foods That Are Totally Different In United States (13 items)

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  (#8) Gyro

  Gyros - as most people in Western countries know them - are an American creation. They became popular in New York in the 1970s, when Manhattan saw an explosion in Greek restaurants. Gyros became the hot new fast food item, since they were served in a portable pita and were substantively different from the usual hamburger options. 

  The true gyro originated in the general area of the Middle East (specifically Greece and Turkey), where it is known as a döner kebab and has been sold as street food since the time of Alexander the Great.

  It consists of "slices of marinated lamb, mutton, beef, veal, or chicken which are stacked on a vertical spit and roasted at a vertical grill.  It is served as a type of sandwich stuffed into Turkish bread, rolled into flat bread, or laid atop diced flat bread and topped with sauces."

  The major differences found in westernized gyros today are the use of ground meat instead of meat sliced off a spinning roaster, and the occasional addition of french fries. They are usually topped with lettuce and tomato.
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  (#1) Fortune cookie

  Fortune cookies actually originated in Kyoto, with local bakeries still producing a similar style of cookie. So, how did they get co-opted by Chinese-American immigrants? The answer lies with WWII - Japanese immigrants had brought the cookies to America, but their bakeries closed when they were forced into internment camps.

  Chinese-American restaurants decided to pick up where the Japanese were forced to leave off, and fortune cookies have been associated with Chinese food ever since the end of the war. 
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  (#5) Butter chicken

  Although curries like butter chicken and tikka masala are considered to be "Indian food," they have gone on a long journey to get to the curries we're familiar with today: "Every well-known Indian dish is the result of a long and complicated history of invasion, fusion, emigration and circumstantial adaptation."

  Colonial Britain forever changed the cuisine of India, modifying sauces that were already widely-used. They also used the word "curry" to describe any and all spicy sauces and gravies. Most modern curries come from the modifications colonial Brits requested from their cooks to make the food more to their liking.
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  (#3) Corned Beef and cabbage

  There seems to be a little confusion surrounding the "traditional" Irish dish of corned beef and cabbage. While the ingredients themselves can be readily found throughout Ireland, the dish may have been mistaken for another popular meal:

  The dish that is more accurately considered to be Ireland’s national dish is colcannon, which consists of boiled potatoes, white cabbage, leeks or onions with added butter, milk and wild garlic.

  Irish chef Noel McMeel stated that "the first time [he] tasted corned beef and cabbage was actually in Connecticut when [he] was 20 years old." While it might not actually be a staple in Ireland, corned beef and cabbage has certainly become a strong tradition in America. With millions of people celebrating their Irish heritage on Saint Patrick's Day, at least they're using Irish ingredients for their American-Irish meal.
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  (#11) Pizza

  Pizza has become a cultural touchstone in the US, and it sent a long way to get there. Pizza in Italy began as a flat bread meal for the working poor of Naples, and most Italians outside of the region weren't even aware of pizza as a dish until around the 1940s. However, by then Italian immigrants from Naples had already brought pizza to the East coast of the United States and taken it by storm.

  The Italian-Americans were mostly blue collar workers, so they brought the traditional working-class meal of pizza with them. While the recipes remained classic for decades, after the 1940s and WWII the idea of pizza began to spread and take on new forms. In addition to the original toppings of tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies, basil and garlic, "California-style" pizzas emerged with toppings like BBQ chicken and smoked salmon. 

  Pizza in America today is mostly still recognizable, but Italians would probably be surprised by variations such as deep-dish or stuffed crust.
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  (#2) French fries

  Despite their name, french fries are actually from Belgium. The tradition actually began with fried fish - there was a region in Belgium where poor villagers would catch little fish in the local river and fry them. In the winter, the river was frozen so they used sliced potatoes instead.

  Americans came upon the fried potato treat during World War I, and since the Belgian Army spoke French, they became "french fries." They have become popular in America as a side dish with ketchup or smothered in cheese and other toppings, but in Belgium the classic way to serve them is "with cooked mussels or with a fried egg on top."

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