The Origins of 8 Classic Summer Food Names
These classic summer foods derive their names from locations all over the world. The word hamburger owes its origins to the German city of Hamburg. Historians believe that around the same time sausage makers were refining their meat products, cooks in Hamburg served up a cooked version of steak tartare. Now what's up with the dog in hot dog?
[n. hot dawg]
The name hot dog was born when German immigrants in the United States began selling variations of sausages, some of which were thin and long, like dachshunds. Merchants with a morbid sense of humor started calling these dachshund sausages. Over time, the phrase shortened to hot dog and the name stuck like ketchup. Learn the surprising source of ketchup next.
The common American condiment made of tomatoes and vinegar got its name from a very different sauce made in China. The word ketchup comes from the Malay word kichap, a brine of fish. American sailors added tomatoes to create the sauce we enjoy today. But what about ketchup's mortal enemy, mayonnaise?
We don't actually know where the weird word mayonnaise came from. There are two competing theories: One holds that it is named after Mahon, the city in Spain. However, the French contend that the word is a mutation of bayonnaise, from the French town Bayonne. Speaking of mayo and cabbage, what does the cole in coleslaw actually mean?
Coleslaw has often mistakenly been called cold slaw since the late 1800s. The word cole comes from the Dutch word for cabbage, kool. The word slaw is a shortened form of salade. The unusual word barbecue has an unusual origin to match. Find it on the next slide.
The word barbecue originated in a Native American language spoken in what is today Haiti. The Arawakan word barbakoa meant "framework of sticks." The contemporary meaning of "grill for cooking over an open fire" arose in the 1930s.
Like barbecue, the word chili comes from a Native American word. In this case the Central American language Nahuatl gave us the word xilli for pepper. In English it became chili. The nation of Chile derives its name from a completely independent source and is the topic of scholarly dispute. There is no question however, where the soft drink cola gets its name.
The word cola actually comes from a tree, not a drink. It is named after the cola or kola nut tree, which is native to tropical western Africa. Colas were originally made with the dried leaves and nuts of cola trees, so both Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola took their names from their main ingredients.
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