Ok, so now I've learned that a Danish ain't a Danish. On our recent Scandinavia tour, I looked forward to having a Danish in Denmark. Well, not sure why, buy didn't happen. Then in Sweden, I saw a danish in a bakery, and the sign said "Wienbord" or something like that. I asked the guy, doesn't Wien stand for Vienna. He said of course. The Danish is actually a pastry stolen from Vienna.
No way, says I.
Oh, yes, says he, as he handed me the danish-not.
It tasted like a danish should, even better than stateside (well it should). But I want to ask The Fodor wisdom, is a danish not a danish?
Say it aint so,.......

Along those same lines--is a person from Hamburg called a Hamburger? :-?

There's no such type as "Swiss Cheese" in Switzerland.

Why do they call it "Filet American" when it's nothing more than raw ground beef with an egg and some spices?

Is a thief from Hamburg called a Hamburgler?

That's why those baked goods are also called viennoiserie. You're correct they're called Viennese bread in Scandiavian countries. In Vienna, they're called Copenhagen bread. Go figure. Oh, and I heard some Arab countries tried to call Mohammad's Rose or something like that during the whole prophet cartoon incident. (Remember freedom fries?)...

My goodness, we haven't progressed much from that "Ich bin ein Berliner" statement, have we?

I love veal Milanese. But alas, it's really Weiner Schnitzel, stolen from Vienna during the Hapsburg reign in Northern Italy.

And in Italy what we call Venetian blinds are called Turkish shades.

And in New York there is no such thing as a New York steak - I'm not even sure what it is - porterhouse? sirloin?

Years ago I always thought a New York strip steak was a sirloin off the bone. But a Kansas City strip steak was the same sirloin with the bone still attached.
But these things vary.

By the way, there is a "New York strip steak" on the menu at the following in New York: (and I'm sure there are others). It seems the term applies in New York as much as anywhere.

Ruth's Chris
Michael Jordan's
Keens
Angelo and Maxie's
BLT Steak
Craftsteak
Nick and Stef's
The Palm

Why is the entree a main course in the USA?

Now that's a really good question! Because it leads up to the "main" event -- the dessert?

Next time in Europe start in Switzerland and try to hunt down the popular skinny sausage called Wienerli (the one they use in hot dogs, not the short fat Cervelat).

In Wien-Vienna they call it, I think, Frankfurterli, in Frankfurt it's the Berliner, after that I lost track, but the "blame the other city" spiel goes on and on.

And what Americans call Swiss cheese is the Emmental variety, as opposed to the other major Swiss varieties like Gruyères/Greyerzer and Appenzeller and Tilsiter (oddly enough named after the city Tilsit near Kaliningrad and tasting vastly differently from the cheese made near the real Tilsit).

So why is a condom called a French letter when the French called it capote anglaise?

And French Toast (together with Belgian Waffles the only justification for the I in IHOP) is nowhere to be seen in France, just as there never was a Spanish Fly in Spain, and the Dutch never said they gained courage when drunk. At least there are indeed waffles in Belgium - the last outpost of sanity it seems...

The croissant was invented by Austrians, and spaghetti by the Chinese.

German cockroaches are called French cockroaches in Germany.

Spaghetti-like pasta MAY have been made first in China. Chinese cutlure is amazing. However, spaghetti-like pasta was first made in EUROPE in Sicily, which was influenced by Arab culture, including it foods. From Sicily it spread to central and northern Italy, and from there to other parts of Europe.

But back to the Danish. Many Viennese pastries were really Hungarian, and many Hungarian pastries really came from the Turkish cuklinary traditions.

Update on spaghetti and China:

http://www.discover.com/web-exclusiv...historic-pasta

Wow, I've heard of 100 year eggs, but 4000 year spaghetti? I bet Olive Garden would still cook that stuff into mush.

What is an English Muffin ? (I'm English)

A mule.

What I read was that the Danish bakers, some long time ago, went on strike. The Viennese bakers were brought in as scabs, and introduced wienerbrød to Denmark.