Well, if you’re into diving deep into food history as much as we are, you’ll enjoy this article! Check out this list of five popular food dishes and their origins. As the title says, you may be surprised at the unexpected sources. 

(And if you happen to run into a food and their origins quiz in the future, at least you’ll know the answers to some questions! LOL.)

Food origins: Pasta

From how we mentioned this food in our intro, you know it’s going to have surprising origins already. 

While we may automatically think of Italy when we start talking about pasta and pasta noodles, pasta history says otherwise. Pasta actually descends from China, which makes sense with all the noodles being eaten over there. The overall general belief is that the recipe for egg noodles got imported from China into Italy all thanks to the adventurer Marco Polo.

However, what is truly Italian about pasta is the Italians’ use of durum wheat. It made pasta noodles more affordable, versatile and also granted a long shelf life when noodles are dried. So if you really want to, you can technically say that pasta is still an Italian invention. 

There are now many versions of pasta nowadays, like fast food spaghetti. But if you want to make a “pasta” that is truly Pinoy, you can check out our Classic Pinoy Favorites class with Chef Chona. You’ll be able to make an Espesyal na Pancit Palabok!

Croissant’s food origin is…

And if you guess it by now, yes, the French didn’t invent the croissants (although croissant is a French word, meaning “crescent”).  The croissant’s first descendant is the Vienna, Austria treat known as kipfel or kipferl. It’s also a crescent-shaped bread that is served nowadays as a cookie.

The invention of the croissant that we know nowadays is attributed to August Zang, an Austrian artillery officer. He opened Boulangerie Viennoise in Paris back in the 1830s. The Parisians fell for the bread, and French bakers eventually made their own methods of doing this particular bread. Thus, the flaky French croissants we all know and love was born!

Want to make your own croissants? It’s easy! Just enroll in our Laminated Dough class with Chef Jimbo!

Where did sushi come from?

Here’s another of the popular foods associated with one country but originated elsewhere. Sushi is associated with Japan, but you can trace its origins back to China. It’s surprising food news, but it’s true! 

According to Roka Akor, sushi was first called narezushi. It was simply fermented rice and salted fish. You didn’t even eat the rice with the fish before – it was only used to wrap and preserve the fish! Hard to think about, huh?

The narezushi spread to Japan in the 8th century, where its popularity bloomed, and got called sushi by the Japanese. Apparently, in 1852, there were one to two sushi restaurants for every 100×100 meter square block! So the Japanese are still responsible for popularizing sushi. We have to give them that.
If you love sushi as much as we do, it’s worth trying out our class with Chef Allan Mertola: Modern Sushi and Maki!

Food origins: Doughnuts

Thanks to pop culture, we usually associate these treats with a hole in the middle with the US of A. You know, cops with doughnuts, that sort of thing. 

That’s why we were surprised that when it came to doughnuts, there were plenty of food origin stories!

For example, according to Britannica, there were already records dating back to the mid-19th century of the Dutch making them. They were called “olykoeks” or oily cakes, balls of cake fried in pork fat. The center of the cake wouldn’t cook as fast as the outside, so these pastries got stuffed with fruits or nuts, treats that didn’t need to be cooked.

Here’s another origin story. Elizabeth Gregory, a New England ship captain’s mother, was preparing deep-fried dough for the boat’s crew. Apparently, she was the one who thought of stuffing the dough with nuts. Also, she was the one who referred to the treats as “doughnuts.” 

But according to her son, Hanson Gregory, he was the one who innovated the hole in the middle, in 1847. He wanted to remove the raw insides, so he punched a hole through the center with his ship’s tin pepper box. The hole made the doughnut able to be cooked evenly.

One final story is that Greece is where the doughnut really comes from. Over there, they’re known as Loukoumades: small doughnut balls covered in honey and walnuts. They’re also considered to be the oldest recorded dessert, dating back to the very first Olympic Games in 776 BC. The Loukoumades are presented to the winners as honey tokens.

A very popular food comes with three origin stories. Isn’t it amazing? 

If you want to start your own doughnut origin story (or simply just make doughnuts), enroll in Chef Joey Prats’ Divine Doughnuts class!

Food origin of the Apple pie

There’s a saying: “As American as apple pie.” It means that whatever you are referring to with that saying is very American. But the ironic thing about this particular saying is that neither apples nor apple pies originated in North America. Oops.

For one thing, Apples are native to Central Asia. As for the apple pie itself? Well, apples weren’t the first thing that the English put in their pies. In medieval England, they put meat, and called a pie a “pye”.

The first apple pie was recorded in 1381 and was a far cry from the apple pie we know of today. Think of an apple pie, but mixed with figs, saffron, raisins, and pears.

We can argue that the Americans have perfected the apple pie. After all, they have made it one of their unofficial symbols.

And if you want to experience true apple pie perfection, enroll in our Fabulous Pies class with Chef Joey!

Final Thoughts

And those are five popular food items and their origins. Did any of them surprise you? Which delicious eats would you like to learn more about? Let us know in the comments!

Before you go, don’t forget to sign up at The Bailiwick Academy so you can learn to make some of the food on this list. You won’t regret it!

Also, keep coming back to The Bailiwick Academy blog for more informative articles about food, baking, cooking, business, and so much more!

The post Food and Their Origins That May Surprise You! appeared first on Online Baking and Cooking Classes - The Bailiwick Academy.

Our list of much-desired buffet food items 

Just think of this list this way: given a choice, what food would be on our buffet table? Random spoiler: carrot cake and salad buffet items are not on this list. Sorry, vegetable lovers.

1. Ebi Tempura

This tops our list because Ebi tempura is one of the best things we have ever tasted. And Ebi tempura is one of the Japanese buffet items that is also one of the most popular buffet items ever! Once the chef finishes cooking the Ebi tempura, people descend on the serving tray. And it’s soon as empty as if the chef never cooked anything! But we really can’t blame people for liking it. The breading, the shrimp, the sauce… It’s just really delicious, with or without rice.

2. Bacon

If you’re going to ask us what’s one of the best breakfast buffet items we miss eating, we’d answer bacon! In fact, we’d actually say that along with Ebi tempura, bacon is one of the best buffet items ever. I think a lot of people would agree. Why do you ask? Well, bacon is one of the items that runs out right away. We can’t count how many times we’ve experienced looking for bacon and finding the tray empty. Unlimited bacon is a must for us on buffets.

3. Puto Bumbong

We’ve talked about puto bumbong before. We guess that tells you we really like it! It’s one of those most-have Christmas buffet items. Just writing about this treat eaten with lots of shaved coconut and brown sugar is getting us craving for it. We like it so much, we wish puto bumbong is one of the standard buffet items. Any restaurant here planning to bring out Xmas buffet items anytime soon? We might feel brave enough to go!

4. Cheese Buffet

This might not be a usual choice, but hey, who doesn’t love cheese? Eat it with ham, bread, dried fruit, or crackers. You can also eat it just by itself, then wash it down with wine. It’s a yummy experience. We miss having access to all sorts of cheese in buffets. Brie, blue cheese, gouda, goat cheese… Each one has a unique, distinct flavor, and it makes us happy being able to eat different varieties. It also helps that the different cheeses are luxury buffet items, making us feel… rich. LOL. Did we mention we miss the cheese in buffets? 

5. Roast Beef

One thing we definitely miss is heading over to the carving station and getting roast beef. We usually get three slices of thick, juicy beef, then slather them with a lot of gravy. After eating them, we take a break, then head back for more. Hey, it’s roast beef. It’s not something you can get every day. Can you blame us for taking advantage of it being unlimited? 

6. Halo-halo 

Here’s something else you won’t get every day: the super delicious halo-halo! Halo-halo is one of the classic buffet items in any Pinoy-themed ones. We can’t wait for the day where we can just mix all the ingredients, finish one glass, then come back for another. Or two. Sorry, halo-halo is just really delicious and such a treat. It’s one of the great buffet items on our list.

7. Sushi and Sashimi

We know, we know. This is the second Japanese food item on the list. We just prefer Japanese to Chinese buffet items. And of course, sushi and sashimi are always welcome in our tummies! We just really love the rice mixed with all sorts of delicious ingredients! And also the raw seafood! You can’t just get that anywhere. And you can be sure with buffets, you’re getting the quality kind of raw food.

8. Bread Buffet

What makes bread in buffets different from the ones we have at home? We also don’t know. What we do know is that they taste great, and we have our pick of bread! You have the standard loaf bread, but there’s also pandesal, baguette, croissant, and so much more! We also have the option of slathering the bread with butter or jam. Toasters are right next to the bread station, so we can even warm them up! Ahhh, we miss bread buffets.

9. Candy Buffet Items

We know, we should be watching our sugar. But with candy, we can’t help ourselves! It’s like we become kids again whenever there are sweets. And we also can’t just focus on any of the candy buffet table items. We have to get everything. If we remember correctly, usually there are gummy worms, hard candies, marshmallows, lollipops, and chocolate candies.  

10. Dessert Crepes

Here’s another personal favorite from different dessert buffet items. We miss eating this thin version of pancakes, stuffed with fresh fruits and cream, and slathered with chocolate or caramel. Sometimes, you can even have ice cream served with it! It’s also an experience watching the chef making the crepe. It will take time but you know this treat is worth the wait.

These are the top 10 buffet items that we just love and really miss eating. How about you? What buffet food items are your personal favorites?

On a personal note, while COVID-19 is still a threat, it’s still kind of scary to eat at a buffet restaurant. Hopefully, government vaccinations roll out faster, so we can be more confident to eat at restaurants. So, fingers crossed for all of us who just want to go out again. In the meantime, to make delicious and restaurant-quality food, enroll now at The Bailiwick Academy!

The post Buffet Items: 10 That We Love and Miss Eating! appeared first on Online Baking and Cooking Classes - The Bailiwick Academy.