North Carolina: Here Are The Foods You Are The Most Confused By

Author Melanie Day

October 17th, 2023 3:13 PM

I can recall on more than one occasion being at a restaurant or looking at the menu beforehand and googling “what is…” Perhaps it was a sauce on something I wanted to order, the way a dish was prepared, or just the food in general. Changes are you’ve done that at least one in your lifetime too. But what are the foods that people around the world find the most confusing? Glad you asked. Our friends at Remitly conducted a study on international cuisines that are the most confusing to people in other cultures. They compiled a list of more than 2,700 different dishes from across the world. From there they analyzed how many times the dishes have been searched for using terms such as “what is…” or “how to pronounce…”

Below you’ll find 15 of the top foods that are perceived as the most confusing around the world. Think you can guess the American dish that made the cut? You may be shocked!

• 1. Kimchi

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  The most confusing food in the fold is Korea’s kimchi. The traditional dish is made of salted and fermented vegetables like napa cabbage or Korean radish, topped with an array of seasonings. But if you aren’t familiar, you aren’t alone just under 1 million (946,090) people a year are asking Google what it is.

• 2.Falafel

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  What I learned from this is that the Falafel has its roots in Egypt. You often see these deep fried balls of chickpeas and seasonings on the menu at Mediterranean restaurants. But the delicacy has 752,850 yearly searches wondering what exactly it is.

• 3.Gyros

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  662,700 people a year ask about gyros, I wonder how many of those searches are how to pronounce this Greek dish? While similar to another dish we will discuss later the gyro is a pita consisting of sliced meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, tzatziki, tomatoes and other ingredients.
• 4.Couscous

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  This Moroccan dish is actually one of my favorites, and I’m a little surprised 595,640 people yearly don’t know about it! It’s small steamed granules of wheat or barley often topped with a flavored broth or stew and served alongside meat.

• 5.Tahini

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  Tahini is a dip/condiment out of Syria that is a staple in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. It’s made from toasted ground hulled sesame and is vegan and gluten-free. But at least 570,830 were confused about what tahini is.

• 6.Gnocchi

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  Gnocchi is a type of potato based pasta in that it is also made with wheat flower, egg, salt, and occasionally ricotta cheese. I’ve had to ask the question of exactly what is before, along with 532,200 others.
• 7.Gelato

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  This one surprises me but I can see where people are wondering the exact difference between the Italian treat gelato and regular ice cream. Gelato in Italian translates to “ice cream” but true gelato is denser and smoother than the American version.

• 8.Pho

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  Pho is a popular Vietnamese soup consisting of bone broth, meat, rice noodles, herbs, and sometime vegetables. It’s pretty common in the US but still at least 491,700 people are unfamiliar.

• 9.Carnitas

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  I vividly remember googling what carnitas were the first time I came across the term on a Chipotle menu years ago. And the short answer is it’s braised pork typically in tacos, burritos, or other Mexican dishes. Perhaps Chipotle is the first introduction 437,510 other people had to the word as well.
• 10.Shawarma

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  This Turkish staple is meat (traditionally lamb or mutton, but can be chicken, turkey, beef, or veal as well) cut into thin slices and stacked in an inverted cone to be slow roasted on a vertical rotisserie. 387,410 people had to ask the question “What is Shawarma” in the last year so don’t feel bad if you didn’t know!

• 11.Peanut Butter & Jelly

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  As American as it gets people from outside of the US are perplexed by this sandwich made of simply bread, peanut butter, and jelly. But at least 385,200 people have been wondering what a “PB&J” is.

• 12.Risotto

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  Risotto is an Italian rice dish, loosely similar to American mac & cheese. The rice is cooked in broth to make it creamy and often contains other ingredients like cheese, butter, and sometimes white wine. How many people had to question what risotto was last year? 978,840
• 13.Haggis

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  This is the only food on this list I wasn’t at least remotely familiar with. So after consulting Wikipedia, I’ve got this as the answer." Haggis is a savory pudding containing sheep's pluck, minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal's stomach though now an artificial casing is often used instead.” And I’m 100 percent sure that this is something I will never be eating. And I’d bet the majority of the 377,720 who asked what haggis is feel the same.

• 14.Hummus

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  Perhaps it’s just the people I hang out with, but American’s seem to love hummus! It’s made with a previously mentioned ingredient on this list, tahini, as well as cooked mashed chickpeas, lemon juice, and garlic. 354,250 searches were made for the dip/spread though!

• 15.Chai

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  Chances are Indian chai isn’t what you think of when you think of a flavor of tea, instead it is the tea. Chai is black tea brewed in milk and water that is sweetened with sugar. But what this Indian drink is was searched 337,470 times last year.

Thanks to our friends at Remitly for sharing this research with us. You can read more directly from them about the most confusing foods in the world here.

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Author Melanie Day

Category:

• Food News
• Fox Sports CLT
• Human Interest
• KISS 95.1
• Lifestyle
• Local
• Travel

Tags:

Foods,International,Local,North Carolina,travel