Appetizing foods named after world destinations

Do you know why the classic French dish beef bourguignon is so named? What about Wiener schnitzel? Ever heard of a Bath bun? And why do we call them Buffalo wings when in fact they are made from chicken? There are numerous dishes from around the world we think we're familiar with, but have no real idea of their origins. For instance, have you ever wondered where they got their names from?

Click through and whet your appetite with this menu of food named after world destinations.

Kobe beef

An incredibly rare and luxurious treat, Kobe beef is distinguished as a tender, flavorful meat prized for its luscious marbled fat. It comes from the Japanese Wagyu cattle breed and is named for the city of Kobe, in Hyōgo Prefecture.

Parmesan cheese

Made from skimmed or partially skimmed cow's milk, Parmesan cheese is a hard, dry cheese known for its characteristically strong and nutty flavor that may be sweet, salty, and bitter at the same time. Considered by connoisseurs as one of the best cheeses in the world, Parmesan is named after two of the areas which produce it, the Italian provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia. 

Bisque

A bisque is a French style of soup that is made from crustaceans, such as lobster, langoustine, crab, shrimp, and crayfish. The soup's name stems either from the Bay of Biscay or the technique of bis cuites, or "twice cooked."

Satsuma mandarin

Opinion is divided on whether this tangy and succulent fruit comes from Wenzhou, a well-known production area of mandarin oranges in China, or whether it was created in the Satsuma Province in Japan. Either way, this sweet, juicy, and seedless citrus variety is popular worldwide.

Linzer torte

Recognized for its distinctive lattice lid, Linzer torte, a rich and buttery, nut-flavored pastry sandwiched together with red currant jam, is named after the city of Linz in Austria. It's often served with a big dollop of whipped cream and dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Santorini tomato

Unique for the fact that the fruit is exclusively cultivated on the island of Santorini in Greece, this variety of cherry tomato is a product of the island's climate and geography, which defines its sweet, strongly acidic taste.

Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska is not from where you might automatically assume. The classic dessert of ice cream and cake topped with browned meringue was supposedly created in a New York restaurant in 1867 to honor the acquisition by the United States of Alaska from the Russian Empire in March of that year.

Melton Mowbray pork pie

The town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England, is the spiritual home of the pork pie. Filled with roughly chopped pork, pork fat, and succulent pork stock jelly all wrapped in a hot water crust pastry, the pork pie is one of the most traditional of British savory snacks.

Eccles cake

This sticky treat packed with sweet currants, candied citrus peel, and various spices is made from flaky pastry with butter, and sometimes topped with demerara sugar. The Eccles cake is named after the English town of Eccles, which is in the county of Lancashire.

Queijo São Jorge

One of the most famous and best-loved of Portuguese cheeses, Queijo São Jorge is a wonderfully tangy, slightly spicy cheese cured for 90 days or, as a special edition, up to 36 months. It's produced exclusively on the island of São Jorge, in the mid-Atlantic Azores archipelago.

Cumberland sausage

Cumberland sausage was named for the ancient English county of Cumberland, which is now part of Cumbria. Seasoned with a variety of herbs and spices, the sausage is typically fried or grilled and served in long, curved lengths.

Battenberg cake

This fancy sponge cake is layered with marzipan, which gives it a distinctive almond flavor. Another culinary characteristic is the check pattern alternately colored pink and yellow. The cake originates in the German town of Battenberg in the state of Hesse and is purportedly named in honor of the marriage of Princess Victoria, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884.

Jeonju bibimbap

Jeonju bibimbap rates among the most popular of South Korea's traditional dishes. Rice cooked with beef broth and bean sprout is then topped with handfuls of fresh ingredients, including gingko nut, pine nut, chestnut, spinach, lettuce, bracken, mushroom, turnip, carrot, and seaweed. A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. It's named for the city of Jeonju, a destination included in UNESCO's Creative Cities Network—an honor that recognizes the city's traditional home cooking heritage.

Bath bun

The Bath bun is a sweet roll with crushed sugar sprinkled on top. While it's synonymous with the city of Bath in southwest England, the bun has its roots in 17th-century France. In 1680, Solange Luyon, a Huguenot refugee, arrived in the city and found work in a bakery. There she created what became known as the Bath bun, which she marketed under her anglicized name, Sally Lunn.

Buffalo wings

One of America's great bar foods and appetizers, Buffalo wings—deep-fried chicken wings coated or dipped in a hot cayenne pepper sauce—hail from Buffalo in New York state, where the dish was created.

Habanero pepper

While the habanero pepper is South American in origin, hailing as it does from the Amazonas region of Peru, and despite the fact that it's thought of as a Mexican pepper, the habanero is actually named after the Cuban city of La Habana, known in English as Havana, where it was first traded in commercial numbers.

Nanaimo bar

Three layers of honey-sweetened coconut-graham crust, thick custard, and silky chocolate make the Nanaimo bar an irresistible dessert. It's named after the Canadian city of Nanaimo in British Columbia, where the recipe was first published in 1953.

Pichelsteiner

A rich hearty German stew of mixed meats and vegetables, Pichelsteiner is likely named after the Büchelstein, a mountain set in the Bavarian Forest.