As you chow down at your local Chinese restaurant, Indian eatery, or Mexican joint, are you eating dishes that are truly authentic to their countries of origin? From corned beef to chicken tikka masala to chimichangas, here are six national dishes that didn’t originate in the region you’d expect.

1. CRAB RANGOON

Deep-fried anything tastes good, so when you deep-fry a dumpling stuffed with cream cheese and crab meat, prepare your taste buds for a heavenly experience. Crab Rangoon is often on the menu at Chinese and Thai restaurants in the U.S., but you probably won’t find it in Asia. Although wontons are popular in China, the idea to put cream cheese inside them probably emerged in the 1950s, thanks to a chef at Trader Vic’s, a Polynesian restaurant chain in San Francisco. They claimed that the recipe was a traditional one from Burma (now Myanmar) and named it after the former capital Rangoon (now Yangon).

2. CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Along with tandoori chicken and saag paneer, chicken tikka masala has become synonymous with Indian food. But the dish of chicken in a spicy, savory tomato sauce was probably invented in the UK, not in India. Food historians debate the dish’s exact origin, but a Pakistani or Bangladeshi restaurateur chef in either London or Glasgow, Scotland probably invented it in the 1960s or ’70s, possibly heavily inspired by butter chicken, which was a dish that was becoming popular in India a few years before. There’s more at stake than mere bragging rights, though. The dish’s invention became contentious in 2009 when a Scottish member of Parliament failed to convince the European Union to grant the dish a Protected Designation of Origin, which would have given Scotland the patent for chicken tikka masala’s name.

3. GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN

You can find General Tso’s chicken—pieces of fried chicken coated in a sweet, tangy sauce—in just about any Chinese restaurant in the U.S. Although the dish takes its name from a real Qing dynasty military commander, Zuo Zongtang (also spelled Tso Tsung-t’ang), General Tso’s chicken as we know it was first created in America. Stories vary, but the dish is believe to have emerged in Taiwan during the 1950s, after chef Peng Chang-kuei fled China in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. But his original version wasn’t fried and wasn’t sweetened. Those changes would be made when the dish migrated to New York in the 1970s in order to suit the American palate. And it succeeded.

4. CHIMICHANGA

What’s better than a regular burrito? A deep-fried one, of course! Historians aren’t sure who invented chimichangas, but they might have been created in the 1940s or ’50s when a cook in Tucson, Arizona accidentally dropped a burrito into a nearby fryer. The nonsensical curse word she shouted when she realized her mistake? Chimichanga! Another theory is that a restaurant owner in Phoenix, Arizona deep-fried burritos to make them last longer. While burritos are an authentically Mexican food (albeit not the hyper-stuffed burritos popular in the States), it seems that chimichangas are solidly American.

5. CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE

Touristy pubs and restaurants in Ireland probably have corned beef and cabbage on their menus, but the dish doesn’t exactly hail from Ireland. Historically, the Irish used cows for dairy rather than meat and celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by eating pork or lamb. To escape the Great Famine in the mid-19th century, many emigrants who left Ireland for the U.S. settled in New York City. When these Irish-Americans combined traditional vegetables from their homeland, such as cabbage and potatoes, with kosher brisket, a meat dish that was popular amongst Jewish immigrants in New York, they created a novel twist on salt-cured meat. Corned beef and cabbage caught on, and President Lincoln chose corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for his first inauguration’s luncheon menu in 1861.

6. CHOP SUEY

Unlike the other entrants on this list, food historians are increasingly coming around to the idea that chop suey is actually Chinese—which makes it doubly ironic because chop suey has long been sold as the definitive Chinese-American dish. According to the most popular legend, chop suey was invented when a group of American miners were in the the Golden City hoping to hit pay dirt during the Gold Rush. One evening, the miners were drunk and hungry, so they made a late-night stop at a local Chinese restaurant. The owner quickly plated a mixture of scraps that had already been cooked, and the miners loved the meal mash-up. Chop suey caught on, and it became incredibly popular across the rest of the U.S. But a few food scholars have traced it to a dish called tsap seui from the Toisan district of China. And as Joseph Conlin points out in Bacon, Beans, and Galantines, “It does seem hard to believe that a people wracked by poverty had not thought to put together ‘miscellaneous stuff’ before they arrived at the ‘Golden Mountain.'”

Today, Friday, October 7, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos was named 2016’s Nobel Peace Price recipient. The committee bestowed the honor on Santos “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.”

As reported by The New York Times, the announcement comes less than a week after Colombians voted to reject a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The treaty was meant to signal the end of a bloody, 52-year conflict between the nation and the rebel group. After President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez came together to sign the deal following four years of negotiations, all that was needed to move the plan forward was a vote from the Colombian people. In a shocking development, the agreement was stricken down by a slim majority of 50.2 percent.

The future of the South American nation remains uncertain, but the Nobel Prize committee stresses that the news shouldn’t be seen as the defeat of peace. While that specific agreement has been discarded, President Santos—who was elected in 2010—hasn’t given up his goal of progressing towards peace.

The committee said in a press statement, “The Norwegian Nobel Committee emphasizes the importance of the fact that President Santos is now inviting all parties to participate in a broad-based national dialogue aimed at advancing the peace process.” In addition to recognizing President Santos’s commitment to peace, the award is meant to pay tribute to all parties fighting for peace in Colombia, to the citizens who’ve yet to give up hope of achieving it, and “not least, to the representatives of the countless victims of the civil war.” 

[h/t The New York Times]
 
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In recent Marvel mutant film Deadpool, the title character sports a tank top featuring the likeness of Bea Arthur. According to actor Ryan Reynolds, who also produced the film, it cost $10,000 to acquire Arthur’s likeness for that short scene. It must have taken another considerable effort to arrange the late actress’s more recent tribute: being immortalized as an action figure.

This week, collectibles giant Funko unveiled a set of all four leading characters from The Golden Girls, the hugely successful NBC sitcom that aired from 1985 to 1992 and co-starred Arthur as perpetually-exasperated Dorothy Zbornak, a divorcee who shares her Florida home with her mother, Sophia, and friends Rose and Blanche.

The debut coincided with New York Comic Con, one of the bigger pop culture fan festivals. According to Decider, visitors to the Javits Center in Manhattan have been making a beeline for Funko’s booth, where the four-pack of the nearly 4-inch toys are being sold. Funko’s director of marketing, Mark Robben, said that the nostalgia factor has earned them mentions on Good Morning America and Live with Kelly, adding to the demand. And the $24.99 set is already fetching up to $279 on eBay.

If you’re not at the convention, there’s still hope: Target is expected to offer the toys at their stores in the near future. You’ll also be able to find the Girls depicted in Funko’s trademark Pop! style. Cheesecake not included.

[h/t Elle]

Open any pantry in New England and chances are you’ll find at least one jar of Marshmallow Fluff. Not just any old marshmallow crème, but Fluff; the one manufactured by Durkee-Mower of Lynn, Massachusetts since 1920, and the preferred brand of the northeast. With its familiar red lid and classic blue label, it’s long been a favorite guilty pleasure and a kitchen staple beloved throughout the region.

This gooey, spreadable, marshmallow-infused confection is used in countless recipes and found in a variety of baked goods—from whoopie pies and Rice Krispies Treats to chocolate fudge and beyond. And in the beyond lies perhaps the most treasured concoction of all: the Fluffernutter sandwich—a classic New England treat made with white bread, peanut butter, and, you guessed it, Fluff. No jelly required. Or wanted.

There are several claims to the origin of the sandwich. The first begins with Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere—or, not Paul exactly, but his great-great-great-grandchildren Emma and Amory Curtis of Melrose, Massachusetts. Both siblings were highly intelligent and forward-thinkers, and Amory was even accepted into MIT. But when the family couldn’t afford to send him, he founded a Boston-based company in the 1890s that specialized in soda fountain equipment.

He sold the business in 1901 and used the proceeds to buy the entire east side of Crystal Street in Melrose. Soon after he built a house and, in his basement, he created a marshmallow spread known as Snowflake Marshmallow Crème (later called SMAC), which actually predated Fluff. By the early 1910s, the Curtis Marshmallow Factory was established and Snowflake became the first commercially successful shelf-stable marshmallow crème.

Although other companies were manufacturing similar products, it was Emma who set the Curtis brand apart from the rest. She had a knack for marketing and thought up many different ways to popularize their marshmallow crème, including the creation of one-of-a-kind recipes, like sandwiches that featured nuts and marshmallow crème. She shared her culinary gems in a weekly newspaper column and radio show. By 1915, Snowflake was selling nationwide.

During World War I, when Americans were urged to sacrifice meat one day a week, Emma published a recipe for a peanut butter and marshmallow crème sandwich. She named her creation the “Liberty Sandwich,” as a person could still obtain his or her daily nutrients while simultaneously supporting the wartime cause. Some have pointed to Emma’s 1918 published recipe as the earliest known example of a Fluffernutter, but the earliest recipe mental_floss can find comes from three years prior. In 1915, the confectioners trade journal Candy and Ice Cream published a list of lunch offerings that candy shops could advertise beyond hot soup. One of them was the “Mallonut Sandwich,” which involved peanut butter and “marshmallow whip or mallo topping,” spread on lightly toasted whole wheat bread.

Another origin story comes from Somerville, Massachusetts, home to entrepreneur Archibald Query. Query began making his own version of marshmallow crème and selling it door-to-door in 1917. Due to sugar shortages during World War I, his business began to fail. Query quickly sold the rights to his recipe to candy makers H. Allen Durkee and Fred Mower in 1920. The cost? A modest $500 for what would go on to become the Marshmallow Fluff empire.

Although the business partners promoted the sandwich treat early in the company’s history, the delicious snack wasn’t officially called the Fluffernutter until the 1960s, when Durkee-Mower hired a PR firm to help them market the sandwich, which resulted in a particularly catchy jingle explaining the recipe.

So who owns the bragging rights? While some anonymous candy shop owner was likely the first to actually put the two together, Emma Curtis created the early precursors and brought the concept to a national audience, and Durkee-Mower added the now-ubiquitous crème and catchy name. And the Fluffernutter has never lost its popularity.

In 2006, the Massachusetts state legislature spent a full week deliberating over whether or not the Fluffernutter should be named the official state sandwich. On one side, some argued that marshmallow crème and peanut butter added to the epidemic of childhood obesity. The history-bound fanatics that stood against them contended that the Fluffernutter was a proud culinary legacy. One state representative even proclaimed, “I’m going to fight to the death for Fluff.” True dedication, but the bill has been stalled for more than a decade despite several revivals and subsequent petitions from loyal fans.

But Fluff lovers needn’t despair. There’s a National Fluffernutter Day (October 8) for hardcore fans, and the town of Somerville, Massachusetts still celebrates its Fluff pride with an annual What the Fluff? festival.

“Everyone feels like Fluff is part of their childhood,” said self-proclaimed Fluff expert and the festival’s executive director, Mimi Graney, in an interview with Boston Magazine. “Whether born in the 1940s or ’50s, or ’60s, or later—everyone feels nostalgic for Fluff. I think New Englanders in general have a particular fondness for it.”

Today, the Fluffernutter sandwich is as much of a part of New England cuisine as baked beans or blueberry pie. While some people live and die by the traditional combination, the sandwich now comes in all shapes and sizes, with the addition of salty and savory toppings as a favorite twist. Wheat bread is as popular as white, and many like to grill their sandwiches for a touch of bistro flair. But don’t ask a New Englander to swap out their favorite brand of marshmallow crème. That’s just asking too Fluffing much.

Film festivals are always fun, and in autumn that means horror films! You have plenty of them to select from for a frightfully good time.

1. SHRIEKFEST // LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

The Los Angeles Horror/Sci-Fi Film Festival & Screenplay Competition is a long name, so you can just call it Shriekfest. Now in its 16th year, Shriekfest will feature four days of feature films punctuated by dozens of horror shorts, submitted by filmmakers around the world. Prizes are awarded for movies and screenplays separately, for both short films and features, in the categories of horror, science fiction, and thriller. The festival runs October 6-9.

2. SITGES FILM FESTIVAL // SITGES, SPAIN

The International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is better known as the Sitges Film Festival, as it takes place in the coastal resort town of Sitges, about 25 miles from Barcelona. An international jury recognizes the best in horror and fantasy films from around the world. This year’s slate of films contains hundreds of classics, competition features, and short films. Guests to be honored this year include Christopher Walken and Max von Sydow, and the festival will pay tribute to Star Trek during its 50th anniversary year. The 2016 festival runs October 7-16.

3. ATLANTA HORROR FILM FESTIVAL // ATLANTA, GEORGIA

This will be the 10th year of the Atlanta Horror Film Festival, so they’re throwing a huge anniversary party. The festival awarded 23 prizes last year, for everything from Best Feature to Best Short Short, with awards in horror, animation, horror comedy, thriller, science fiction, and foreign films, plus special awards for best local, experimental, and zombie submissions. This year’s festival will run October 13-16.

4. TORONTO AFTER DARK FILM FESTIVAL // TORONTO

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival showcases horror, sci-fi, action, and cult films. The festival will screen a total of 19 features and around 30 short films, selected from over 800 submissions from around the world. The festival will run October 13-21.

5. TELLURIDE HORROR SHOW // TELLURIDE, COLORADO

Mornings during the Telluride Horror Show. ☕️ ——- www.telluridehorrorshow.com ——- -October 14-16, 2016 || Telluride, Colorado- #telluride #colorado #sanjuans #mountains #8750 #hiking #rockymountains #horror #tff43 #filmfestival #indiefilm #cinema #telluridefilm #horrormovies #indiehorror #denver #303 #5280 #travel #halloween #rockymountainhigh #telluridehorrorshow

A photo posted by Telluride Horror Show (@telluridehorrorshow) on Sep 14, 2016 at 6:04am PDT

Approximately 25 features and 50 shorts will be screened at this year’s Telluride Horror Show. They promise to be “an eclectic mix of horror, suspense, thriller, fantasy, sci-fi and dark comedy.” This year’s festival will run October 14-16.

6. BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL // BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

We’ve announced our full program and it’s serious business. We worked so hard to put this all together but the hardest part was getting this zombie pizza rat to pose long enough for @davidluptonillustration to finish the design for our poster. Check out the full program on our website! #horror #horrorfilm #filmfest #filmfestival #brooklyn #brooklynhorror

A photo posted by Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (@brooklynhorrorfest) on Sep 6, 2016 at 10:41am PDT

The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival boasts that it’s for “badass genre films,” regardless of classification, although all are independently produced. The festival will include a concert, art show, and storytelling contest in addition to the schedule of three feature film premieres, a dozen in-competition features, and lots of shorts, shown at half a dozen different theaters. Some events are limited to those over 21. The festival will be October 14-16 this year.

7. FEAR FETE HORROR CON & FILM FESTIVAL // BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI

Visit www.fearfete.com to get you tickets today! #fearfete #filmfest #horrorcon #biloxi #mississippi #horror #horrorfan #gore #horrormovies #horrorfilm #horrorjunkie #vip #gaming #comics #gamer #cosplay #gamerfete #ScarletPearlCasinoResort

A photo posted by Fear Fete (@fearfete) on Sep 16, 2016 at 6:29pm PDT

The Fear Fete Horror Con and Film Festival is a festival that grew to become much more. Movies will be presented in themed blocks of two shorts and a feature, tracking themes of traditional horror, sci-fi and fantasy, paranormal, religious/occult, comedy horror, and psychological horror. Other events will include zombie laser tag and a zombie pub crawl. The accompanying Gamer Fete brings video game fans together for gaming and cosplay. A slew of celebrities from the horror and gaming industries are expected to appear. Fear Fete will run October 15-16 this year.

8. SCREAMFEST // HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

Which one is real, and which one is not? Come take a picture with our #KillerClown and tag #ScreamfestLa for your chance to win a #GoodyBag

A photo posted by Screamfest Horror FilmFestival (@screamfestla) on Aug 6, 2016 at 4:06pm PDT

Screamfest—“America’s largest and longest running horror film festival”—lets Hollywood movers and shakers get to see what’s new from up-and-coming filmmakers. It’s where Paranormal Activity, The Grudge, The Human Centipede, and other features were first screened. If you’re going as a spectator, you’ll get to watch along with producers, directors, and actors. This year’s festival will be held October 18-27.

9. FREAK SHOW HORROR FILM FESTIVAL // ORLANDO, FLORIDA

This will be the 11th year for the Freak Show Horror Film Festival, which will showcase at least 30 independent and international films, with Q&A sessions with some of the filmmakers. A full schedule of featured movies will be available soon. The 2016 Freak Show will be October 21-23.

10. SAN ANTONIO HORRIFIC FILM FESTIVAL // SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

The San Antonio Horrific Film Festival’s theme for 2016 is “Aliens, Monsters, and Heroes.” Twenty features and shorts will be competing for the Chainsaw Awards in various categories, as well as the Johnson Family Awards for writing in different horror categories. Horror film celebrities will be there, and attendees are encouraged to come dressed for the cosplay competition and costume party. Participants in horror or sci-fi costumes will get a discount on day passes. The Horrific Film Festival will be held October 21-23.

11. BRAM STOKER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL // WHITBY, ENGLAND

What better way to celebrate Halloween than to watch horror films at a festival named after the author of Dracula? The Bram Stoker International Film Festival will feature around 35 independent feature films, plus documentaries and shorts from around the world. In addition to the movies, the festival has an art show, live dramas, concerts, lectures, and the annual Vampire’s Ball. Performers include daredevils, magicians, a mind reader, a Gothic belly dancer, and various other sideshow and cabaret acts. The festival runs October 27-30.

When shopping at the supermarket, it can be hard to know how far food has traveled before ending up on the shelf. But soon, shoppers at one Belgian grocery store will be able to rest easy knowing that part of the produce selection was cultivated just above their heads. Beginning in the summer of 2017, the Boondael location of the Delhaize supermarket chain will sell fruits and vegetables grown on the building’s rooftop, inhabitat reports.

The store is setting aside 3444 square feet for a rooftop greenhouse and open-air plot that will supplement their own inventory. Foods like greens, cherry tomatoes, and eggplants will be grown on site and sold for a lower price than the organic produce that’s also available. (Since the store-grown vegetables are being raised on a rooftop and not in natural soil, they don’t get the “organic” label.) Thanks to the greenhouse, the store will be able to continue the initiative into the winter months.

Delhaize will become the first supermarket in Belgium to sell its own roof-grown produce when the plan goes into effect next summer. A few grocery stores stateside have already experimented with the idea: After Whole Foods opened a location in Lynnfield, Massachusetts with a rooftop farm in 2013, it took two seasons for the setup to produce three tons of food.

[h/t inhabitat]

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MOOSE FIGHT IS A DRAW THANKS TO FENCE

On Sunday, two bull moose encountered each other from opposite sides of a chain link fence on Raspberry Road in Anchorage, Alaska. They went at each other with their antlers, as moose do during mating season, but could not connect through the fence. The attempted battle raged on for hours, as a crowd of officials and drivers gathered, until one moose’s antlers got tangled with barbed wire. It then decided to wander away and rest a while. At that point, a biologist was able to approach the moose and tranquilize it long enough to remove the barbed wire. There was no winner in the battle between the two moose, but the fence was wrecked.  

TRANSPORTATION MINISTRY RESPONDS TO SIGN

The construction project on Anthony Henday Drive in Edmonton, Alberta, is finally finished. A programmable sign says so (link contains NSFW text). The photo of the sign went viral yesterday, although we don’t know whether anyone actually complained. Transportation ministry spokesperson Aileen Machell issued a statement.

“Two thousand people worked very hard to bring this project to completion, and there’s obviously a lot of pride in that work,” Machell said in a statement Sunday. “It seems someone changed the sign as part of the celebrations; however, the wording is not the kind we would use and we had it changed immediately.”

It is not clear who programmed the sign in the first place, or if that person could face disciplinary action.

The Edmonton ring project was started in the 1970s. The final phase of construction, on Anthony Henday Drive, has been going on since 2000.

NORWAY’S PRIME MINISTER CAUGHT PLAYING POKEMON GO AT WORK

News photographers caught pictures of Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg playing Pokemon Go on her phone while a debate was going on in parliament. At the time of the incident, Trine Skei Grande, the leader of the opposition party was speaking. While it may seem rude to play video games during parliamentary session, both women are known video game fans. Solberg had previously played Pokemon Go during a state visit to Slovakia, and Grande was caught playing the game during a government committee meeting. 

FAKE COP TRIES TO PULL OVER UNMARKED POLICE CAR

The man impersonating a police officer did not, at first, realize that he was pulling over an unmarked police car. He positioned his Ford Crown Victoria behind the car and turned on his lights and siren. Then he thought better of the idea and sped away. The targeted car was a police vehicle with a Montgomery County (Maryland) Police detective inside. The detective turned the tables by then pulling over the Crown Victoria.

“On the exterior of the car, the detective observed red and blue grill lights, a push bumper, and multiple antennas. The detective also observed that the interior of the vehicle replicated a police car and contained items that included a center console with radio microphone, emergency lights and switches, a camera affixed to the windshield, siren, Stop Sticks, and flex cuffs,” Montgomery County Police stated in a press release.

The detective arrested 51-year-old John Vincent Angelini of Baltimore on charges of impersonating a police officer. 

MASS BRAWL BREAKS OUT AT CHUCK E. CHEESE RESTAURANT

A fight broke out Saturday at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Miami, Florida, in which several parents from different families threw punches at each other. A 16-year-old who recorded the fight on her phone said that it all started when one diner objected to another diner looking at them. Police arrived about ten minutes into the fight and dispersed the combatants. Police have not yet released a statement on the fight. 

DENZEL WASHINGTON STRANGLES ARETHA FRANKLIN

Denzel Washington (no, not that Denzel Washington) appeared in court Wednesday in Manhattan to accept a plea deal in a case in which he was accused of strangling his mother, 52-year old Aretha Franklin (no, not that Aretha Franklin). Washington was accused of wrapping his hands around Franklin’s neck and causing bruising. In the deal, he pled guilty to harassment and must complete an anger management program and stay away from Franklin. Meanwhile, Denzel Washington the actor and singer Aretha Franklin are good friends.