The most romantic country in the world has many "business cards", including a croissant, onion soup and even a French kiss. And this logical series can be continued indefinitely, drawing in your head charming pictures of a virtual journey through Paris, but ...
Now we will drop you from heaven to earth! It turns out that much of what we are accustomed to consider "French" on the body itself is not. Well, here's how, for example, the same croissant, which in fact is a "Viennese bagel", brought by Maria Antoinette from Austria, after the wedding with King Louis XVI.
And such revelations we still have as many as 7, and it's time to strip them of the label "Made in France"!
1. French braid
For several seasons in a row, the French braid has headed the rating of hairdressing trends and is quite deserved. True, very few people know that to call France the homeland of this practical and simultaneously exquisite hairstyle is completely unfair, because more than 6 thousand years ago such braids were already spun by the inhabitants of Algeria, and then the women of ancient Greece (and even mods!). Well, the French scythe was with the easy hand of the American magazine "Home Magazine, which in the late 19th century proclaimed this hairstyle a season hit and added to it the adjective" french "to make it a real object of desire. Yes, France is still a trendsetter, and 150 years ago this marketing move also worked!
2. Onion soup
You will not believe, but the most popular dish of French cuisine was actually invented by peasants in Ancient Rome. And to become a real culinary masterpiece of poor food helped the usual legend about how King Louis XV had an appetite one night and he cooked himself a dinner out of what he had found in the hunting lodge - oil, water, onions and champagne!
3. French Bulldogs
Who would have thought that lovely cats, often portrayed on a leash with French women - well, those who are very fond of wearing sailors and red berets, were supposed to accompany the English ladies like this? It turns out that after the Industrial Revolution in Britain, local weavers pulled in search of work through the English Channel, taking their bulldogs with them. After some time these dogs started to give offspring in a new place, and, alas - with a defect in the form of miniature growth. In general, the British disliked the "sick and defective" mila, and the inhabitants of Paris simply fell in love with them!
4. French manicure or "franch"
How, you did not know that this universal manicure was not French at all, but was invented by the founder of the ORLY nail varnish company Jeff Pink more than 35 years ago in the US? Yes, this guy so wanted to "sniff" Hollywood actresses a new nail-trend that would perfectly match any outfit and would be combined with any color, that he simply took and put the very notorious adjective "French" to it. And it worked again!
5. French fries or French fries
Today we call fried in oil french fries thanks to the French word "deep-frying", but we consider this dish, most likely, American, thanks to the love of this country for fast food. But in fact, the authorship of this crispy yummy is defended by Belgium, where the potatoes were grown first - in the 17th century and roasted its slices in oil in the winter months, when it was impossible to feed fish by catches.
6. French Toast
Well, again we were deceived! And it turns out, the recipe for bread, soaked in milk and a raw egg, and then fried in oil was found even in the book of the ancient Roman cook Apnius. And in general, the inhabitants of many European countries in the Middle Ages were very fond of this dish, calling it a dessert "poor knight", because they simply could not afford a refreshing treat!
7. The French kiss
Now we burst with resentment, but the truth is more expensive ... So, while throughout the world the French are considered to be the best lovers, the French kiss should be taken away from them once and for all! Yes, because it was invented by American and British soldiers who returned from France after World War I and passionately kissed their wives and girlfriends that this kind of lip merging had to be given a separate name and assigned a classification!