Tasting the local delicacies is a huge part of travel – and one we can't wait to get back to when it's safe to do so. Traditional recipes are interwoven with culture, history and identity in cities and countries around the world. So what happens when it isn’t exactly clear where a certain food or recipe originated? From counter-claims to places that have a long-running beef (burger) with one another, here are a few tasty dishes people get a bit testy over...

The saying ‘American as apple pie’ – commonly used to describe someone or something typically American – seems to suggest this comforting, classic dessert was invented in the US. But it was a 1924 ad for suits that first used the phrase. And even the apples sliced into the pie originate from elsewhere, being native to Asia. The first written reference to apple pie was in 1381 in England.

The recipe, by The Canterbury Tales author Geoffrey Chaucer, called for a pastry crust packed with apples, pears, figs and raisins – but not even a teaspoon of sugar. Whether you prefer your pie à la mode (with ice-cream), topped with a thick dollop of clotted cream or in a cardboard sleeve, from McDonald's, is another matter entirely.

Apart from maybe apple pie, it's hard to think of a food that's more US of A than fried chicken. The southern states are especially proud of the crunchy on the outside, butter-soft on the inside, finger-licking food. And then, of course, there's Colonel Harland Sanders, whose 'secret recipe' Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is globally known and widely craved.

The Colonel launched that world of wings, legs and sharing buckets in 1952. Yet it's widely claimed that it was actually the Scots who first brought fried chicken to the USA. It was common in Scotland to fry strips of chicken in fat, and 18th-century immigrants took that with them when they settled in the American south. They probably didn't use 11 herbs and spices, though...

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It's believed the earliest version was under the Assyrian Empire in 800 BC, when bread dough was baked with honey and nuts, and that the Ancient Greeks developed phyllo (or filo) pastry for a more delicate version. The Ottoman Empire, encompassing Greece, Turkey and other nations, popularised the dessert, which was apparently perfected in 17th-century Istanbul.

This creamy, mildly spiced chicken curry is widely considered to be Britain’s national dish. And it’s also claimed it was invented in the UK – at a restaurant in Glasgow, to be precise. In 1970 Ali Ahmed Aslam, of Glasgow’s Shish Mahal curry house, apparently emptied a can of tomato soup over a chicken tikka dish a customer complained was “too dry”.

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These desserts are the same, yet different. They’re both set custards, sprinkled with sugar and grilled or blow-torched to create a burnt, crackable caramel crust. Crema Catalana tends to be flavoured with citrus zest. In a World Cup–worthy contest, both France and Spain claim to have invented the concept.

The consensus among food historians is that it was invented in Tampa’s Ybor City, a neighbourhood founded by cigar magnates in 1885 – and it’s officially the city’s signature sandwich. Yet Miami argues there’s no definitive proof, and also reckons its version is better (because it doesn’t have salami). You can taste delicious sandwiches in either city, though.

No one is disputing that feta cheese is Greek – at least, not that we know of. It’s classified as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product by the European Commission, and has been recognised as an original Greek product since the 1920s. What some countries have argued, however, is that they should be allowed to use the name.

The salty, tangy, crumbling white cheese can only be legally called feta if it has been produced in Greece with at least 70% sheep's milk, and many have seen that as unfair. There have even been instances of cheese being illegally branded as feta in the past few years.

You might assume the cue is in the name. I mean, they’re called French fries, right? One of the most popular theories is that President Thomas Jefferson’s French chef made some chipped potatoes ‘in the French manner’, giving the burger-loving side its moniker and introducing what has become one of the USA’s favourite foods.

But food historians and experts believe that these moreish chipped potatoes were actually invented in Belgium in the 17th century. A popular (if unfounded) story suggests they became known as French fries because soldiers tried them while erroneously believing they were on French soil, when in fact they were in Belgium.

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No one truly knows who first mashed chickpeas to make this addictively delicious dip, or where. Which is perhaps why there are so many claims and counter-claims surrounding its origins. It’s widely believed to be Middle Eastern, with the earliest mention of hummus dating back to Egypt in the 13th century.

It’s widely believed that the garlic and lemon laced dish is originally from the Middle Eastern Shami region, today comprised of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan, with Lebanon fighting to claim it as its national dish. Many other counties have claimed ownership, including Turkey – where chickpeas are believed to have first been cultivated.

These tasty little chickpea balls have become a street-food staple around the world. But their origins are wrapped in layers of intrigue. Several Middle Eastern countries – Egypt, Israel, Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine – claim to have created falafel.

Falafel is often seen as a Jewish food and Israel’s national dish, usually eaten stuffed in pitta pockets. Yet facts suggest it’s most likely it was invented in Egypt, where it’s called ta’amiya. And, in any case, Egyptian falafel has been voted as the world’s best – so that’s a clear win.

The spicy condiment kimchi is one of Korea’s greatest exports – and the country's national dish. There is even evidence that salted and fermented cabbage kimchi existed 1,500 years ago. Yet, in 1996, Japan controversially claimed the dish as an official food at the Atlanta Olympics.

For South Korea, however, kimchi is a fundamental part of the country’s culture and national identity. Different varieties, using vegetables from carrots to radishes, are made and consumed at home, while the fermented flavours have become hugely popular around the globe.

These two southwestern counties have a habit of falling out over food, and the humble Cornish pasty has really stirred up conflict over the years. Yes, it’s called a Cornish pasty, and the story goes that these meat-and-veg pastry pockets were popularised in the 17th and 18th centuries as a handheld meal miners could easily take to work.

But other evidence has thrown their origins – and potentially the name – into doubt. Dr Todd Gray, an academic at Exeter University, claimed a document describes the making of pasties in Devon 236 years before a written account of pasties in Cornwall. A Cornish counter-claim argued that cave drawings suggest pasties existed in that county in primitive times.

Spuds are pretty simple, right? Wrong. There are actually more than 4,000 varieties of potato native to Peru alone, and it’s widely held they were first cultivated in the Peruvian Andes. Most people agree that the starchy tubers originate in South America. But Chile also has a claim to potato fame.

Studies have shown that more than 90% of modern potato varieties could be traced back to the region around Chiloé Island in southern Chile – while contradictory research shows all potatoes derived from a single ancient variety found by Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side.

Although jollof rice – often simply called ‘jollof’ – is widely seen as a Nigerian dish, several other West African countries stake a claim. A Guardian newspaper poll found that the majority of readers thought the dish was Ghanaian, followed by Senegal, Nigeria, Botswana and finally Cameroon.

All agree that it’s delicious, and should be made with a base of rice, tomatoes, onions and chillies, wherever it originally comes from. Arguing over whether it should be served with meat, seafood, vegetables – or all of the above – is another matter altogether.

Both countries argue they invented the dish – a crisp meringue with whipped cream and berries piled on top – in honour of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured the places in the 1920s. Food historians have backed either side, though the Oxford English Dictionary settled – or perhaps fuelled – the debate by updating the entry with the detail that the first recorded pavlova recipe appeared in New Zealand, in 1927.

Hamburgers are American, right? The modern incarnation might be attributed to at least four Americans – Wisconsin’s Charlie Nagreen, Connecticut’s Louis Lassen, Oklahoma’s Oscar Weber Bilby and the Menches brothers from New York – but the beloved bite is actually German in origin. 

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The idea of putting a ground meat patty in a (brötchen) roll came over from Northern Europe with German immigrants and spread across the States. So while it’s a core part of American cuisine it’s indelibly associated with the German city of Hamburg.

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You’d be forgiven for thinking the Scotch egg was invented in Scotland, for obvious reasons. It's hard to find a pub (or chip shop) that doesn't serve a version of these beloved sausage-and-egg balls. But the story isn’t as simple as the name suggest.

Several places claim to have laid the golden-breadcrumbed egg. One story – and the most widely believed – is that London’s Fortnum & Mason department store came up with the recipe in 1738, as a snack for wealthy people on carriage rides. It’s also argued that it derives from a similar northern Indian snack, nargisi kofta – or that it may be Scottish after all, created by farmers as a cheap, handheld meal.

But it’s neighbouring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan – both of which call their stuffed grape leaf dish tolma – that have most strongly disputed their origin. The steamed, piquant parcels were declared Azerbaijan's national dish. In response, Armenia launched its annual Tolma Festival to promote it as an indigenous food.

Yet the counties have fought about who started the tradition – with Devon even campaigning for protected status of its cream tea. And there’s another, far fiercer debate: does the cream go on first, or the jam? In Devon, it’s always cream on scone, while a Cornish tea is traditionally jam first. Either way, it’s scones at dawn. Or mid-afternoon.

Vichyssoise is yet another food that sounds French but is in fact believed to have been first cooked somewhere else. This smooth soup, made with onions, leeks, potatoes and cream and served cold, is even named after the French town Vichy. Yet it’s widely held that it was first simmered up in the US.

It was French chef Louis Diat who apparently came up with the idea, inspired by a similar hot soup from his childhood, serving the elegant chilled version at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York in 1917. Others claim it has Basque origins, with a version of potato and leek soup served in the Spanish region for more than 200 years.

The spag bol that became a UK dinner party staple in the 1960s clearly has roots in Italy, though many argue it’s quite a different dish to the latter’s tagliatelle al ragù, which is typically made with the flatter pasta noodles and has a slow-cooked sauce of shin of beef, pancetta, tomatoes, carrots, onion and white wine.

The British spin, now served in restaurants around the world, became popular as pasta turned into a home kitchen staple. First of all, the pasta is usually rounded spaghetti noodles, while the sauce is a ragù made with minced beef, simmered with tomatoes, veg and a splash of red wine.

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Waffles are a beloved food in the US, whether it’s with fruit and cream (and sometimes bacon) for breakfast or paired with fried chicken and doused in syrup. Yet, while the waffle iron was patented in the US in 1869, the criss-crossed favourite was brought over by Dutch colonists in the 17th century.

Even Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is believed to have been involved, starting a craze when he brought a waffle iron back from France in the 1790s. And the history gets even more, well, waffly. The waffle iron has also been traced back to Ancient Greece, when primitive versions were used. Then there are Belgian waffles, which look pretty much the same but are thicker and more cake-like in texture.

Read more: From sandwiches to buffalo wings: foods invented by accident