Like a bat out of hell, meatloaf — the food, not the musician—has made its way around the world. Though many think of meatloaf as a symbol of American foods and Americana, the dish dates back to long before the "good old days" and isn't actually American at all.

Unlike Native American foods, indigenous to the U.S. and used by Indigenous people and communities for thousands of years, meatloaf is known to have begun its life in Europe long before the U.S. ever existed as a recognized state. It first made it's way stateside thanks to the work of immigrants and soon became woven into the fabric of American food culture.