I agree that saying it's an elusive uniquely French concept is wrong. It is a fairly common concept. But at the same time I don't think English has a good word

I agree that saying it's an elusive uniquely French concept is wrong. It is a fairly common concept. But at the same time I don't think English has a good word for it. Culturally that's not that surprising. The idea that a sausage from one region of the country is materially different than a similarly produced sausage from the a different part of the country is common in France, Germany or Italy, but doesn't seem common in England or the USA. And since it's not a thing in their culture it's not a thing in their language. Which in English/American modus operandi means importing the word from the first place they heard it (usually France) and claiming it originated there.