Not necessarily the best meals (or places), but the meals (or places) that best represent your culture.
I mean if you’ve never eaten Pupusas, I don’t know what life you’re living.
We have a Salvadoran restaurant near us (in Maryland, USA) and we love these!
Loroco y queso!
What is even that flower? I wonder if I can grow it in my apartment in Canada cause that shit is delicious. They sell frozen loroco where I live but it’s expensive. And I haven’t been to El Salvador in a decade for the real thing
There is one pupusa place where I live and they don’t season their food and it just breaks my heart.
Boston cream pie… more like a cake. Very delicious. If you’re ever in Boston, you can visit where it started at the Parker House Hotel (Omni).
- BBQ, from any/all regions
- Cajun food – very important one!
- Fried chicken and waffles – I tried explaining this umami to a handful of people in Japan, and they didn’t understand.
- Casseroles of all kinds
Good point on the BBQ. The differences between regions is substantial, and although you may not like one region’s BBQ, you may very well love another region’s. I for one am not a fan of the vinegar based BBQ, but a good dry rub, or mustard base, I am all there.
JÄGERSCHNITZEL. ifykyk.
Mmh, the uniquely East German taste of Realsozialismus
Uhh yeah 🤤
on the east coast of Canada, in the French speaking region known as Acadie (not in Quebec), there is a dish known as Poutine Rapée. it is not the delicious “cheese fries and gravy” Poutine, oh no. This is a big fucking potato dumpling with seasoned pork and onion inside it. Making them is an art form. They are super delicious. Eat one of those for lunch and you’ll go for hours.
As a former Maritimer, I feel robbed that I was exposed to Halifax donair and not this instead.
Donair sucks and donair pizza is an abomination, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. This on the other hand sounds amazing.
well bud, I enjoy donairs enough for both of us put together, so don’t you worry about that. I could eat the arse end out of one right now and I’m not even done my coffee.
But yeah, Poutine Rapée is absolutely tits. Like a “cult classic” movie or a super amazing hotspot that only the locals know about, if you know you know, and now you know. I hope wherever you are that you have a kick-ass day.
Bunny Chow! Chicken curry in a bread bowl
Bunny chow is so good. There’s a South African expat who runs a store/restaurant by my house here in Texas and makes what seems to be pretty authentic bunny chow and Vetkoek. Unfortunately, I found out that he and his wife are so aggressively MAGA that I legitimately wonder if he left S.A. because he was sad to see Apartheid go.
Seems far too common. My parents had a difficult time getting into the US so hearing about “all the illegals just strolling into the country” vitriol Fox spews seems to indoctrinate them
I was wondering what South African dish I would see here. Can’t go wrong with a Bunny Chow. But I would also mention Koeksisters, Melktert and our best braai meat, Karoo Lamb Tjops
Ok so everybody is always about the stroopwafels, the fries with lots of mayo and the raw herring. And that’s all fine unique and dandy.
But the real thing that many food travelers miss is the smoked eel. They are delicious smokey fatty fishes, really unique to dutchland, Japanese unagi doesn’t hold a candle to it.
They are horrible looking, hard to peel (yup you peel the eel) but they are the best culinary thing our country has, and I’ll die on this hill. Goes with a korenwijn type (Dutch gin)
Cold smoked raindeer meat.
Just amazing.
Poutine, but just the classic kind. Cheese curds and brown gravy over fries. Don’t go to a poutinerie for the first time ever and order some stupid shit like buffalo chicken poutine. And don’t order your first poutine from McDonald’s either.
The best poutine I had was at the Montreal airport, no joke. Big ol pile of Smoked Meat on top!
I love poutine. The only reason it hasn’t caught on here south of the border is it’s Frenchy.
The best is in Quebec. Ottawa is a good second best.
USA: Real barbeque. I don’t mean braised meat slathered in a sticky sauce, either. I mean tough cuts of meat, cooked slow and low over woodsmoke until it is fall-off-the-bone tender. No sauce required.
Much easier to find this in the southern US, with Texas, Missouri, and the Carolinas all being particularly famous BBQ regions. In the northern states, your best bet is gonna be to find someone local with a smoker - not just a grill.
Fish and chips, the UK’s national dish. Curry sauce or mushy peas optional. From a proper local chippy for the real experience.
The Southwest of Germany has two really regional dishes that are worth a try. The one is Käsespätzle which is a special Swabian type of egg-noodles with cheese. The other is Maultaschen which are Swabian Ravioli.
Can confirm both of those are fantastic!
My favorite thing when I visited SW Germany was Fleishkase (I’ve also heard it referred to as Leberkase), and I’ve been unable to find it anywhere here in the states. I ate it at least once a week, grilled on a crusty bread with mustard from a Barbarossa bakery, and anywhere I traveled that had it on the menu I tried it (shoutout to Trier for having my favorit!)
I’ve been meaning to look into how difficult it is to make. I’ve been dreaming about it for like 2 years now 😭
Edit: Also, yes, kasespaetzle is next level fantastic. That I can kind of get at the Commissary on most military bases though, because us Americans want access to all the neat shit we get used to while serving overseas. However, while it’s yummy, it’s also prepackaged noodles just-add-water type shit at the Commissary, and not half as good as what I had over in Germany. Does scratch the itch when I’m craving it though!
Leberkäse is kinda hard to make yourself and is basically made from what’s left after slaughtering a pig and using all the good stuff for something else. Käsespätzle however is super easy to make from fresh dough yourself. For one pan the Spätzle are just made from 250 grams of very fine flour finely mixed with 5 fresh eggs. You just need to get some water cooking and then can either do a technique called “Spätzle schaben” where you just need a small kitchen board and a knife to get them into the water or use a Spätzlepress which is a specialised tool just to make them (safes you a lot of work).
The recipe my dad uses (was the owner/chef of a local kitchen):
500g Flour type 405
500g Flour for Spätzle (can supposedly substituted for 80:20 wheat and semolina flour according to a random search)
500g eggs (about 10x middle eggs)
30g Salt
400g Carbonated water (airy texture for dough. If not available just use regular water)Give that a good beating a good beating (mixing) and press it through a noodle press right into hot water and cook until done.
The slower the thicker they will becomeDidn’t try it yet but I believe it should be about accurate.
Also I dunno about the amount it will result all done. Probably needs to be downscaled significantly since this is aimed for restaurant type of mass ;)Thank you for taking the time to write this out for me! We’ll put your Kasespaetzle instructions to good use in our home! You’re awesome!
Here is a video of the technique i mentioned using a wooden board. And a link to the firm that bilds the specialised press that makes this a lot easier.
I was never a big Leberkäse fan, but I go to Trier on a regular basis now. Do you maybe remember where you got your favorite Leberkäse from, because I always found the food in Trier to be either mid at best or hella expensive.
A Bunnings Snag.
If you visit Australia our main hardware store called Bunnings hosts charity bbq to fundraise. For a couple dollaroos you get a barbequed sausage on a piece of bread with your choice of onions and/or condiments.
I can’t read the word “dollaroos” without hearing it in an Australian accent. I hope Australians read the word “loonie” and think there’s perhaps a slightly intoxicated Canadian involved.
The first time I tried a sausage sizzle from Bunnings, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe it’s because all my mates have been recommending giving it a try and hyping it up and whatnot, and I was really looking forward to it when I finally got around to it, but I didn’t really find it all that after the fact.
I mean, it’s not bad. It’s a couple of bucks, it’s a great sausage on white bread, I’d get it again no worries. I kinda just expected more I guess.
I’m listing countries where I’ve lived and split into Savoury, sweet and drinks categories, some countries have less items because I couldn’t think of other examples. On most places and categories I tried to limit myself to 3 entries.
Argentina
Savoury
- Churrasco - Argentinian bbq, it’s just meat with salt and possibly chimichurri (a “sauce” made with some herbs, restaurants around the world seem to call any dressing chimichurri but the traditional one is the best and only one for me)
- Fugazzeta - Essentially a thick dough onion and cheese pizza
- Empanadas - Similar to a calzone but with more fillings, it can be made in the oven, fried or grilled in charcoal. Traditional filling is meat but also very popular are Humita (corn with bechamel sauce, one of my favorites)
Sweet
- Alfajor - two biscuits with dulce de leche in between, usually covered with chocolate.
- Postre Balcarce - One of my favorites desserts, it’s a sort of cake with peaches, almond, merengue and other stuff, look it up.
- Media Lunas - Sweet croissant.
Drinks
- Mate - A sort of tea, drunk in a special cup with a special straw.
- Paso de Los toros pomelo - Grapefruit flavoured tonic water.
- Fernet con coca - An alcoholic drink made by mixing Fernet (a bitter liquor) with a can of coke.
Brazil
Savoury (northeast)
- Acarajé - A Bean paste fried in dendê oil, filled with shrimp, Vatapá (a paste made of shrimp, coconut milk, peanuts, etc) and Caruru (a paste made with okra, personally I don’t like it)
- Moqueca - A stew made with fish, shrimp, tomatoes , onion and dendê oil
- Beiju - A tortilla made with cassava flour, filled with a variety of fillings.
Savoury (general)
- Coxinha - A fried potato dough filled with chicken and usually requeijão/catupiry (a special creamy cheese)
- Pastel - Similar to Argentinian empanadas, but the dough is lighter and it’s only served fried.
- Feijoada - A stew made with black beans and some meats (sometimes eaten with orange)
Sweet
- Brigadeiro/Beijinho - Cooked condensed milk with chocolate powder or coconut.
- Pudim - Cooked condensed milk (Yes, Brazilians love condensed milk) with eggs and a caramel sauce.
- Paçoca - Sweet peanut crumbly cylinder.
Drinks
- Guarana - A soda made from a fruit found in Brazil.
- Caldo de cana - Pressed sugar cane, essentially natural sugary water.
- Caipirinha - An alcoholic drink made with lime and cachaça (a typically Brazilian alcoholic drink). Cachaça is not vodka, and a caipirinha made with vodka instead of cachaça is called a caipiroska.
Italy
Italian food is very well known, so I’ll list less known dishes, some of them are still known but not to the same level of Lasagna and Tiramisu.
Savoury
- Parmegiana - A lasagna made with eggplant instead of dough and LOTS of parmesan cheese
- Panzerotti - Similar to a calzone, but lots more filling and a thinner dough
- Putsnesca - garlic, anchovies, capers and black olives tomato sauce, usually eaten with Penne
Sweet
- Panettone - A sweet bread with caramelized fruits and raisins
- Panna Cotta - Cooked cream topped with some sauce
- Pastafrola/Pasta frolla - Sweet tart filled with jams
Drinks
- Lemoncello - Lemon liquor.
- Aranciatta - Similar to Fanta but I think it’s made with tonic water because it has a bitter taste to it.
- Soda - A traditionally made soda with syrup and sparkling water, they have several flavors.
Ireland
Savoury
- Guiness stew - A stew made with meat, potatoes, onion, carrots and Guiness.
Drinks
- Guiness
Spain
Savoury
- Tortilla de patatas - A sort of tall omelette made with fried potatoes and usually onion.
- Paella - Seafood and veggies with rice and saffron.
- Patatas bravas - Fried potatoes with a spicy sauce.
Sweet
- Crema catalana - Custard topped with caramelized sugar.
- Churros/Xurros - Fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon, made to be eaten by dipping in chocolate or dulce de leche.
- Turrón - A sort of nougat.
Drinks
I’ve only recently moved to Spain, haven’t had any traditional drinks here, if someone has some recommendations let me know.
Tostone. Take a green unripe plantain (similar to a banana). peel it cut into 3 or 4 parts depending on size. Soak in salt water over night. Dry and fry 3 min. Remove from oil and smash it flat. Fry for another 3 min. Salt and serve with crushed garlic in olive oil.
