Thought I’d ask this because I want to discover more foods from across the world
(Also I shouldn’t have to say this to americans, please state where you are from and state where you are from without acronyms or shortened names because I’ve seen US Defaultism on lemmy and not all of us are going to know your acronyms considering we’re global users)
I’m Belgian so only one answer is allowed
Belgian fries with mayonnaise and Flemish stew
Weirdly the replies to your comment won’t load on the lemmy instance I’m on, don’t know about other instances
They do seem to load on your instance so I’m thinking it’s some sort of federation issue
Anyways here’s a screenshot for anyone else who can’t see the replies
As neighbor Dutchy, I can agree! Delicious.
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My wife spent 18 months in Bulgaria. When she talks about the food banitsa invariably comes up as something she desperately misses.
I’m from France, if I had to select one dish for you to try it would be duck confit with sarladaise potatoes (cooked in duck fat). In terms of calorie density it makes me think of Homer’s “I only eat food in bar form” meme. But so worth it.
From Almeirim in Portugal, there’s “sopa da pedra”, translates to “soup of the rock”. It has several kinds of meat, beans, potato, and it’s usually eaten with bread (some say even a specific local bread type, but I’m not picky on that). It used to come with a stone in it traditionally, but for higiene reasons restaurants are not allowed to anymore. Some people at home still do it, I believe.
With it there is an old tale:
There was once a poor friar that was traveling. Once it came time to rest, he knocked on someone’s door and asked for their hospitality in exchange for a soup. His hosts let him in and they see the friar pulling an old smooth stone from his pocket and putting it in a pot, along with water.
“Some seasoning would make this soup better… Do you happen to have any chouriço?” [best translation I’ve got is “meat”, or maybe “sausage”] asks the friar. And so his hosts find him some chouriço that they throw in the pan.
“It’s looking great! Now this soup would really improve if we could thicken it up a little. Do you happen to have some potatoes or beans leftover from yesterday?” And some potatoes and beans have indeed been leftover from yesterday. The friar adds it to the soup.
The friar asks for a few more spices, olive oil, and soon there is a delicious smell coming from the pot. What a nice soup!
They eat and once the soup is finished the friar fishes out the stone, washes it and puts it back in his pocket. Tomorrow he’ll knock on someone else’s door along the way ;)
chouriço reminds me of “chorizo”
Wonder if there’s some related etymology there
Chorizo is the Spanish variant, our neighbors. Chorizo and chouriço are not quite the same, but similar. AFAIK they have different seasonings.
Ha! We have a very similar folk tale in Hungary about a soldier returning from war with a rock, asking an old lady to cook the “stone soup”, asking for more and more legit ingredients.
Out of curiosity, is the soup similar?
Just re-read the tale, it’s actually a bit similar, it has sausages (kolbász, much closer to chorizo than the english type), potatoes and rice.
That’s so interesting! I wonder if some immigrant took it from one country to the other, along with the story
All I could find was that the version I know comes from Székelys of Bukovina. Maybe it’s convergent evolution of resourceful people🤷♂️
Finland: only had it a couple of times 'cause it’s expensive, and takes long and is tedious to make, but loimulohi (fire salmon). It’s salmon nailed to a plank and then heated up by an open fire. Very tasty.
Pretty much any big enough fish can be made like that, but I’ve only had salmon.
I imagine there is something like this in a lot of languages, but it’s always amused me that Bulgogi (Korean BBQ beef/pork) translates literally to “fire meat”
I’m happy to learn Finns have a similar word!
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Jungle curry is heaven on earth!
Northwest US: smoked salmon with a side of berries. Sockeye with little or no sugar added is the best IMO. The berries should be native varieties if you want to try for authenticity, though the invasive blackberries are really tasty, too.
Singapore here Nasi lemak is to die for Coconut rice with a side of fried fish/chicken,fried egg,deep fried anchovies and peanuts topped with sambal (a sweet chilli paste) Used to eat it for breakfast daily Bring on the heart disease !!
in Guatemala, the spicy rice tamales are probably my favorite thing here.
but today I’m getting the chipilin tamales, which have little leaves mixed into the dough and are also real good.
From China, boiled dumplings/water dumplings. Preferably stuffed with pork and garlic chives with a little bowl of black vinegar and sesame oil to dip in.
My favorite food of all time. If it was possible to have dumplings every meal and be healthy I 100% would.
I love Chinese food so much. I’ve visited twice, and always make room for food.
My favorite street food is probably sheng jian bao, the pan fried buns with soupy pork filling sealed in.
In terms of a single standalone dish, it’s hard to say. I like noodle dishes, like Taipei style beef noodle soup. Or Wuhan style re gan mian.
And for the type of meal where there’s a lot of dishes on the table to be shared, my favorite dish in that setting is probably Mapo tofu. I did a food tour of Chengdu once and just everything Sichuan is so good, but Mapo tofu is just all my favorite Sichuan things in a single dish.
Vegemite on toast is just good.
Foreigners always fuck up the ratios.
I’m not Australian, but I guess the ratio is at least 1:1
You start with “surely I need more than that” amounts of vegimite and “surely I dont need that much” amounts of butter and adjust inwards over time until you hit your preference.
You put butter with your vegimite, I’ve never really liked butter with vegimite personally and just have toast woth vegimite alone
The ratio is a thin layer + additional added to taste as per your preference
I bought a small (20 g) jar at an international store on a whim. I followed the advice I’d seen of lots of butter and just a tiny bit of Vegemite and I have to say it was pretty tasty. I then had the intrusive thought to really slather it on and… yeah, if that had been my first experience I’d be convinced it was the most vile substance known to man.
As an Australian, yes I agree that foreigners fuck up the ratios
It’s delicious when done right
Vegemite is good. I like Promite better.
Norwegian, here. Lutefisk is incredible if done right, but it’s easy to fuck up severely. So if someone were to try and cook something based on my recommendation, I’d suggest Fårikål or Pinnekjøtt instead, as they’re both incredibly easy to make and quite tasty.
Now I’m curious to try “good” lutefisk. I grew up hearing about how exceptionally awful it is.
Same. Didn’t try it until I was in my 30’s and it was kinda meh at best… until I tried a well made one later.
The difference between “meh” and “great” is in the quality. The difference between those and “get it away from me” is definitely in the eater.
Visited my norwegian family over the new year, and got to try pinnekjøtt. Very tasty, if a bit annoying to get the meat off of the bones.
In my opinion, that means it’s not done yet. Since it’s mostly a steaming process, you can leave it in as long as you want to. I usually put it on in the morning, and just add a little water in the kettle throughout the day to make sure it does not dry out. Then 20 minutes in the oven before serving.
That way it usually falls off the bone easily.
Yeah, i was slightly overexaggerating c: 90% of the meat fell off easily, but for those last 10% you had to really go caveman for. Luckily me and my family usually clean the bones whilst eating so i didnt stand out.
Hmmm. I will extend it to anything Norwegian. “Pinnekjøtt” usually a Christmas dish.
Cured (salted and/or smoked) sheep ribs. (Often lamb)
The ribs are then separated to individual ribs.
You water it for 16 hours, changing the water once. Or they will be too salty. Then you steam them until the meat releases from the bones (3ish hours)
Serves with mashed swedes, sausage, and potatoes, using the water as a sort of gravy (it’s full of fat)
Interesting. I’ve had fårikål but that sounds more interesting to me. Probably on account of the use of cured meat, particularly smoked, likely giving a more complex flavor to the lamb.
Tbh I think Fårikål is a bit bland. At least if you don’t give it a day. Don’t know why it is, but the dish is often better the next day. And I think some people use to lean cuts. Fårikål needs fat as it is often slow cooked for several hours. That just makes for chewy blandness if you use lambchops or other “better” cuts. Personally I make it “French” by making a red wine version.
mashed Swedes
Tell me, Dr Hannibal Lecter: what is a ‘mashed Swede’?
Heh, I see my autocorrect gave it a calital S. But since you askes, I believe the american word is rutabaga. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga?
Also jokingly called the “Nordic orange” because of its high content of vitamin C.
I forgot to mention that we so add a carrot and milk to make it more orange puree
mashed Swedes
what is a ‘mashed Swede’?
the american word is rutabaga
Ah! It’s called ‘swede’ because it’s short for ‘swedish turnip’! I’ve never heard it called that. It was a complete surprise (and my nephews are Swedes, so…) ;-)
I’ve never heard it called Rutabaga either. We call it just ‘turnip’, and up to this moment I never knew what a Rutabaga tasted like, despite having turnip just the other day. Wow! So it’s a Yank word?
My dad would make mashed turnip with a little nutmeg or cinnamon. It was awesome.
Anyway, I’m learning SO MUCH today. Thanks!
As an Australian, I’m going to say Pavlova because it’s the only thing that comes to mind when I think of favourite foods
I call bullshit on new zealand’s claim with their so called unnamed chef that probably didn’t even exist
I haven’t had pav in such a long time. I reckon it’s time I learned to make it.
Does chicken salt count as Aussie cuisine? Because who would ever go with regular salt if you’re given the choice?
Edit: I just thought of another one, more a Tasmanian specialty since moving here: scallop pie. It tastes luxurious and basic at the same time, subtle and flavoursome, a bit of everything in one convenient package.
I’ve lived all over the U.S., so here are some of my favorites:
Texas:
- Beef barbecue. The classic is beef brisket, but a lot of places have great beef rib, too.
- Tex Mex: fajitas hit the spot every time.
- Breakfast tacos, especially with leftover smoked brisket from the day before, or some other smoked meat like smoked sausage. Undeniably Texas, undeniably delicious.
Louisiana:
- Boiled crawfish, with red potatoes and corn and andouille sausage. Some people overcook their potatoes and corn, but even then there’s still a charm to it. But the whole experience of a crawfish boil is everything great about food culture: socializing around a big table, making a big mess, teaching kids and newbies how do engage in that task of peeling crawfish. The Vietnamese riffs on these traditions are also great, and Viet-Cajun is a great genre of food in general, too.
The American South in general:
- American Southern style fried chicken. It’s just great.
- Pecan pie. Easily my favorite American dessert.
Southern California:
- Burritos. Something about the fresh made flour tortillas in Southern California are just better than everywhere else in the U.S. So a good burrito provides flavor from the fillings, and also flavor from the wrap itself, in a way that all the parts just complement each other.
- Ensenada style fish tacos (yes, I know this originates south of the border but it is “local” to the general region). There’s just something refreshing about fish tacos with a crunchy cabbage slaw, fresh lime juice, a crema-based sauce, eaten outdoors. Can’t beat it.
New York:
- Bodega style breakfast sandwich. The basic concept is universal across the U.S. (egg, a breakfast meat like sausage or bacon, and cheese on some kind of roll, bun, or even bagel, griddled with generous amounts of butter), but something about the New York bodegas just make these taste better when you’re on the go.
Chicago:
- Deep dish pizza. Looks kinda dumb, but it’s delicious.
- Chicago style, “dragged through the garden” hot dogs. Every component makes this ensemble great.
- Italian beef sandwiches. I don’t know why these aren’t more popular outside of Chicago. Get it dipped, get a little messy with it.
I’d go Chicago tavern style pizza over deep dish. Great list though
Pecan pie. Easily my favorite American dessert.
I love a well done pecan pie but I find myself avoiding it because you never know when some Karo jelly with a few pecans thrown on top horror is going to be what is served you.
