For me it’s Indian food, but then… what else? Ugh… what a question.
Bah. My mind is a whirling blank right here. I mean, freshly-prepared tiradito right off the boat is like… ffff, like tasting heaven.
I mean, I’ve never had *truly* fresh, truly authentic sushi, but I imagine it would be like tiradito? (note: it’s a form of ceviche, i.e. latino lime-cooked fish slices)
American / Canadian and arabic. Great Shwarma can be so flavorful and delicious. I also can’t do without a great burger every once in a long while.
- Mexican, what is life without salsa?
- French, can’t miss with those standards
Hmm, I was going to go with Mexican and Chinese but French has now thrown me!
It’s strange that French food has high standards when they’re French.
Cheese eating surrender monkeys?
Fake language speaking long cigarette smoking crappy movie making frogs.
Eastern, western
Northern and southern
Mexican and Italian. Both have very rich regional traditions with a ton of variety. Of course, Mexican food is a blend of Native American and European traditions, and Italian food (often) depends heavily on New World crops like tomatoes and corn, so these strict delineations are not real
Italian food (often) depends heavily on New World crops like tomatoes and corn
It’s so curious-- so what was late-stage Western Roman food like, anyway?
Max Miller is a dang-ol’ genius at this stuff, but he always has to make a huge production about it, y’know…?
I can only assume they just drank gallons of garam!
In all seriousness though, we have a very dedicated restaurant near us run by a couple from the Verona area in far-northern Italy, and they use no tomatoes or corn. Pretty much every dish they make would’ve been possible pre-Columbus. This includes many styles of pasta, sauces based in olive oil or butter, and other things like beef, shrimp, mushrooms, pistachios, peas, and a variety of cheeses.
Wow, that’s… yeah!
So, hehe, I’ve been to Italia a grand total of <once>, when we visited my aunt in Firenza, many years ago. (One of the things I really loved about Italia is how it busted our mindset about ‘American expectations’)
Eh, but they use no tomatoes or corn.
Fair! But we also came up with potatoes, chiles, and quite a number of spicy meatballs, not just of the polpette piccanti variety, eh?
It seems to be a belief many Americans have, but usually they are mainly familiar with American Italian cuisine, which is quite different from mist actual Italian cuisine.
is quite different from mist actual Italian cuisine.
That was my sense as well from my one visit to Italy. As is completely common, an ethnic / cultural food almost always get adapted towards the tastes of other regions / nations.
- Indian
- Mexican
I try to eat mostly vegetarian at home, and Indian recipes are my go-to for that. Indian food is the best tasting vegetarian food in my opinion. I was tempted to put Chinese here because I make tofu stir fry somewhat frequently, but I go with Indian recipes more often.
Mexican for the second choice because that gives you huevos rancheros, Mexican rice and beans, and homemade corn tortilla chips with guacamole. And breakfast burritos from the place down the street from me.
Same two for me probably
Same for me as well.
Same for me.
Mediterranean and Thai.
- Ethnic
- Fusion
Figure that pretty much covers all of my bases.
Indian and Chinese are excellent options, since they’re basically a couple dozen (minimum) cuisines in a trench coat.
a couple dozen (minimum) cuisines in a trench coat.
Hahaha, that’s great!
Cantonese food, though… we must try it!!
Indian or vietnamese because both have amazing vegan options
In truth, I could nom their stuff for eternity.
I love how you nailed them both, right there!
If Indian qualifies as one single cuisine - then Indian. I’ll have enough dishes to try out in my lifetime and that’s after considering I am vegetarian.
If Indian qualifies as one single cuisine
I guess you’re probably right. India is a large country, with roots, cultures and traditions like an ancient sequoia tree’s vast, extensive roots in the ground.
So just out of curiosity (especially as an ignorant Westerner), just how many distinct cuisines would you say there might be across India and the India-adjacent regions?
Note: let’s try to avoid going ‘regional’ if possible, because any nation can be broken down in to heaps of regional variations, yeah?
A famous Anthony Bourdain quote about Japan states: “If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it. Most chefs I know would agree with me”. He also famously described his first experience in Tokyo as being like “taking LSD for the first time,” a transformative experience that changed his perspective on the world.
I agree, for me it would be Japanese food, it’s so diverse and so refined.
Probably Thai and Indian, since they both have a strong vegetarian side.
Just pick Burmese, covers both. I’d probably choose that and Japanese.
Indian and italian
Turkish and French. Turkish because it has an extremely wide variety, French because they are the goat.
If I was to try and dabble in French food, what would you recommend I try? I’ve literally never had French food as far as I know and am intrigued.
I will add a couple of my favorite dishes to what @Dayroom7485@lemmy.world said. Boeuf Bourguignon, and Tartiflette. Also +1 for boxed French wine.
Not OP, still huge fan of French cuisine. I’d choose Coq au Vin. It’s straightforward to do at home, all you need is a pot and a cooking plate. Combines red wine, mediterranean herbs and a good amount of butter with vegetables and chicken for an incredible dish. French people value fresh, beautiful ingredients and are willing to pay top money for A-class quality. That’s another secret to their cooking.
Then there’s of course more dishes that you can’t easily do at home:
- try a hand-made Croissant fresh out of the oven in the morning.
- Cheeses - there’s hundreds of them, eat them alone or with some Baguette and grapes.
- Galettes are thin wholegrain pancakes. They come with salty toppings, but also sweet varieties - salted caramel is a classic.
- Fresh oysters with a squeeze of lemon.
- Nothing compares to a good, aged French red wine. But also fresh white wines and roses are fine - locals buy them in 5 liter boxes in the supermarket, you put them in the fridge and are settled for a week. Just be mindful that they need to be fresh (last year’s harvest typically).
- Sparkling wines are amazing, too. It’s fine to settle for Cremant, it’s the same stuff as Champagne, but cheaper.
- I could write another list twice as long about seafood.
Best thing to do is visit France and experience it. No need to waste time and money in overcrowded Paris, foodies will be very happy in Bordeaux, Marseille, Rouen and affordable Provence area. You get amazing lunch deals (“plat du jour”, dish of the day) that typically include starter, main and dessert for around EUR15 in many places.
I’m happy you mentioned the bag-in-box wine. Boxed wind is frowned upon by snobs but when buying from a local co-op years ago the winemaker suggested to but some bagged wine for easy drinking. Especially suites for light wiens that don’t age.
I would also suggest to try the ‘tranche du boucher’ (butcher’s slice) in a local bistro. It’s a slice of meat that is sold a bit cheaper. Have it with a bit of bread and a green salad.
My American friend taught I was crazy when i ordered the hand cut steak tartare once. Finely chopped seasoned meat. Extra points if you have it with a raw quail egg yolk. Heavenly.
Americans and taste…
The raw meat and raw egg yolk is what scared him. He just watched me like it was a joke and checked the day after on my health status.
They’re scared AF from raw eggs.
I know they only eat them if they’re pasteurised at least.
Read about it once, they have different standards and practices.
Same for the meat, totally fine in Europe if all rules are followed.
IMO nothing beats a good French onion soup with a cheesy bread.
And if you didn’t mention the patisserie, that would mean you haven’t got a sweet tooth.
It’s definitely one of the specialties.
I’m sure my GF will try that tomorrow when she goes to expensive Paris.Yeah, onion soup is up there, too. Fish soup as well imo. There’s just too much good stuff 😅 good for your GF, I bet she’s in for some (expensive) treats 😁
Wow thank you so much for taking the time to type this up! Definitely plenty of options now to go hunt down. Thank you!
What an incredibly difficult question to answer. Mexican and Chinese probably. Hokkien noodles are so fucking good
