item 1. WORLD CUISINE WORLD CUP.

[Mr. Tea]

french cooks think its a matter of personal honour to snub vegeetarians which is their pergotive i suppose but i have to ratee france just on cheese alone. one village probably produces more varities of cheese than the entire british isles. (and britain is no cheese slouch) ive never eaten anything nice in spain or from spain. im sure their pigs are great and everything though.

I heard there are now more cheese varieties made in the UK than there are in France...
The British Cheese Board says there are over 700 kinds: http://www.britishcheese.com/
Wikipedia says "Traditionally, there are from 350 to 400 distinct types of French cheese grouped into eight categories 'les huit familles de fromage'. There can be many varieties within each type of cheese, leading some to claim closer to 1,000 different types of French cheese", so I guess it depends on how you define a "variety" of cheese.

 

[BareBones]

Can't believe I forgot spain as well, christ what is wrong with my memory?

actually fuck it whoever invented cheesecake is the winner for me. lemon cheesecake.

 

[muser]

Mexican food is great, Ceviche is one of my favourite Mexican dishes, and some thing with pork and almonds that I dont know whats called, and refried beans. Chipotle oil is one of the greatest condemants aswell, chipotles soaked in vinegar and then put in oil with fried onion. really distinctive smokey flavour and goes well with everything.

Morrocan food needs a mention aswell I think, that would go near, if not at the top, of my list I think.

 

[Mr. Tea]

I'm sure there's loads of great Mexican places in the USA. I think Mexican food in America plays a similar role that curry does here, as the default Spicy Foreign Food.

 

[Slothrop]

I'm sure there's loads of great Mexican places in the USA. I think Mexican food in America plays a similar role that curry does here, as the default Spicy Foreign Food.

I wouldn't make a case for India having the world's greatest food culture based on The Tandoori Palace in Cambridge, though...

 

[mistersloane]

China, just no question as a country cuisine as a whole. I've even progressed to the point where I'm eating things just for texture and enjoying it, whereas I would have been, and was nearly, sick 5 years ago trying. And I crunched through chicken bones recently, Chinese and African style. The guy that ran the restaurant's eyes nearly popped out, he was like 'WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT?', happy not horrified.

Tobago, only cos I haven't been to Jamaica, Jamaican food is second for me.

Spain / Menorca. Menorcan lobster caldereta is so good I can taste it now, and probably the best, and finest meal I've ever had - see below for best item.

Italy came close for a squid ink spaghetti in Venice that was unreal, and would definitely get to the semi-finals on its bottled water alone.

Namibia for its oysters. The single best thing I've ever eaten in my life, they was so good I cried.


and then play offs for stupid prizes no-one cares about :

Mexico but I haven't been yet. Exported Mexican I think is Americans trying to squash their neighbor...through bad association. Real Mexican Food is amazing.

England for its Indian, and fish and chips.

US for its burgers and breakfasts.

Japan but I haven't been yet, but you know how good that's gonna be.

Malaysia. But haven't been. Would prefer Malay over Thai I think.



Luka's 'I eat the peanut' phrase is infecting every phrase of my language. It's all I'll be able to say soon, rocking backward and forth, slowly, comforting myself.

 

[Mr. Tea]

China and India are both so huge it's almost unfair to include them as single countries...

Slothrop's right of course that you can't really judge Indian food (say) on the strength of 'Indian' (or Bangladeshi-pretending-to-be-Indian) restaurants in the UK, but most people here won't have been to India *and* Thailand *and* Greece *and* Mexico etc. etc. so you've got to have something to go on.

The (very limited) amount of Japanese food I've had has been amazing, I have to say. Don't know many African cuisines but have had great Moroccan (good call, whoever said that) and Ethiopian. Oh, and some good Nigerian (I think) takeaway in Peckham.

Mistersloane, how did you find the food in South Africa last year? Did you get to try anything crazy like impala burgers? I like biltong but that's about all I know.

 

[Slothrop]

I thought about this for a very long time and could only come to the conclusion that there is really nothing prepared well that i wouldn't love....

Yeah this is kind of true.

I mean, I can go into raptures about minted jersey royal new potatoes or smoked salmon on buttered brown bread with a squeeze of lemon or asparagus with melted butter and sea salt or crab sandwiches or smoked mackerel with watercress or mature cheddar and pickle or griddled steak or really good fresh fish (grilled or steamed or pan fried as appropriate) or whatever. In an absolute way I'm kind of less interested in nationally unique ways of mashing up chickpeas and yoghurt or putting tomatoes on bread or stewing pork.

But then it's kind of hard to make judgements without a lot of travelling and eating because your local stuff is automatically going to be fresher and often better executed than stuff that's been imported from the other side of the world.

 

[mistersloane]

Mistersloane, how did you find the food in South Africa last year? Did you get to try anything crazy like impala burgers? I like biltong but that's about all I know.

Food in SA is good, I ate the entire cast of the Lion King. And some of the understudies too.
Crocodile gave me bad dreams but I'm weird about them anyway.

Cape Town (lots of SA in general, but regionally for CT...) has an Muslim offshoot called Cape Malay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Malay

which I spent alot of time going around this time, a Muslim area called the Bo Kaap. They eat kinda sweet curries with lots of atchars(pickles) and is really good. CT in general I think is alot like I'd imagine Oz and maybe NZ to be, lots of meat, restaurants are quite high. But Cape Malay is real good, we cook alot of that over Otherhithe way.

 

[matt b]

From a vegetarian perspective:

1) Japan- I love how everything is finessed to within an inch of its life- for example restaurants that only sell tempura and then 3 dishes.Tempura has never tasted right since. Had some of the most amazing (but also some of the most gag-inducing- which adds to the fun) food in Japan.

2) Canada- The country with the most consistently good food. Can't remember a bad meal in Canada. Vegetarian hotdogs.

3) Indian- 400 million+ Indians can't be wrong. Sometimes living near Bradford rules.

4) Italian- Soooooo much better than France, Spain and Greece for non-meat eaters.

5) Thai or Chinese- Thanks for making tofu, gluten and tempeh tasty

 

[slowtrain]

Yeah this is kind of true.

I mean, I can go into raptures about minted jersey royal new potatoes or smoked salmon on buttered brown bread with a squeeze of lemon or asparagus with melted butter and sea salt or crab sandwiches or smoked mackerel with watercress or mature cheddar and pickle or griddled steak or really good fresh fish (grilled or steamed or pan fried as appropriate) or whatever. In an absolute way I'm kind of less interested in nationally unique ways of mashing up chickpeas and yoghurt or putting tomatoes on bread or stewing pork.

But then it's kind of hard to make judgements without a lot of travelling and eating because your local stuff is automatically going to be fresher and often better executed than stuff that's been imported from the other side of the world.

Oh, I didn't mean that I prefer local (technically not English, but that is prevalent here in NZ) I meant that it would be impossible for me to pick say, thai over italian - because I think I'm capable of loving a particular thai meal just as much as an italian one at the time of eating... -And I find it really hard to pick between them (often find myself on the verge of a breakdown when I go to a nice restaraunt and have to pick a main)

THough don't get me wrong, I definitely think that this is a brill thread and am really enjoying the 'debate' - very likely just me not being fully literate on just so much food and where it comes from.

 

[Benny Bunter]

China and India are both so huge it's almost unfair to include them as single countries...

Slothrop's right of course that you can't really judge Indian food (say) on the strength of 'Indian' (or Bangladeshi-pretending-to-be-Indian) restaurants in the UK, but most people here won't have been to India *and* Thailand *and* Greece *and* Mexico etc. etc. so you've got to have something to go on.

.

Very true regarding India. I travelled round it a fair bit and there's no way you can conflate the food in say, Kashmir, Himachel Pradesh, Delhi and Goa for instance. They're worlds apart.

 

[Phaedo]

Moroccan food needs more appreciation in this thread. Anyone who has had a proper Tagine knows.

Bit off the beaten track but Montenegro had some of the best food I have had, fresh seafood platters that were like no other seafood I have ever had.

 

[Slothrop]

Oh, I didn't mean that I prefer local (technically not English, but that is prevalent here in NZ) I meant that it would be impossible for me to pick say, thai over italian - because I think I'm capable of loving a particular thai meal just as much as an italian one at the time of eating... -And I find it really hard to pick between them (often find myself on the verge of a breakdown when I go to a nice restaraunt and have to pick a main)

Sorry, I was getting a bit off track there, I think my main point was that so much of the quality of a dish or a meal depends on how well it's cooked, how good the ingredients are etc etc that just comparing dish against dish is kind of quixotic.

Back on topic, does anyone know much about food from the phillipines? I've heard that it's kind of a mixture of Spanish and SE asian, and is meant to be amazing.

 

[baboon2004]

Moroccan food needs more appreciation in this thread. Anyone who has had a proper Tagine knows.

Bit off the beaten track but Montenegro had some of the best food I have had, fresh seafood platters that were like no other seafood I have ever had.

where's the best place to go in montenegro?

 

[luka]

i got pinoy mates but they tell me its all meat. i dont think they considere it to be one of th words great cuisines to be honest.

 

[baboon2004]

Sorry, I was getting a bit off track there, I think my main point was that so much of the quality of a dish or a meal depends on how well it's cooked, how good the ingredients are etc etc that just comparing dish against dish is kind of quixotic.

Back on topic, does anyone know much about food from the phillipines? I've heard that it's kind of a mixture of Spanish and SE asian, and is meant to be amazing.

you in London? If so, go to the one on Charlotte St - great food, friendly service, Manny pAcquiao's been there. The tocino is incredible.

 

[Phaedo]

where's the best place to go in montenegro?

Herceg Novi, Kotor can't say I had a bad meal though.

 

[luka]

korea

 

[Mr. Tea]

korea

North or South? It probably makes a big difference...