Best food in the world

[crazy canuck]

Gotta agree, Italy >>> Spain. Seems all you guys eat is jamon, jamon, jamon.

I did not have much at the times I have been there.  Sure if you wanted to you could eat a lot of it, but there is a lot more on offer.  Walk into a tapas place and just ask your server to bring you things you have probably never had, sit back and enjoy 

[Barrister]

It seems that this "next big thing" debate is more about which inmigrant communities are more common in each of our countries. 

Not entirely though, as there's the odd example of Thai cuisine.  I don't know that there's much of a Thai diaspora anywhere in the world, but Thai restaurants / cuisine are pretty common.  Apparently a lot of it comes down to a Thai government program encouraging it's cuisine around the world.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/paxadz/the-surprising-reason-that-there-are-so-many-thai-restaurants-in-america

[Zanza]

I try to only eat local food when I am abroad these days and taste as many specialities as I can. I have been in maybe seventy or so countries and virtually every place has at least some great food.

With the exception of breakfast. Continental breakfast no matter where in the world I am if that is available. I tried a few local varieties and I just cannot stand fish soup in East Asia or e.g. those disgusting beans in a full English. Also those Southern Europeans that consider a coffee and a cigarette breakfast are crazy.

[crazy canuck]

I am a sucker for the Full Irish breakfast.

[The Larch]

Other, Southern Croatian - a fusion a Italian, French and Balkan cooking - it is absolutely fabulous.

If I had to pick a region that is well known to the rest of the world, it would be Italian.

French influences in Croatian cuisine? First time I've ever heard that. What kind of stuff do they make? I would have guessed that coastal Croatian cuisine would be more similar to Italian/Greek than to French, and for it to incorporate more fish and seafood into it, which is absent almost in the rest of the region.

When I visited Slovenia its cuisine seemed really interesting to me, a mixture of Balkan, Italian and German, like the country itself.

Balkan cuisine has some really stellar stuff but it's not super varied, and really heavy on meats, at least what I've been able to experience from it.

The Northern area is definitely more German/Italian - at times it felt like Northern Italy/Austria.  The Southern region (the Dalmatian Coast in particular) has a very different feel (and taste).

Yeah, Northern Italian cuisine's influence can be felt in many surrounding countries. And it also serves as a reminder than even within Italian cuisine there are notable differences between its Northern/Central and Southern varieties.

Regarding the French influence, I was surprised myself.  But it was explained to me that Napoleon had a huge impact during the brief time he ruled there.  For example, the region has a large number of olive trees because of his directive that they be planted.  The cultural influences remained strong after he left.

Very interesting!

By Balkan, I was referring more to the Turkish influences - the spices used in some of the dishes are mouthwatering.

Oh yes, they definitely go hard on the spices, which makes every single dish really savoury. It's similar in other countries of the region, like Bulgaria, and in Turkey itself, of course.

[Sheilbh]

Not entirely though, as there's the odd example of Thai cuisine.  I don't know that there's much of a Thai diaspora anywhere in the world, but Thai restaurants / cuisine are pretty common.  Apparently a lot of it comes down to a Thai government program encouraging it's cuisine around the world.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/paxadz/the-surprising-reason-that-there-are-so-many-thai-restaurants-in-america

Interesting - I was wondering about Korean as well. There's a Korean community in London and a heaviily Korean area with incredible food. But I feel like the trend of Korean restaurants everywhere was maybe not tied to that and possibly inspired by Instagram/people eating Korean food in the US etc.

What that shows is the incredible diversity of London, I guess. Over here in Spain I'd say that for a while it's Peruvian (and some other less glamourous South American cuisines) what has really shot to prominence, both at the high end and in more common places.

Yeah that's fair about London. Peruvian had a bit moment here too - there is a Peruvian community but again I think it was more to do with its reputation in foodie circles. It got a reputation - I think of Chef's Table and the Michelin stars in Peru etc.

I think the less glamorous Latin American is my other bet with West African. Except for Peruvian food I can't think of a break-out from relatively cheap and cheerful places - but my area has loads of Colombian, Ecuadorian, Dominican, Bolivian restaurants and I feel like it's just a matter of time before everyone starts talking about it more/something happens.

And in the UK more generally African and Latin American are two of the fastest growing communities so I think there's scope for a trend to spread beyond London.

[viper37]

Let's settle the question once and for all.

After my trip to Italy, I think I'll have to concede the issue. The food there is absolutely ridiculously good.

Nothing beats Canadian cuisine.  Boston beans. Shepherd's Pie. Turkey stew. Sole meunière.  Boiled meat.

Ah, of all the crimes the British inflicted on us, this has got to be the worst.



Seriously, I haven't travelled nearly enough to seriously participate in this poll.

[Sheilbh]

Once again I have literally never eaten boiled meat in my life or seen it in the UK

Unless you mean a stew?

[Valmy]

I am a huge fan of Cajun food but it is kind of French adjacent so I will just lump it in for my French vote.

[Valmy]

Once again I have literally never eaten boiled meat in my life or seen it in the UK

Unless you mean a stew?

Boiled beef was eaten by the lower classes in Britain because the good cuts were all taken by the rich folks. So the poors got the shitty pieces and boiled them to make them palatable. While traditional I can see why this particular traditional food has fallen out of favor, right there with pottage.

[Barrister]

Not entirely though, as there's the odd example of Thai cuisine.  I don't know that there's much of a Thai diaspora anywhere in the world, but Thai restaurants / cuisine are pretty common.  Apparently a lot of it comes down to a Thai government program encouraging it's cuisine around the world.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/paxadz/the-surprising-reason-that-there-are-so-many-thai-restaurants-in-america

Interesting - I was wondering about Korean as well. There's a Korean community in London and a heaviily Korean area with incredible food. But I feel like the trend of Korean restaurants everywhere was maybe not tied to that and possibly inspired by Instagram/people eating Korean food in the US etc.

10 seconds of googling suggests a completely different trajectory.  No Korean government intervention.

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-korean-cuisine-got-huge-in-america

Basically that unlike Chinese of Thai food which quickly formed a standardized, westernized menu, Korean restaurants remained more "authentic", which slowed their interest in the west, but when it was eventually discovered was enjoyed for how different it was.

I'm not a big fan of Korean food BTW, but I've only had it a handful of times.  Not terrible, but not something I'm inclined to search out.

[Josquius]

I have noticed a trend for Korean places to appear lately. Though its not Korean Korean, but Korean fried chicken or some weird food on stick stuff I can't remember the name of.

I strongly suspect this is Chinese people following the trend like most Japanese restaurants you see about.

[Eddie Teach]

Let's settle the question once and for all.

After my trip to Italy, I think I'll have to concede the issue. The food there is absolutely ridiculously good.

Nothing beats Canadian cuisine.  Boston beans. Shepherd's Pie. Turkey stew. Sole meunière.  Boiled meat.

Don't forget poutine.

[Gups]

Once again I have literally never eaten boiled meat in my life or seen it in the UK

Unless you mean a stew?

I simmer a gammon before finishing it in the oven

[celedhring]

As for, "what's becoming trendy now", in Barcelona it's the plague of hipsterised traditional restaurants. For foreign cuisine it's Peruvians and Southeast Asians.