Best Culinary Culture in the World(?)

[neokorea]

(As this is one of my first posts on the 10,000 Islands forum, and the first thread that I've created in any such forum on the Internet, I'm quite excited to see how this turns out.)

I very much enjoy eating all kinds of food, and so fittingly I was wondering what you all consider to be the best cuisine out of any country in the world, and why.

Personally, I really enjoy Chinese food, due to the variety of different tastes owing to the number of provinces in China specializing in a variety of tastes (sweet Cantonese food, spicy Sichuan, etc.).
As I'm half-Chinese, I might also have a bit of a bias towards one of my native cuisines.

[Tuga Nation's Dragon]

Portuguese, by far! It has so much variety, with all kind of regional types of course... Everyone who visits Portugal is amazed with our gastronomy...

[Lysandrion]

Mar 12, 2017 2:26:21 GMT -5 Tuga Nation's Dragon said:

Portuguese, by far! It has so much variety, with all kind of regional types of course... Everyone who visits Portugal is amazed with our gastronomy...

Francesinha - sorry, just had to say that .

It's a tough question, really, because the best could mean many things - for most people variety would probably be the key, but there are also things like overall quality or actual culture of eating, i.e. meal as a social experience. If I had to choose between just the cuisines I've experienced while actually in their respective countries of origin, I'd certainly praise France and Austria for quality of food and service while eating out (though French waiters tend to give you that terrible look every time you butcher the pronunciation), Chinese for tremendous variety and amazing flavours, Belgian (actually Flemish) for being crazy enough to serve you fries with beef stew (Stoofvlees) AND mayonnaise - it gives you a heart attack, but you die a happy person - and also Slavic cuisines (mainly Czech and my native Polish) - the food might seem heavy and unrefined in comparison to more established cuisines, but the flavour is usually grand and there is more variety to them than one would think at first glance - also, I appreciate this unique atmosphere of huge, heavy and long family meals . Oh, before I forget - Hungarian cuisine (Hungary isn't Slavic, but it's no less awesome ) is also absolutely lovely - and surprisingly spicy for regional standards.

Never been to Italy, but that's probably going to be my next stop. Been eating and cooking a lot of "Italian" food in my life, but I don't feel like I really know anything about it.

[Siuts]

Wow...now here's a tough question indeed.

I too love Chinese cuisine, as well as Japanese. And I also like Mexican food, Indian, Italian, Moroccan, Spanish and Swiss dishes. Come to think of it, each of the 32 countries I´ve visited had several dishes I appreciated and I also enjoyed dishes from places I haven´t been to yet, like Ethiopian or Thai food. So, I guess I´m a fan of ´World Cuisine´. Having said that, and like Lysandrion taking the social aspect of meals into consideration, combined with my preference for a three-course meal, the cuisine that suits me best with entrees, main courses AND desserts, along with the table manners / culture is... <insert drum roll here> French cuisine! Finger licking good, enormous variety, generally healthy and can be enjoyed both on your own as well as with groups of friends and family.

Thank you neokorea, for asking this question... my mind wandered the globe and my mouth is watering from the anticipation of my next meal

[Lysandrion]

Yeah, haven't been to Ethiopia yet, but had a luck for Ethiopian restaurants (Little Ethiopia in Antwerp is pretty decent, if you're ever there - and very close to Amadeus, which has nothing to do with Africa, but is definitely The Place For Ribs ) and the cuisine seems very promising. Aw, mate, this thread makes me hungry .

[Siuts]

Mar 23, 2017 5:31:28 GMT -5 Lysandrion said:

Yeah, haven't been to Ethiopia yet, but had a luck for Ethiopian restaurants (Little Ethiopia in Antwerp is pretty decent, if you're ever there - and very close to Amadeus, which has nothing to do with Africa, but is definitely The Place For Ribs ) and the cuisine seems very promising. Aw, mate, this thread makes me hungry .

True, and from Amadeus it's straight to 'Het Elfde Gebod'  for a pint or two or three

[Bravalandia]

Ethiopia has a cuisine? I did not know that.

Best culinary effort? Paris or New Orleans.

I could have expanded it to "country," but that would be so wrong, on so many levels. For me.

[Lysandrion]

Mar 27, 2017 8:31:17 GMT -5 Bravalandia said:

Ethiopia has a cuisine? I did not know that.

Yeah, usually I make very distasteful jokes about that every time I'm havign this conversation - nevertheless, it's truly sad (if understandable, given the contemporary history of Ethiopia) that a place with such great food is associated mostly with famine.

And not only food - Ethiopia is likely the first place on Earth where mead was being produced - though it was several thousands years BC. If you want to try it nowadays, though, you probably should try Sweden or Poland.

[Bravalandia]

Well, if mead was produced there, they certainly knew what they were doing early on.

Cheers!

[Finswedeway]

Depends on what you mean. In terms of food quality, i would give that to the italians. Just the great variety in their dishes, and you can't go wrong with a good salad. In terms of service quality, that might go to Japanese, Koreans or Chinese. Everytime i go to a family owned Asian restaurant, the servers and the like are always so respectful and kind. They always remember their costumers, especially regulars. You'll never forget the feeling of a complete stranger being excited to see you. In terms of how a culture treats food... it's hard to be certain. I think it may be a tie between Germany and the US. In some cultures, eating is more of a chore that takes away the time of your day. In Germany and the US (and many other places, to be sure), eating is a viable hobby. Eating is something to take great pleasure and joy in, which manifests itself in different ways depending on the culture. In the US, at least, no amount of fine desserts can top munching down on large amounts of fried pastries. But, that's my view on the matter. Most people here probably have another ten years of experience on me so, what do i know?