Favorite international cuisine

[DaveBrown74]

Which country's cuisine is your personal favorite? If it happens to be American food, please exclude that and indicate any other country besides America. Which dishes or types of food within that cuisine are your favorite?

[T200]

If I could only eat food from one country/region, it would be Asia. I don't care what country - I love them all. The fresh vegetables, rice, seasonings, and of course, the spicier, the better!

Caribbean/Indian would be second.

[Ed Vette]

Italy of course, and everything

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Hard question, but I think I'd go with Middle Eastern foods (falafel, shawarma, hummus, sabich, schnitzel, diced cucumber/tomato salad, and all kinds of olives, pickles, tahini, and finger food. For breakfast is cruisants with dates, or orange sections in a pudding type of sauce). It's very healthy whilst still delivering great taste and fills you up. Granted, much of my experience comes from street vendors and in Israel, but many of the cooks in Israel are Arabs who brought their years of experience from their ancestors

International food to avoid: traditional English dishes. The only thing they have mastered is "fish-n-chips" (which is excellent). I asked a British guy on the "Underground", "where can I find some traditional English food?" He looked at me like I was from outer space and said, "Why? Are you outa your mind?". Yeah, head cheese, blood pudding, etc., is not for me

I've never been to Russia, but I've had their prized Borscht, and it's something to avoid IMO. There's a couple of German restaurants that I like a lot, but in general, I don't want venison, or rabbit, or whatever wild creature they add to their menu.

France has great cooks, but why'd they have to make snails/slugs a delicacy 

Japan has the greatest sushi in the world, but after spending a week or more there, I began to crave something (anything) that is cooked and not raw...and everything is served raw

I spent some time in Spain and was not overwhelmed with their cuisine

Truth is, I love the food here in America...well, a lot of it anyway. Cajun/Creole cooking in New Orleans, any fish, chowder, or lobster dish from Boston and up into the southern shores of Maine, Hot Pastrami on rye in NYC, a rib joint in Minneapolis called Market Bar-B-Que, on Market Street (I've told several about it and when they came back were overwhelmed by it), Texas Chili in Dallas, and almost every meal in San Francisco is a masterpiece, but you have to love sour dough because it's everywhere and in every thing

[Sem]

My favorite cuisine that I can get in the US is probably Italian. But never having been to Italy I really have little basis for comparison. However I did grow up in a heavily influenced Italian area, surrounded by good, family owned Italian restaurants A few of my classmates having been born in Italy, with English as a second language..

Asian cooking would be high on my list, when done well, but most Chinese, Thai, and Japanese restaurants I've eaten at aren't very good. For a short time I used to eat at a Chinese restaurant where the chef was a chef in China, then attended the Culinary Institute here in the States. His food was next level.

Unlike Ric I very much enjoyed the food I ate in Spain. Spent a couple weeks there, spread between Madrid, Barcelona, and Sevilla. Really enjoyed the entire dining experience there. Light breakfast of cafe con lache, and an unsweetened pastry. Lunch almost every day was fresh crusty bread or rolls, a dish of extra virgin olive oil, assorted meats, cheeses, olives, and grapes, and a bottle of wine. Usually at an outdoor cafe where we would sit for a couple hours watching the world go by. Dinners would be varied depending on the region, but never started until at least 9pm. We took our daughter out for her birthday dinner in Sevilla one night and didn't even leave the hotel to go out until 11pm. The paella that night was out of this world.

[DaveBrown74]

My international cuisine rankings would be:

1. Italian
2. Japanese
3. French
4. Chinese
5. Indian

There are plenty others I love, like Mexican, Greek, Spanish, and a bunch of others. It's hard to pick one, or even five.

But, in my obviously highly subjective opinion, nothing tops Italian. It is so varied, and having a great Italian meal means a lot more to me than just enjoying great flavors and ingredients. It is very hard to describe exactly what I mean by that, but I guess the best way I can is that great Italian food has more "love" in it than other foods, at least as far as the way I feel about it goes. I also love the country so much, and I am about 1/4 Italian, so that comes into play as well for me.

[LennG]

Can I say Israel? That might be considered Middle Eastern food but to a degree.

Besides that we simply love Italian food, but only the food we can eat because of some dietary laws that we follow. I have been to Italy several times and their food is so good, but completely different from anything you might find in a decent enough Italian restaurant here in the States. Tell you what though, NY pizza is WAY  better than any pizza you would ever get in Italy.

[AZGiantFan]

Can I say Israel? That might be considered Middle Eastern food but to a degree.

Besides that we simply love Italian food, but only the food we can eat because of some dietary laws that we follow. I have been to Italy several times and their food is so good, but completely different from anything you might find in a decent enough Italian restaurant here in the States. Tell you what though, NY pizza is WAY  better than any pizza you would ever get in Italy.

I don't know about that.  I've always been a NY Pizza snob but that's what I grew up with.  But I had some pizza in Rome that was very very good.  And I suspect that if I tried New Haven pizza I'd love that as well.

I find it easiers to think in terms of specific dishes rather than ethnicities.  Some of my favorites are:

Beef Tartare
Pizza
TeppanYaki
Brazilian steakhouse
Tuna Sashimi
Binghamton style spiedis
Beef Carpaccio
Bolognese sauce
Lasagna
Kielbasa
Pierogi
Chinese stir fry
. . . and lots of others

No wonder I'm, to put it bluntly, fat.

[LennG]

I don't know about that.  I've always been a NY Pizza snob but that's what I grew up with.  But I had some pizza in Rome that was very very good.  And I suspect that if I tried New Haven pizza I'd love that as well.

I find it easiers to think in terms of specific dishes rather than ethnicities.  Some of my favorites are:

Beef Tartare
Pizza
TeppanYaki
Brazilian steakhouse
Tuna Sashimi
Binghamton style spiedis
Beef Carpaccio
Bolognese sauce
Lasagna
Kielbasa
Pierogi
Chinese stir fry
. . . and lots of others

No wonder I'm, to put it bluntly, fat.

It's funny you say that about Rome because we have eaten pizza there and never really cared for the way they make the crust. If it is from a good old-fashioned place, the cause is usually homemade made and that is the best, but again, we just did not like the crust at all. As for New Haven, hell, that is almost NY.     

Just a funny story about eating in Rome. We were coming out of the Vatican, and looking for a place to eat lunch. We always like to eat in smaller venues, probably thinking they are more authentic et al. Since we do keep certain dietary laws, we don't eat unkosher meat, we don't eat shellfish so we always look at the menu and see what is there. We saw this little Italian place and were looking at the menu, the owner comes out and almost pulled us in saying he just made fresh pasta and we would love it. So we went in. This place was so small it had 3 little tables and the owner sat down with us at one table and told us what to order and we loved it. It was some sort of tortellini with a magic garlic sauce and my wife had some ravioli, and we still talk about it to this day. So you never know where you will find those dishes that you will remember for the rest of your life.

[Bob In PA]

If I could only eat food from one country/region, it would be Asia. I don't care what country - I love them all. The fresh vegetables, rice, seasonings, and of course, the spicier, the better!

Caribbean/Indian would be second.

Exactly this, right down to each detail.  It's all very "healthy" food, too, which is a bonus.

Note, however, that Tim answered a slightly different question.  "If I could only eat food from one..."

My favorite... like Ed said... "I'm Italian."

Bob

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I don't know about that.  I've always been a NY Pizza snob but that's what I grew up with.  But I had some pizza in Rome that was very very good.  And I suspect that if I tried New Haven pizza I'd love that as well.

I find it easiers to think in terms of specific dishes rather than ethnicities.  Some of my favorites are:

Beef Tartare
Pizza
TeppanYaki
Brazilian steakhouse
Tuna Sashimi
Binghamton style spiedis
Beef Carpaccio
Bolognese sauce
Lasagna
Kielbasa
Pierogi
Chinese stir fry
. . . and lots of others

No wonder I'm, to put it bluntly, fat.

I had to laugh that you put spiedies on your list with extravagant foods. My first thought was, "this must be Steve (Sem)" as he's an old Binghamton native, but it was from Rich (AZGiantsFan). Coincidentally, I had a spiedie for lunch today and last Saturday night. Whenever I'm in Binghamton, I grab a spiedie. I make them myself at times, but it's so much easier to stop in and simply buy a sandwich

I've had friends from all over (including a professor from Australia) and took them out for spiedies and they all say the same thing, "Holy cow, this is good" and "why hasn't anyone taken this simple recipe and put up stores all over the world...it would sell like hotcakes". Yup, Buffalo Wings took off across the country, Philadelphia's Philly Cheasecake did the same, as well as several other local delicacies (although Beef on Wick...also from Buffalo) has only spread across Upstate NY from my experience, but everybody loves spiedies, but it seems to stay localized for some reason. Wegmans is expanding across the East Coast, and they sell Beef on Wick, and pre-packaged uncooked spiedies, but I don't know if that's the case in all Wegmans, or just the local ones

If ever in Binghamton, the best place to get them is the "Spiedie and Rib Pit" on Upper Front Street, and "Lupo's Char Pit" in Endwell (East Main St., Endicott). Get the chicken and get lots of napkins! You'll be glad you tried them 

If you make them yourself, don't overcook them as they are chemically cooked by the marinade. Just cook until the meat is cooked through (chicken...the meat is white in the middle, not pink)

[Jolly Blue Giant]

For those who love escargot ...give this bad boy a shot 

[Sem]

I had to laugh that you put spiedies on your list with extravagant foods. My first thought was, "this must be Steve (Sem)" as he's an old Binghamton native, but it was from Rich (AZGiantsFan). Coincidentally, I had a spiedie for lunch today and last Saturday night. Whenever I'm in Binghamton, I grab a spiedie. I make them myself at times, but it's so much easier to stop in and simply buy a sandwich

I've had friends from all over (including a professor from Australia) and took them out for spiedies and they all say the same thing, "Holy cow, this is good" and "why hasn't anyone taken this simple recipe and put up stores all over the world...it would sell like hotcakes". Yup, Buffalo Wings took off across the country, Philadelphia's Philly Cheasecake did the same, as well as several other local delicacies (although Beef on Wick...also from Buffalo) has only spread across Upstate NY from my experience, but everybody loves spiedies, but it seems to stay localized for some reason. Wegmans is expanding across the East Coast, and they sell Beef on Wick, and pre-packaged uncooked spiedies, but I don't know if that's the case in all Wegmans, or just the local ones

If ever in Binghamton, the best place to get them is the "Spiedie and Rib Pit" on Upper Front Street, and "Lupo's Char Pit" in Endwell (East Main St., Endicott). Get the chicken and get lots of napkins! You'll be glad you tried them 

If you make them yourself, don't overcook them as they are chemically cooked by the marinade. Just cook until the meat is cooked through (chicken...the meat is white in the middle, not pink)

Ric, I remember @AZGiantFan saying he was not originally from the area but did attend SUNY Binghamton, and during that time he was introduced to spiedies.

When we used to get together for double sessions of training camp at SUNY Albany I'd always bring spiedies. I don't remember going home with any. 
I also remember @Ed Vette ribs he would bring. Delicious!! LOL!! We never lacked for good eats!

BTW, I just grilled some spiedies a few days ago.

[bamagiantfan]

While I like Italian and Indian foods, I have come to love the southern wetlands coastal American food. I am partial to the French Cajun foods and Native American/African Creole dishes in Mississippi and Louisiana like boudin, gumbos, jambalaya, smoked ham, red beans and rice, shrimp creole, andouille sausage, etouffees, beignets, cornbread, and the like. However I also love the low country dishes from South Carolina and north Georgia like shrimp and grits, chicken bog, fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, duck, she-crab soup, of the old stand by - fried chicken.  A little peach cobbler, pralines, bread pudding, or pecan pie to finish it off is a must. The unusual wetlands "sea foods" as well like oysters, crawfish, catfish, and alligator are also hard to find fresh outside the Southeast.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

While I like Italian and Indian foods, I have come to love the southern wetlands coastal American food. I am partial to the French Cajun foods and Native American/African Creole dishes in Mississippi and Louisiana like boudin, gumbos, jambalaya, smoked ham, red beans and rice, shrimp creole, andouille sausage, etouffees, beignets, cornbread, and the like. However I also love the low country dishes from South Carolina and north Georgia like shrimp and grits, chicken bog, fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, duck, she-crab soup, of the old stand by - fried chicken.  A little peach cobbler, pralines, bread pudding, or pecan pie to finish it off is a must. The unusual wetlands "sea foods" as well like oysters, crawfish, catfish, and alligator are also hard to find fresh outside the Southeast.

My first time in New Orleans, I was determined to try crayfish (crawdads). I went out on the patio to watch ships go by and the waitress brought me a huge bowl of them...I mean, like the size of a salad bowl for the whole family. So I quickly learned that you snap off the tail, peel and eat, and discard the rest of the crayfish body. As a pile of them became a heap on the table, a kind gentleman came over and said, "you know, they gave you two bowls, one for the crayfish and one for the discards"...lol. I hadn't realized there were two bowls stacked within each other

I also got to meet Paul Prudhomme (may he RIP) at his famed, K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. My blackened steak and red fish was phenomenal, and I told him so. Melt in your mouth with a little kick and that hint of creole

Great food in the good ole U.S.A. that is unique from any other place in the country