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What are some foods you really like, from countries not well known for great cuisine?
It doesn't need to be from countries known for "bad" cuisine. Just try to avoid obvious countries like Italy, France, Japan or China (as a handful of examples).
Having said the above, that is also coming from a western (European) perspective. If those countries are not well known for their cuisine in your area, then feel free to choose them!
For me, it's Ethiopian food. I say this as someone who has not yet visited Ethiopia (although it's very much in the plan). I was introduced to it by a friend and have since visited several Ethiopian restaurants.
It's a particularly vegetarian friendly cuisine (and vegan too, actually). Lots of texture, lots of spices (Berbere is amazing) and super simple, flavourful food.
Wat is probably the most well known, and it's absolutely one of my favourites. "Wat" is less a dish, and more a type of stew that can come in many varieties. When I've visited restaurants, I have ordered a dish that comes with an Injera (delicious Ethiopian / Eritrean flatbread) with a variety of Wats on top. It's an excellent introduction to the cuisine.
If you're a somewhat (had to resist the impulse to write sumwat...) adventurous cook, it's reasonably approachable in a western style kitchen if you're in a built-up area with access to what you might refer to as 'ethnic ingredients'. Give it a go!
I've basically made the same comment in your thread here. Ethiopian food is great and while I wrote about Awaze Tibs, all the dishes are very good; my wife and I usually lean towards the vegetarian side, but after trying those Tibs, I just can't get enough of them.
Oh yes, Tibs are phenomenal. I don't get them anymore as I've stopped eating meat, but definitely something I recommend to those who do.
Here in Oakland we have excellent Ethiopian restaurants. A treat for me is to go with my husband and get the vegetarian platter for two. I am not vegetarian, but I am enthralled by the spices and flavor of these dishes based on split peas, lentils etc. I cannot get enough of it.
It's funny you mentioned that because that's where I was first introduced Ethiopian food. I've been chasing that high ever since.
If anyone's ever in London, I highly recommend Zeret Kitchen in Camberwell/Walworth. Looks awful from outside, but it's lovely inside. They're very welcoming and the food's delicious.
Ethiopian/Eritrean is my favorite ethnic cuisine, 100%. Back in the late 80s/early 90s an Eritrean restaurant opened in Sunnyvale; I tried it and was hooked. I've been told if you like Indian food, you'll like Ethiopian/Eritrean, and if you like Jamaican food you'll like west African.
I've made beef tibs -- surprisingly easy, it's essentially a stir fry. And I suspect various lentil or chickpea dishes aren't that hard. The key is the spicing, of course. Injera, though -- I've not been successful yet after trying 3 times or so.
This was my immediate thought before I even saw the comments!
I've only had it once, when traveling, and I don't remember too much specifically - just that there was a ton of variety, and everything was awesome. I love family style food, and it was really fun.
I really like an English breakfast once in a while. (Or am Irish breakfast!)
Not very healthy, but very good!
Also, scones and clotted cream are very good!
I am very much biased (being from the UK), but I think our best food is (like much of the best parts of our culture) stolen and adapted. British Indian Restaurant (BIR) is ridiculously tasty, and usually a pretty cheap option compared to other restaurants.
It's similar to typical Indian food, but adapted to the British palate. Most curry's will be wet, consisting of what is effectively a spicy gravy filled with different types and cuts of meats. Favourites include Chicken Tikka Masala, Korma, Balti, Madras and Vindaloo (all quite different to their traditional Indian counterparts). I usually recommend the former for people new to the cuisine, followed by a good Balti for those with a higher spice threshold. The latter two are much hotter, and really only enjoyable for those that love their food when described as 'Fiery Hot' (a group I include myself in).
Biriyani and Daahl are absolutely my jam. Can't say, I've had British Indian food, but it sounds damn close to American Indian food, which is also great.
Interestingly, we had a place open-up pretty close to us, which is also Indian, but very different from what I'm used to. I haven't had it fresh yet--as in, only had it brought to me--so I haven't fully cemented my opinion on it, but I believe it's more Northern Indian, as it's heavier on the tomato and less spicy overall.
America is a big country with a whole lot of variation from region to region, so I cannot speak for the whole place. That said, I have eaten American Indian food in a few places and found it quite different. Oddly, the only place I tried it where it felt similar to back home was in Las Vegas (a place I otherwise despised visiting).
My understanding is that British Indian food is actually more strongly influenced by Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants. Things like Tikka Masala and Butter chicken were similar (but definitely not the same), but things like Vindaloo were completely different (and actually the US version I tried was much closer to authentic Goan vindaloo). Neither were better nor worse in my opinion, but definitely different.
The place you described may be a bit more similar to BIR that tends to be quite tomato forward.
Many of the local Indian places I've been to are Sikh run so we get a lot of Punjabi food. And I only know that from being able to visually identify Sikh attire. I've traveled to other cities where the predominant SEAsian immigrants are from Southern India and the restaurants are totally different
I'd suspect most Americans don't know the difference without exposure. I didn't until I was reading a menu that was entirely different than what I'd seen. We're used to getting a monolith of Americanized "other country here" food in many ways.
Ah ok, that makes sense then.
Actually makes me think I need to haul my Brother in Law over there, as he was USAF for a long time and was stationed in the UK. He apparently has never found Indian food here in the States that's quite the same as what you guys have over there.
In Ireland we also have the much beloved Breakfast Roll - baguette with a full breakfast in it. 1,000+ calories of pure goodness.
Dara O'briain has a bit about getting one in France.
"Beaucoup de baked beans right?"
I looove clotted cream! I like eating it with cornflakes :3
Given I haven't been to these places, this is just a short list from some places around where I live.
Ethiopia - Awaze Tibs, ribeye that's marinated in a combination of tomato, garlic and jalapeno in berbere sauce. Absolutely incredible flavor, but so, so spicy. The first time I had them, I ate so much of them, I made myself sick from the spice and raw jalapeno that tops it.
Mitmita - Not a dish, but a spice. Apparently, it's served with everything and it's one of the favorite spices in the culture. Again, quite spicy, but I love this stuff. I buy it at a local Ethiopian market and put it on eggs, pizza, you name it. Good stuff.
Persia - Tahdig; I haven't had this much, but the few times I've had it, I love it and could eat it as a complete meal. Basically saffron rice that's been cooked just a little too much and has started to burn on the bottom of the pot. The rice at the bottom turns brown and crispy, but it's utterly delicious.
rice with Tahdig is grand, but how cold you skip over the khoreshs (stews) like fesenjoon, gormeh sabzi, gheymeh, etc... that accompany the rice (and tahdig ;). Some of the most unbelievable dishes I've ever had the pleasure of cooking.
Mostly because I just don't have the familiarity! I've had Persian food exactly twice, but the Tahdig is what really made an impression on me. I'd like to try more, but the place to get it from is about a 30 minute drive from me, so I don't often get the opportunity.
Hope you don't mind, I was just being a little tongue in cheek in my phrasing. Tahdig is flipping awesome!
I have family with Persian background and I'm so grateful to have been introduced to the cuisine. Not sure if you cook much, but one of the easier dishes (imo) is kuku sabzi. A kuku is similar to an egg frittata, but absolutely loaded with stuff. In this case, the stuff is 'sabzi' (herb mix of fresh parsley + cilantro + green onions, a pinch dried fenugreek; dill or other herbs if you want), plus dried barberries (zereshk) and chopped walnuts. I serve with yogourt and rice (or flatbread).
My favourite Persian food blog is no longer live, but here's a link to it's stews page care of Wayback Machine. I found the descriptions and photos for each step of cooking clearer than other websites; really helped me learn some new cooking styles.
No offense, I just haven't had the chance to try much! I do cook and I certainly wouldn't mind trying out something new; I just need to find the motivation to visit an ethnic grocery store nearby to actually get the proper ingredients. I do have one that I'm fairly sure would stock what I'd need.
When I moved to Germany one of my first roommates was half Persian, and she made me fall so in love with tahdig that I got my own Persian rice cooker so I could do it myself. As a bonus, it's also very quick at the normal rice cooking before the tahdig part!
I have the good fortune to be in a city with a wide variety of cuisines less accessible in other parts of the country. A couple of recommendations beyond what I've seen here like Peruvian (nikkei and chifa food is amazing) and Ethiopina (try tibs if you've never had it before).
Georgian food has a ton of spice (as in flavor not heat) and at times reminds me of North African/Middle Eastern cuisine. Plus Georgian wine is amazing and not well known outside of the wine world. If you like the high acidity, fermented funk, and herbaceousness of certain Vietnamese food, I highly recommend Burmese food. Honestly any SE Asian cuisine is worth checking out.
edit : one more suggestion that doesn't quite fit this bill but there's a style of food in Japan called wafu, which is essentially foreign food cooked in the style of Japanese food. The most of famous is wafu-Italian which is absolutely fantastic. I hate the term fusion and honestly, food like this is it's it's own thing the same ways Chinese-American is different than what you'd find in China Italian-American food is different than what you find in Italy.
Got to try some Georgian wines last week, and I have to agree they're great.
South Florida has some very good Peruvian chifa places - the chifa version of fried rice is unlike anything you'll get in Chinese cuisine, and delicious in its own right.
Peru's version of ceviche is spicy and usually comes with crunchy roasted hominy (alkali processed whole corn kernels) - also fantastic.
I have a lot of fun with Middle-eastern dishes, and love the flavour combinations in a lot of the North African foods. I just bought a huge bag of rep peppers and plan on making muhammara in the next couple days.
Shakshuka!
I was at a resort a while ago, they had shakshuka for breakfast.
I wondered why I wasn't hungry at lunch time.
...I had eaten at least 6 full eggs in the shakshuka alone, it just didn't register because it was so damn good :D
Ooh do you have any recommendations for Middle-eastern and North African dishes to try out? I haven't got much experience cooking those cuisines but I'm interested in experimenting with it.
I've got some Palestinian recipes I can share if you'd like, let me know
I'm always on the look out for new stuff, so I'd love if you shared :)
It might not be written that well since it was originally just meant for me. It's a dish called "qidre" but our accent means we pronounce it more like "ídre". It's made of two parts normally, one is a baked chicken (can be other meats if preferred) + potatoes and onions (can be other vegetables if preferred) and the other is rice cooked with chickpeas and broth.
1 Chicken
Potatoes
Whole chickpeas
Short rice (1 jar chickpeas/2 cups rice) (1 cup water/1 cup rice)
Garlic
7 Spice (cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, paprika, cumin)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Salt
Turmeric
Bay Leaf
Olive oil
White Onion
Boil water with onion, cardamom, bay leaf, and a generous amount of salt
Cut up the chicken and boil it in the water (45 minutes for a whole chicken and around 25-30 for parts)
Remove the chicken, onion, cardamom, and bay leaf out of the water and leave them on the side
Peel the garlic and put it in the water along with the chickpeas and the 7 spice
Leave them to boil for a while
Put enough rice to have the water exactly cover the rice into the water and leave until finished
Meanwhile place the chicken onto a metal tray and rub 7 spice (a generous amount) on all the chicken along with salt to taste
Place the cut potatoes and onions into the tray and then place the tray into the oven, at 180 C for around 30 minutes, skin should be very browned
This dish can be done with red meats instead of chicken but the meat should be cooked in a pot in the oven instead of a tray
We eat this with yogurt normally, the best kind would be natural yogurt mixed with grated cucumber, garlic, and some salt.
Some prefer to eat it not with yogurt but with what's called salata falahiyeh (farmers salad) which is finely diced tomato, cucumber, red onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt.
Let me know if you have questions, and if anyone wants another I'm sure I could find.
This sounds really delicious and surprisingly easy! Is the rice being cooked in the same water you used for the chicken?
Yes exactly!
Ooh yeah definitely! I'm always interested in expanding my repertoire and I've got too little experience with food from the region.
I'd love to see those as well!
Just in case you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the Youtube channel Middle Eats. The host is from Egypt and makes tons of amazing dishes from all over the Middle East and North Africa.
ooh they're new to me so I'll check them out!
I absolutely love seeing others recommend MiddleEats! He does an amazing job of comparing similar dishes from neighboring countries. It wasn't until I watched his baba ghanoush video that I learned that each middle eastern country has their own variation! Syrian style is wildly good due to the pomegranate molasses in it.
Kuku, mchuzi na wali. Chicken with broth and rice from Tanzania. Literally a dish I would die for. You can’t really make it well in western nations because the rice just doesn’t taste the same (maybe because it doesn’t have little stones in it lol).
Served with some ugali, a side of mchicha (kale, tomatoes and onions), perhaps a cooked sweet potato and some chapati and you have a real special East African staple.
Our native food in Ireland get a bad rep, so I'm going to volunteer coddle. It's a very simple stew made from sausages, potato and onion - pure comfort food and a staple of my winter diet.
There are many variations - crubeens (pigs feet) are in a very traditional version (I think- or I could be getting my dishes mixed up) which are mostly substituted for streaky bacon, use of carrots (generally accepted now but don't tell granny), pearl barley (no thanks) and seasoning (thyme, parsley or just white pepper). Some people also brown their sausages, but they're not to be trusted. You want the cheapest sausages going, boiled and pink.
My own recipe is very straightforward and delicious -
1lb cheap pork sausages, cut into inch long pieces
1 lb carrots, chopped into large chunks
2 large white onions, diced
4 lb peeled floury red potatoes (roosters are my go to) cut into same size you'd use for roast potatoes
Pint of chicken stock
About a tablespoon of ground white pepper
Fry off the onions in a tablespoon or two of oil in a large pot, season with some salt, then add potatoes, carrots, stock and seasoning. Top up with boiling water to just cover and add the (raw!) chopped sausages to the pot. Stir and bring to a boil then simmer for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through. Check for seasoning and add salt and more white pepper to taste.
Ladle out a big bowl of it, more white pepper and serve with a chunk of crusty white bread with some real butter.
You have transported me back nearly ten years. I used to travel to Dublin and Belfast for my job and totally fell in love with Irish pubs and food. I am British, so our pubs and cuisines are quite similar (as you may well know), but for me there is just something special about Ireland. I think it's the people more than anything else.
Anyway, all that to say, I have had my fair share of coddles and variations of it, and I completely agree - total comfort food. Nothing better to raise your spirits on a dark winter's eve.
I find that funny, because this dish seems, on paper, incredible. I can see complaints being made visually, since everything would turn out a bit grey, but its simmered sausage, carrots, onions, and parrots -- what could go wrong?
I think, as a person with no connection to Ireland at all, that I'm going to try making it soon, and I can't see myself being disappointed. It's a bunch of great things coming together in something simple to cook.
Bolivia has salteñas. Salteñas look similar to empanadas. The bread component is a layered buttery wrapper and the filling more closely resembles a pot pie. You can cut them open and eat them with cutlery or bite into it like a burrito
I prefer salteñas de pollo (with chicken) but you can find them with beef and common fillings. Aside from any protein, you'll usually find them filled with some or all of
Chicken paprikash and real hungarian goulash. So much my go-to happy comfort food when I can find it.
Hungarian goulash is amazing, and also lends itself really well to bulk cooking!
My husband and I will 'make a day' of it and make a huuuge pot of the stuff, which usually ends up in ~8 2-person-portions of the sauce! Really really great as a winter pantry-dish to defrost and toss on some rice and peas!
Very nice! I'm also very much a fan of making large portions to freeze and save for later when it comes to something intensive like this. Sounds like you've cooked this more than I have, happen to be willing to share your favorite recipe for it? It's about to start getting real chilly in the NE US, and it's definitely the season for something hardy and tasty!
It's my spouse's recipe so I checked with him, and he said it's an amalgamation of many recipes over the years, but he mentioned:
I hope that helps! We simply quadrupple or quintupple what we'd use for a 2-4 person meal, and then freeze all portions!
Edit: Whoops and POTATOES!! That's the most important addition haha. That's why ours is a lot thicker than the link, it's because we add potato too.
Edit2, Electric Boogaloo: Found a picture of one that we made! Please excuse the quality, I think it was just a quick snapshot of dinner, my husband would like you to know that's not representative of his plating skills LOL
Ah, that's awesome, thank you very much for sharing! I certainly look forward to trying it out in the next couple of months 😁
The best recipes are definitely the ones that you tweak and refine over the years, and it really makes cooking more fun as well. The hardier stew versions of Hungarian goulash are absolutely the ones that I think of first and enjoy the most, so this should be perfect!
Probably the main reason I'm such a fan of it is that my mother had a fantastic recipe that she would cook for my brother and I when we were kids. She originally got the recipe out of a old Betty Crocker cookbook from the '70s, and of course added many tweeks to it over the years too. Sadly, that recipe is lost in time, but my brother has managed to put work in and come up with his own twist to it. If I can get him to send it to me, I'll try to post it in a reply here so you can see if there's anything you might be able to take away from it.
Korean food is underrated, IMHO, when they have thousands of ways to prepare brined, pickled, sauced, and fresh vegetable side dishes (banchan) that will elevate any meal. What passes for kimchi (usually just Napa cabbage) in the States is the tiniest fraction of all the different varieties.
A Korean friend introduced me to the things she made at home and some of the more obscure restaurant varieties. I've grown Hong Gochu peppers and made a few recipes on my own, and I can't recommend the skill enough, especially for vegetarians and vegans.
I am very fortunate to live in a city with not one but two K-towns. There's all you can eat KBBQ all over the place but my favourite is pork bone soup / gamjatang. There's a 24hr place I used to go to allll the time after an evening at the bar with friends. As a bonus, bring a Korean speaking friend and you could get a small teapot full of soju after hours to go with the delicious food. Good times.
The first thing that came to mind for me is Mansaf, which is the national dish of Jordan. It's usually made of lamb that gets boiled with spices until it's super tender. Then you make this sauce with yogurt and the lamb broth and other spices. It's served on a giant platter with flatbread, tumeric rice, the lamb and the sauce poured on top.
Another is frijoles refritos (refried beans) from Honduras. They seem to be served with just about every meal in Honduras (including breakfast). They use red or black beans instead of pinto beans than we're used to for refried beans in the US, so it's darker that what I'm used to.
Also from Honduras, we had a little Honduran restaurant in South Florida that specialized in baleadas.
Homemade thick tortillas filled with seasoned beans, queso, eggs, meat, avocado... It was a truly delightful heart attack in the making, food fit to murder a hangover or work in the fields all day.
Pretty much anything from Peru. Spent 6 weeks travelling there with my partner in 2019; couldn't recommend it more if someone is into their cuisine. Lomo Soltado is outrageously good, see also cerviche (not sure if this is uniquely Peruvian though?).
Greece: Moussaka and many others. It’s not just the recipes that are great, but when I was there the ingredients were on another level compared to the equivalent in shops where I live.
Edit: Greek cuisine probably is too well known for this thread, but it was new to me.
I'm from the UK and Greek food is definitely considered quality cuisine. Unfortunately, a lot of 'Greek' food and 'Turkish' food (also amazing cuisine) gets swallowed up by our ubiquitous kebab shops that serve a lacklustre imitation of either, typically consumed when drunk at 01:00 in the morning.
If you find yourself in a shop calling itself a 'Greek Taverna' you're likely in for a good time though.
Spanakopita is great! I used to just make the batter part of it and use it for sandwiches.
Greek olives and olive oil are the best I've ever had. Ideally it should be sold to you in whatever random plastic bottle they had lying around when they pressed it.
I have loved the food in Greece. Like you say though it's all about the quality of the ingredients.
Oh and lamb kleftiko, we went back to the same restaurant 3 times one holiday as it was so good.
In the spirit of the thread, a lesser-known (I think?) Greek dish I really enjoy are lathera: Veggies stewed in olive oil, tomato, onion, and simple herb/spice. Served with feta and bread. They're great for cooking large portions, and work well with freezer veggies in winter when produce can be more expensive. Two I come back to often are:
Fasolakia: green beans and potato
Arakas latheros: peas and potato
I was in Turkyie and fell in love with Gözleme (woth minced meat). Such an easy to make food and what a delicious one!
Tibetan food, especially momos either served with curry or without, is so delicious. Definitely some of the spiciest food I've ever had, but if you like hotter food I highly recommend it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momo_(food)
(I'm from the US.)
My Italian partner had the same experience when she came to the UK. She told me that Italians regularly make fun of us for our consumption of this meal (and many other things we eat...). For her, it was a saddening but enlightening day that she first tried this delicacy. I was careful to ensure she had Branston beans (the super brand of baked beans, of course) and an immodest quantity of salted butter on the toast.
It is now a bit of a treat when we're tired from work and can't be bothered to cook something more proper. But it is something she hides from her friends...
Grated cheese over the top is always a nice addition as well.
Russian food was pretty mild when I visited. The best food I had there was at a Georgian restaurant.
That said, I found myself really enjoying blini and kvass which is widely available.
Poland: sauerkraut, pierogi
Austria: kaiserschmarm, schnitzels, Spatzl especially.
Jollof rice (in any of its various names) from Western Africa is something special. I prefer non-Nigerian versions.
Yassa chicken (chicken in onion/mustard/lemon sauce) from Sénégal and chicken tigadegue (chicken in peanut sauce) from Mali are two other regional standouts.
If you haven't tried Venezuelan food you're definitely missing out!
Thailand: Thai Green Curry
Nothing replaces the spice and depth of Thai green curry with fresh chicken thighs and Thai eggplants over a bowl of Jasmine rice. I've tried making the curry paste from scratch, but I've found I prefer a good premade curry paste.
Thai food is somewhat uncommon in the US. The ingredients can also be pretty hard to find in smaller cities.
Really? Thai food is very common in the US. In fact, it’s commonly noticed that Thai food is very disproportionately common in the US, and there is a reason for it.
The Thai government actually sponsors and helps fund Thai restaurants in the US.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/paxadz/the-surprising-reason-that-there-are-so-many-thai-restaurants-in-america
Naw Thai is huge in Canada, at least urban centres, maybe not so much in rural Canada.
You may have tried this, but a mortar and pestle is a key ingredient in making a curry paste that blows store-bought out of the water.
can you name a good brand please? I'll probably have to order online but the only one we see here is a bit dull.
Smazeny Cyr from the Czech Republic. It's basically a breaded and deep-fried portion of cheese. A little crispy on the outside, but deliciously gooey on the inside.
Think a mozzarella stick... But all grown up.
I did study abroad in Costa Rica, and I still really miss the Gallo Pinto, Tostones, a couple of other dishes I don't know the names for, goat's milk candy, and some of the fruit varieties.
My study abroad experiences were primarily in very rural, agriculture-dominant areas, and the food there was so good. I was not nearly as impressed with the food in touristy locations, however. I think most people who visit Costa Rica are seriously missing out.
The only area I can think of that "isn't known for its cuisine" is Europe north of France. Germany, Austria, the Balkans, the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, because it tends to be lighter on spices, and shades of brown to beige to white, except for the veggies. Lots of root vegetables, maybe some fish.
That said, quite a few of my favorite foods come from Germany. Rollmops, a pickled herring skewered around a pickle. Rouladen, thin sliced meat around... picked/roasted veggies and mustard. Bratwurst (or any sausage) with spätzle and rotkraut (with red wine and onion). Apparently there's a new years tradition with smoked pork chops and sauerkraut that is amazing. The pork and sauerkraut flavor each other but stay different. Even some post-war stuff like currywurst, which came from British occupation of West Germany IIRC, is great, but also very much an international dish. Curry is also cheating outside of Asia.
Balkan cuisine is a big deal at our house, despite none of us having any background in there region. However there is a sizeable Serbian/Croatian community in my suburb, that the local supermarket caters to with traditional ingredients.
Some highlights:
Ajvar is a roasted red pepper relish and it is one of the most delicious things to ever come out of a jar. Can be mild or spicy. Either way, a bold and kinda complex flavour. Put it on anything. I'll eat it on fries, on an English muffin with an egg as a snack.
Pljeskavica are Balkan-style hamburgers, served on pita bread, spread with aforementioned ajvar, with kajmak (clotted cream), onions, pickles, etc. There's a bunch of regional variations of serving/toppings so a bit of scope for personal preference while still being authentic to the area in general.
Moussaka, the Bulgarian version thereof is a little different to the better-known Greek dish, with potatoes instead of eggplant, and a kind of yoghurt egg custard on top rather than bechamel.
Those just off the top of my head that I've cooked/eaten recently. Also lucky to be able to get fresh Bulgarian feta locally too, which is the king of fetas. Perfectly hits the sweet spot of crumbly and creamy. All feta is wonderful, Bulgarian is the platonic ideal.
If you like Ajvar you should see if you can find Ljutenica, it's from Bulgaria and it's similar.
I miss haggis! It's so tasty, with bashed neeps and tatties, and a dram. We lived a long time in Scotland, but haggis is hard to get here in California.
Brits and Scots: you know, a good steak and ale pie from time to time is really good. Stewed meat in general is really something tasty.
I recently had dinner from a Nepalese restaurant, it was a great fusion of Chinese and Indian food. Think like tandoori seasoned steamed pork buns. I don't know how authentic it was but I found it delicious.
My Ukrainian language learning adventures eventually led to exploring their cuisine and the dishes I've made really dispel the whole cabbage and potatoes sterotype.
One recipe I've found by Olia Hercules, who is a Ukrainian author, has a recipe for Slow-Roast pork with kraut and dried fruit. It has some similarities to Polish bigos, but with some regional preferences.
It's honestly some of the best pork I've ever had and is incredibly complex in flavor profile. It reminded me of the best southern BBQ you can find, but fruiter and more pickling spice like. The kraut and dried fruit also turns into this amazing chunky gravy that is like explosions of fall in the woods flavors!
But it gets even better with the leftovers! You can shred and toss the leftovers with the kraft/fruit gravy, then stuffed them into lightly sweetend yeast buns called pyrizhky. Just recalling this dish has me itching to make it again!
I just moved out west in the USA, and went to a Native American restaurant for the first time recently.
I had bison ribs and person I was with got fry bread stuffed with bison…oh man it was so good. Seriously some of the best ribs I’ve ever had, and the bite I had of the stuffed fry bread was amazing as well