(Inspired by the Spain thread in the lounge)

of all the places you've been, what country/region had the best food?

I will say Italy, bar none. I couldn't eat "Italian" food in America for a couple years after my trip because everything paled in comparison.

5/5/2014 8:22:35 PM

United States because we stole everyone else's food

USA USA USA

5/5/2014 8:24:12 PM

I'd probably consider the US and Italy a tie, if nothing else just for the huge variety we offer. Obviously it is a mishmash of other cultures' stuff (and our own thrown in) but we love our food here and we do it well.

5/5/2014 8:25:34 PM

Which country has the most fat people?

5/5/2014 8:42:09 PM

I'd say the US because we have such a variety. There are benefits to being the world's cultural (and culinary) melting pot.

5/5/2014 8:53:35 PM

I can't choose one, so I will choose 2:

Italy
Turkey

For desserts, Italy, no competition.

5/5/2014 9:07:00 PM

I would say the U.S for the same reason.

If you're talking natively...I don't know, maybe Italy? They have a wide variety, between the north, south, and Sicily. I don't know, everywhere has good food...although native British and Portuguese cuisine offers...not a lot to get excited about. I don't care much for traditional German fare, either. I had a great meal in Greece (Crete), and pretty good food there in general, but I was only there for a couple of days. Peru was pretty good and offers pretty good variety, too. I don't think I could make any case for it really contending for any top spot, though.

I enjoyed my limited experiences with eating outside the chow halls in Arab countries. I found them to have a very relaxed atmosphere and to be generally extremely hospitable (Iraq and Qatar). They have some good food, too, but no way would they challenge, say, Italy or Greece.

I love Indian and Thai, but I haven't been to those countries yet, so I can't speak with any real authority there. I wish I could have eaten some local food in Afghanistan, but there was no way, and it would have probably been very dangerous (they were repeatedly trying to poison our food on base, let alone off base, haha).

[Edited on May 5, 2014 at 9:12 PM. Reason : ]

5/5/2014 9:08:55 PM

For desserts, Japan, no competition

5/5/2014 9:09:58 PM

Italy. ... duh

5/5/2014 9:18:03 PM

I don't understand the love for Italian food. My great grandmother was straight off the boat italian so I know what actual Italian food is, and I just don't get too excited about it.

There are only so many things you can do with pasta, olive oil, tomatoes, and a handful of spices.

I'd rather eat actual Mexican food than actual Italian food any day of the week.

USA is a good answer. Our wealth, the booming foodie culture, and a continuing influx of immigrants, especially from Asia gives us a ridiculous number of options and fusions of types of cuisine.

5/5/2014 9:27:58 PM

US hands down easy victory

5/5/2014 9:32:39 PM

Quote :

"There are only so many things you can do with pasta, olive oil, tomatoes, and a handful of spices."

*troll alert*

5/5/2014 9:36:28 PM

you pish-posh italian food because of a core group of ingredients and then vote for mexican, which is just beans, rice, and meat in various combinations? ok then

[Edited on May 5, 2014 at 9:36 PM. Reason : .]

5/5/2014 9:36:30 PM

^^^^ that only describes one region of the country's cuisine.

5/5/2014 9:37:34 PM

Quote :

"mexican, which is just beans, rice, and meat in various combinations"

https://soundcloud.com/crash-2-1/jim-gaffigan-o-mexican-food

5/5/2014 9:40:27 PM

You think Italian food is just pasta and pizza?

There are so many variations/differences in the regional cuisines of Italy, that they could be considered as separate cuisines. Hit Wikipedia or google to see what else they eat in Italy besides pasta. Aside from so many amazing flesh, vegetable, non-pasta/pizza grain, bean, and lentil dishes, you will also find some downright crazy/weird traditional foods in many regions.

Maybe your ggm came from a region where they only ate pasta

P.s. How old were you anyway when she was cooking? Being a typical murrcan toddler you probably turned down all the traditional foods she cooked and only had her pasta.

[Edited on May 5, 2014 at 9:46 PM. Reason : Kurtis636]

5/5/2014 9:41:00 PM

My vote goes to Pakistan.

It's hard to beat a good Nihari.

5/5/2014 9:41:47 PM

asia

5/5/2014 9:50:40 PM

Africa

5/5/2014 9:53:52 PM

French food is overrated as fuck

5/5/2014 10:16:53 PM

Vichy French food is better

5/5/2014 10:23:51 PM

usa

5/5/2014 10:28:22 PM

5/5/2014 10:29:33 PM

have you guys ever had McDonalds...

bitch please don't be acting like you too good.

5/5/2014 10:32:34 PM

There are hundreds in Beijing.

5/5/2014 10:36:17 PM

I gotta say India. I'm kind of biased though, I grew up eating Indian food and I like my food spicy as fuck. I've never actually been to India before but the Indian food in England is exactly the same as it is there (from the Indian folks I knew there).

5/5/2014 11:34:56 PM

Haha I think it's funny how you people basically adopted Indian food to the point it's considered nearly indigenous cuisine, haha. Chicken tikka masala is like a national dish in England ( probably much more so than India).

5/5/2014 11:50:15 PM

They made a good choice. Curry > shepherd's pie.

5/6/2014 12:06:20 AM

Actually funny you should say that. Chicken tikka masala is actually a dish native to England. Back in the day when chicken tikka started getting popular in England the custom was to have some kind of "gravy" with your meat. The gravy in question that was created is what is now known as masala. It was so popular that it worked its way back to India and is now just as popular (from what I've heard) over there.

5/6/2014 12:11:46 AM

^^Oh no doubt. My daughter and I split some chicken tikka masala and paneer naan yesterday...and I had a $25 groupon, so I needed to buy more, so I just got a second order to go (and spiced hot instead of medium). I ate most of it when I got home from work, and the rest after the gym.

I live curry in general, and that's one of my favorites.

^ I know, that's why I mentioned that specific dish.

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 12:13 AM. Reason : ]

5/6/2014 12:11:49 AM

Great thread. This is one of the common things that Europeans get together and bitch about. I find that German food is just incredibly simple and plain and lacks some essential herbs and spices that most consumers would enjoy. I would also kind of agree that French food is a tad overrated after traveling through France a bit, but Italian food definitely holds to the international standard.

I personally think that Mexican food and SouthWestern US foods beats out anything in Europe.

Idian food is up there too, but it suffers from a lack of diversity.

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 12:27 AM. Reason : h]

5/6/2014 12:18:35 AM

^^I used to subscribe/save on some microwavable pindi chana.

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 12:35 AM. Reason : Forte covered it in the second post. LOL]

5/6/2014 12:31:29 AM

France, and its not even close.

5/6/2014 4:24:29 AM

italy then japan easily

usa then brazil take the cake for the hodepodge category

5/6/2014 4:43:02 AM

any other countries got bbq? cause that's definitely the best food

5/6/2014 6:17:14 AM

I'd like to say Chinese, but I've never actually had authentic Chinese food, and I'm well aware that there is a big difference between the Chinese food I get delivered to my door, and the food I would actually get in China.

But to be fair, the same goes for Mexican. Americanized Mexican food is delicious, but I also understand that it's not completely the "norm" south of the border.

For me it's a tie between those two.

5/6/2014 6:33:16 AM

Quote :

"of all the places you've been, what country/region had the best food? "

5/6/2014 7:11:00 AM

I don't see countries.

5/6/2014 7:11:58 AM

^^I never said I was playing by the rules

5/6/2014 7:28:30 AM

Of places I've been...Italian, Greek, Spanish, then French.

Italian pretty much explains itself. I didn't have a high opinion of Greek food until I had my first big meal in the Greek Isles...Greek salad of plump, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese...whole fish caught that morning in the sea I was sitting next to. Probably the best eating of my European travels was in Greece. Spanish...I just love Spanish food. You can't beat a Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese bocadillo. Their meats, cheeses, and wine rival anywhere else in Europe. French is french. Crepes, coq au vin, cassoulet...etc. Like Italian...their base recipes done traditionally right are hard to compete with.

Don't know if you can say they have their own "style" of cooking, but my recent trip to Belize could probably be thrown up in those top 4. They had an awesome combination of Mestizo (rice and beans) and Creole...to go along with fresh seafood and some of the best lobster I've ever had.

Would like to add some Asian traveling to the list.

5/6/2014 7:59:33 AM

^You are fortunate to have left German food off of your must do list

5/6/2014 8:03:09 AM

Eh...I liked German food. Sausage and sauerkraut is good...they just don't have much else. Not the biggest fan of spaetzle as I feel like it's rarely done right. The beer helps though!

5/6/2014 8:05:30 AM

Yeah, I find their beer to be the best in Europe. I don't know why we slurp all over the Belgian styles but don't do as much importing/brewing of german style beers.

5/6/2014 9:19:06 AM

Quote :

"any other countries got bbq? cause that's definitely the best food"

I'd like to know how you define "bbq". some people refer to the style of cooking the meat, others refer to the whole shebang (meat, coleslaw, cornbread, etc)

5/6/2014 12:56:57 PM

If you like beef and rich food: Argentina. It's the perfect mix of Italian and Spanish cuisine. I thought Italian food in Italy was no better than what I've found in CA, except everything was about 2x as expensive, other than cheap pizza. Also, authentic Mexican food is pretty tough to beat. French food is great, but it costs a fortune, and I really enjoyed the food in Spain (olives, tuna, cured meats, cheese, etc).

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 1:23 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2014 1:21:21 PM

I'd say Britain. Best Indian, the best italian, the best comfort food.

clotted cream

double cream

scones

stilton

cheddar

the tomatoes taste better

fish and chips

bangers and mash

sunday roasts

jesus I could keep going....

christmas pudding

5/6/2014 1:37:24 PM

Yuck

I remember visiting my friend in Greece, he was the head chef at a tourist resort that catered to Brits. And he was like "Look at this disgusting crap these people eat." I think he was referring to a dinner plate of eggs and pork 'n beans.

5/6/2014 1:42:57 PM

Welp, the only times I've left the US were for the Bahamas, Bermuda and Canada so I don't have much to vote on from an international point of view. If I had to pick a region of the US that has the best food I would say the NYC metro area, b/c it has awesome authentic cuisine from all over the world.

I love German food! Schnitzel, wurst varieties, sausages, spaetzle, potato pancakes, pretzels, etc. However I will admit it's fairly basic, though it's hard to find a better cuisine to go along with some heavy beer drinking.

My vote is for Italian food. It covers such a wide variety of food types that it's hard to think you'd need anything else, haha.

And what's up with the fucktards picking entire continents?

5/6/2014 1:49:37 PM

^I actually prefer "our" German food over the authentic variety. I found that in Germany you more than likely just get a plain boiled sausage with some bread and mustard. That's it. Then they treat it like is it cutter's choice. As far as schnitzel, it is the same as the states but less herbs and the meat cuts are typically not as good as what you would get in the States. Meat cuts are one of the only food items that kick ass in the US. Other things like cheese, bread, wine, beer and deli meats are much cheaper and better in the EU.

5/6/2014 2:27:55 PM

next

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 2:42 PM. Reason : ]

5/6/2014 2:38:36 PM