Foods from other cultures
 

What foods/meals of other cultures have you learned about, in college or just in life, that you never knew about? Did you try it? Do you like it? Do you still eat it? What WON'T you try?

Well, one of my closest friends from college is of Polish descent. She hipped me to perogies. Man, yall, these are the bomb!!! They are kinda like filled dumplings. I like the potato ones. You boil them, then you saute them in butter. Scrumpdidliumptious! :D

At good ol' Witt, we used to have a festival called Crossroads, where the International students (and in early years, we Black students made soul food) would have booths and food from their respective countries. Oh, it was so fun and interesting to taste the different foods!!

As far as what I won't try, I'm not foolin' with animals that we consider domesticated over here. I'm not eating anyone's dog or cat. At least not to my knowledge, lol.

One of our HS student workers is Eritrean (Eritrea is a little country above Ethiopia that I knew nothing about) and he was telling me about his culture and what not. I asked him about a popular dish (since he told me about an Eritrean restaurant), and he said Tibse (TIB-see). So I'm excited to go to the restaurant and try that.

Share, share, share with us your experiences with different kinds of cuisine!!! :D

(Guess who has nothing to do at work today? LOL!) ;)

I normally don't try new foods but on two occaisions I tried black beans and rice. The first was with some Hispanic co-workers at a Cuban restaurant in NY and the second was at a Mexican restaurant in DC. I must say it is a VERY good dish!

I have tried and like Greek food, Indian food, and Thai food.

I have tried and don't like Vietnamese food (too bland).

And of course I like Chinese, Mexican and Italian food (those are pretty common).

:cool:
 

A friend of ours is from Zimbabwe and he cooked a dish where it consisted of greens (very spicy), a kind of tomato salsa and believe it or not, cream of wheat!! You eat it with your fingers and you scoop a little bit of each ingredient off your plate and throw it in your mouth! It's a little messy but it tastes really good! I was shocked because I'm a fan of cream of wheat for breakfast in the morning but I usually eat it with sugar, milk, you know....but it was definitely a different thing with this dish. The consistency of the cream of wheat was very thick. It was very interesting. I know there is a name for the dish but right now I can't remember it.

Thai food is delicious!!

Try the Spicy Basil Spaghetti (I like mine with shrimp, but you can do pork, chicken, beef).

I LOVE to eat, and I eat a lot of food from other cultures (in NorCal, there's really no excuse not to try any food you've always been interested in) I think my favorite is Vietnamese. They have great combinations (anything from Vietnamese egg rolls to clay pots to spicy squid...).

I also have had Greek, Indian, Thai, Ethiopian (and by extention, Eritrean), Cuban, Japanese (I enjoy good, "fresh" sushi and sashmi :)) Nigerian, Brazilian (my boyfriend and I went to a restuarant in the Village where we had many Mojitos and some good food!), Carribean (another favorite). Of course the old standbys...Mexican, Chinese etc. I love Italian food too (especially pizzas with unusal toppings like shellfish). Most Americans have eaten some dish of most European cultures (English, German, French, etc.) so I won't include them.

You know, I was watching this video of this lecturer, Harry Wong. Anyway, he said that what WE call Chinese food is NOT Chinese food. So that General Tso Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork and the like is NOT really Chinese food.

FYI :D

Oh no!
 

What about my vegetable low mein???
:D

Re: Oh no!
 

I guess not. It's all AMERICANized. :D

This is true. I remember my 8th grade Spanish teacher was from Mexico. Of course, we thought Taco Bell was real Mexican food. You should have seen the look on her face.:eek: She arranged for us to have dinner together at an authentic Mexican restaurant one Friday evening. That is when I fell in love with fried ice cream.

A co-worker was telling me about this Oriental dish. I can't remember the name, but it's vegetables that they place in a bag and bury it so that the heat can ferment it. Then, after a while they dig it up and cook it (hope I explained that correctly ~ it's been years). Anyway once, I remember seeing it on the cold buffet at a Chinese restaurant, so I decide to get some. The smell alone should've warned me. I tasted it... it was the most God-awful thing I've ever tasted! It took hours before I could get the taste out of my mouth. http://www.plauder-smilies.de/yellows/crap.gif

So true, so true...
 

When I was in Spain for my study abroad, some friends and I went to a Chinese restaurant. The only thing that was on there that we have here was fried rice. I couldn't believe it!! I had NO CLUE what the stuff on the menu was. And Chinese peeps speaking in spanish freaked me out, lightweight; it's a whole different accent. I got some shrimp fried rice and called it a day. I never went back to that restaurant, and Chinese is my fave.

Mixed up
 

As a cultural meltdown of a family who supports interracial marriages-I have had a mass of hispanic, soul-black, italian, and chinese foods. My favorites are:

Chinese-fried wonton, egg rolls, sesame chicken
Philipiana-Lumpas
Italian-veal, real lasagna-not the stoffers stuff, real italian pizza
Hispanic-empanadas, quesadillas, monte cristos-your choice of deli meat on a doughnut bread, with powdered sugar, and raspberry sauce, patacones (colombian fried plantains) and the unknockable coca cola cake so you call it.

And I could go on...

Got questions ask

Re: Mixed up
 

Girl, thank you for reminding me...how could I have forgotten Philipino food: lumpia, panz(s)it, halo halo, chicken adobo, leche flan! Hmmmm...good food. (I was rasied in a town with a large Philipino population).

I am willing to try almost any new food at least once. ;) I love international cuisine. My favorite surprise of late has been Piri-Piri Chicken, introduced to me by a Brazilian classmate a few months ago. It is a very delicious Brazilian/Portuguese meat dish of chicken which has been seasoned with HOT chillies :D - and a variety of other spices. It's usually served with chips or fries, and a salad.

http://www.schwartz.co.uk/assets/Pir...kenBBQ_GIF.gif

What WON'T I try? Anything made of animals I consider pets (dogs, cats, horses... ) or pests (mice, insects, ...).

My fiancee and I are restaurant connoisseurs. I want to try sushi, French food, and Lebanese next.


Cuban: I can't remember the dish for anything but I went to this restaurant in Baltimore called Babalu Grill

Thai: I had something that was synomymous with beef and broccoli but with ginger. Yummy

Mexican: I had REAL Mexican at this place called Lauriol Plaza. The enchiladas and rice and beans are :p

Chinese: I agree, the majority of the dishes served is not real chinese food. I went to Mr. K's restaurant in downtown DC for V-Day and realized that. Sidebar: gotta love PF Chang's fried crab wontons

Italian: Pines of Rome in Bethesda, MD has the best Veal Parmesan ever and its authentic Italian for a reasonable price.

Caribbean: There is a hole in the wall carryout in my neighborhood that sells Curry Chicken, Oxtail, fried plaintains, etc.

Lemme see so far I've had my taste of:

Asian: Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai

Hispanic/Latin: Spanish, Mexican, Cuban

Carribean: Jamaican and Hatian Dishes

African: Ethiopian

Italian: Northern and Southern

Russian: Various dishes but my favorite is this soup called borsch

Indian: which is my favorite international type of food to eat

I'm slowly eating my way around the globe.

:D

I love Puerto Rican food! I also like Italian, Mexican,Indian, Thai and Ethiopian,

Bacalaitos are the BOMB
http://www.goya.com/english/products...roduct0064.jpg

Feed me Seymour!
 

Of course I like the staples Italian, Mexican and I loove pierogies (pirogi, perogi, piroghi, piroshki, or pirozhki same thing) they are so good.

I prefer authentic Asian if I can get it. I have some asian cookbooks at home that i will make the same food we get in the store but not americanized. Even with say Italian I will search for an authentic recipe instead of the same old same old. I love risotto but not to many places have it. That is Northeren Italian food.

I am a foodie and proud of it. I have a culinary degree and love to cook for my friends and family. But I do draw the line. I went to France and would not do the escargot. Sorry but one of his relatives used to go past my front door every night at home (Smedly the Slug) and I just couldn't do it.

Sorry to crash :D Since moving to Montreal, in an area that has many many Greeks (not the sorority/fraternity brand either!) I have fallen in love with Greek food. I love souvlaki!

When I was in the Bahamas this past summer, the big thing on the island was CONCH. Ummmmmmmm, no, I did not try it. My mother and another soror did. Why not? I was not interested. :o

I remembered the name - Kim Chi!

I heard about conch when I was growing up in SC. I love to look at the shells, but soror, I don't think I could bring myself to eat it.

In my senior year of college, I took a course called Foods, Society, and Health for my minor in Nutrition. This course was given twice a week dividing it up into lecture/lab. During the lab, we would prepare meals that pertained to the culture previously discussed. So during our "Greek" week, I made Baklava which is a famous dessert along with Greek Chicken and Egg Lemon Soup. I must admit, it was very tasty.
I would consider myself very open to trying different foods from other cultures. However, PORK is a no, no for me.

I love international cuisine
 

My favorites:

Thai-Paad Thai, Khao Neeo Mamuang (sticky rice with mango)

Philipine-Pancit

German (American)-Goetta

Greek-Souvlaki, Spanakopita, Dolmathes

Japanese-Tanuki Soba

Jamaican-Patties

Indian-Dosas, Dohbi (cauliflower)

Irish-Colcannon

I also like taboulleh and hummus. I always classify them as Mediterranenan. And---yes! pierogies are awesome!

Yum!

I had conch soup once when I was in the Carribean. I really liked it.

I love Mexican food!!! The ingredients are so fresh! So far, I've liked everything that I've tried.

There is an Ethiopian restaurant in town and the food there is very good, too.

There is a Middle-Eastern restaurant in town also. I ordered something that smelled like feet and didn't taste much better. I was with someone who is accustomed to eating this type of food. She didn't want any part of it either.

Hawaiian food is very good, too. I like the pork dish that they cook underground. They also have a pasta that is clear. I was afraid to try it but my dad said it tasted like chicken broth.

Conch PSA
 

I shall post more later but hear ye who are afraid of the conch (pronounced konk), it is the bomb! The best thing since thongs:o If I was told I couldn't eat it I would ask the Lord to put me out of my misery lol I think I shall have some tomorrow lol

That is all:D

The pig they cook in the imu (the underground oven) is indeed good and always one of my favorite luau dishes because of that "smoky" taste. If you cook the kalua pig with cabbage, it's even tastier. Add sticky rice too it and mmmm.

The clear pasta is what we call "chicken long rice". It's just bean thread noodle, chicken broth, chicken, and I know some places add a little bit of ginger.

Am loving this thread and taking notes as we speak! :D

Yes, that is the name. I think though it is Korean. I have a Korean friend from grad school and she said her mom makes it the way you describe all the time. She does say that it stinks to high heaven but she loves to eat it.

My eating / trying new food policy is that if I can't get it past my nose it is not going in my mouth. But, for the most part I like to try new foods. My favorite is Thai. I like a few Indian dishes, but Indian food seems to be heavy for me. It seems some dishes have alot of cream or yogurt added. Basically, I like anything spicy.

Re: Conch PSA
 

You can have the Conch and the PSA.

Yeah, the shells are intriguing, but what's inside...I tain't tryeen' ta be eetin' daht!

:D

I love Lebanese and Greek food. Mexican food from real Mexicans is also good. I'm not talking about Don Pablos or Taco Bell...LOL

Re: Foods from other cultures
 

I love Ethiopian! My other favorite is North Indian.

My best friend lived in Asia for a year, and she always talks about how we have made up some Chinese dishes over here...Orange Chicken, Honey Lemon Chicken and most everything else they sell at Panda Express and Manchu Wok in the mall.

I saw this thread and I had to reply!

I love Thai, Indian, Crucian (food from St. Croix, USVI), real Mexican (my favorite food), and Italian.

To those that are curious about conch: I've had it and it is really good, if it is seasoned well. My boyfriend and his family are crucian and his mother made some conch for me. Like I said, if it is seasoned well its good, just kinda chewy.

I love, love, love Thai food especially jasmine rice and any dish with rice noodles.








"Success is not a journey, it is my destination!"

I LOVE:

Thai food- theres this restuarant around here that has this pineapple fried rice dish with chicken, shrimp, pineapples, fried rice, and pecans....mmmmm

Jamaican food- patties (chicken or beef), jerk anything, rice & peas, plantains

Liberian- casava leaves

And of course, Italian, Chinese, Mexican...

Lately my friends have tried to get me to try Indian and Mediterranean... i hated the Mediterranean food, but I still havent tried Indian... im nervous:(

Conch
 

That just killed the notion completely for me. :p