What culture has the worst cuisine?

[FudgeFish]

I feel the same way about a lot of Eastern European food - there are some standout dishes, but a lot of it is pretty depressing.

Agreed - that and most food from Scandinavia. The vast amount just seems to be bland, boiled-to-shit poverty food designed to be stored for long periods of time.

 

[Kršćanin Čendlervic]

I feel the same way about a lot of Eastern European food - there are some standout dishes, but a lot of it is pretty depressing.

Ukrainian food is pretty solid though. (Praise the Azov battalion). I don’t think I’ve had any bad Ukrainian dishes. But I might be biased because I love potatoes, sour cream, beets and dill.

 

[Kalsarikännit]

Like neverendingmidi said, they're common US festival junk food, but I think it's a stupid gimmick like wrapping everything in bacon. People deep fry lots of junk that isn't the slightest bit improved by it just because loldeepfry=funny.

I recently ate "deep fried corn" in a restaurant, and I was thinking it would be like breaded corn nuggets or something, nope, they just slapped down regular corn still greasy with vegetable oil in front of me.

Something that is actually quite good is deep-fried broccoli.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Something that is actually quite good is deep-fried broccoli.

Well, lots of meats and vegetables are good deep fried, it's deep fried junk foods that's gimmicky.

I've sauteed broccoli in bacon grease before to use as a topping on pasta.

 

[Cherry Eyed Hamster]

British and Indian food is quite tasty, don’t really understand the hate it’s getting here.

However, I absolutely do not understand the appeal of French food. Their desserts are quite delicious, but their actual savory cuisine is so bland and frankly, kinda gross. So much of it tastes like its been saturated in cream, butter, and wine.

Scandinavian cuisine in general is vile. Google Icelandic Cuisine and click Images. Get your vomit bag ready. Again, Northern Europe has great desserts but their food is also very bland, except in this case everything tastes pickled and salty as hell. Absolutely no spice and the textures are very rubbery and slimy. Eucchhh.

I think my least favorite “popular” cuisine however is Greek. I really don’t like lemon and mint in savory dishes. The sauce they use for gyros tastes like toothpaste. I also don’t like cucumbers, raw tomatoes, olives, cous cous, and yogurt so that eliminates 90% of their menu. Mediterranean in general doesn’t do a whole lot for me.

 

[teriyakiburns]

The vast amount just seems to be bland, boiled-to-shit poverty food designed to be stored for long periods of time.

They spend half the year waiting for the sun to come back, so extreme food preservation is a cultural norm for them. They do some genius things with fish, though. Some of it is an acquired taste (never, ever, ever let a swede convince you to eat surströmming), but you also get things like gravlax, which makes your typical smoked salmon taste like a rubber sheet in comparison. They're quite clever with preserved pork, too.

On the other hand, they also invented something called a "sandwich cake", which appears to consist of equal parts prawns, bread, and mayonnaise. Every time I've eaten it, I've been sick afterwards.

So much of it tastes like its been saturated in cream, butter, and wine.

You say that like it's a bad thing. I consider it a good day when I'm saturated in all three.

 

[thegrayman]

The Swedish get this one. When it is not bland Ikea food it is this shit.

 

[Smar Mijou]

First off, I absolutely despise any religion or "culture" that deliberately inflicts unnecessary pain and suffering on animals because of their backwater, ignorant retardedly superstitious beliefs. Yes, that means Jews, Muslims, and most east Asian religious followers as well. To be certified Kosher or Halal, the animals must be killed in a certain way, which according to most of their doctrines, is slitting the throat and letting the animal bleed out, but keeping the spinal cord intact. I can only assume that this is due to some sort of innate cruelty from these sadistic, subhuman fucks. Factory farming is bad enough as it is, hence why I try to shop local and homestead as much as possible, but if you're not interested in pleasing the chosenites, you can at least stun the animal first before killing it. And the superstitions of the "chinese medicine" remedies has already been elaborated on in this thread. Needlessly killing endangered species, cutting off shark fins or rhino horns for health or fertility cures or whatever the zips can think up next.

It's hard for me to pin down a true "american" style cuisine that is distinctly its own. Yeah the "Hurr durr burgers dogs fries junk food" rhetoric is basically a meme at this point, but that's just a symptom of the overall greed and corruption of the US food corporations. As others have said, with all of the lobbying and technicalities, shit is sold here that legally wouldn't or couldn't be sold in many other places, especially the EU. And fast food is just a cheap, usually unhealthy and poor bastardization of the real thing anyway. For better or worse, the US is a cultural melting pot, and most of what we would think as "American" food has been co-opted and adapted from other cultures. They were making bratwurst in Bavaria 200 years before Europeans explored the Americas, for example. Creole and barbecue have deep roots in African and Caribbean slave dishes, with European and Native influences. Even traditional "Homestyle" American foods like roasted birds, large game, hearty soups, stews, casseroles, root vegetables and the like, all have heavy European and native influences as well.

I think the worst "cuisine" if it could even be called that, that I've had the unfortunate experience of being around, is whatever the nasty shit that the sub-saharan Nig-nogs like to eat that smells like rancid feet. I seriously don't know what the fuck it is, but I've been to an "authentic" Ethiopian place, and unfortunately dealt with more than my fair share of Somalians while traveling on the west side of Columbus, and that fucking smell permeates those people. Their food, their clothes, their vehicles, it's everywhere. The food that i tried the one time i was forced to go to the Ethiopian place was some weird mush on a sponge, and was fucking vile. It was somehow bland, sour, gritty and spicy all at once. And the shit they put it with had the exact same texture as a magic eraser sponge, but the color of cardboard. 2 bites and I was done.

And I can't fathom how people can tolerate the rotten/fermented fish from the nordic regions. I get that at one time, thats all that those people had to live on, but in the modern post-scarcity world, people who voluntarily seek out rotten fermented fish "preserved" with lye or canned fermented herring with specific instructions to open it under water to avoid the smell... I have no idea what they're thinking.

 

[rel=alternate]

First off, I absolutely despise any religion or "culture" that deliberately inflicts unnecessary pain and suffering on animals because of their backwater, ignorant retardedly superstitious beliefs.

Is it OK when the pain is necessary/not religious then? Like boiling live lobsters or force feeding goose and ducks for foie gras? I personally am fine with suffering if it leads to a better result, just curious where you stand on this since you seem so passionate.

Imo, the worst cuisine is always evidenced by the fact that the country hardly has a genuine national dish. When you get to the UK and you ask what's the most popular food around and it's pizza, deep fry and curry, you know the local food is bad.

 

[Smar Mijou]

Is it OK when the pain is necessary/not religious then? Like boiling live lobsters or force feeding goose and ducks for foie gras? I personally am fine with suffering if it leads to a better result, just curious where you stand on this since you seem so passionate.

Imo, the worst cuisine is always evidenced by the fact that the country hardly has a genuine national dish. When you get to the UK and you ask what's the most popular food around and it's pizza, deep fry and curry, you know the local food is bad.

I think that any unnecessary suffering of an animal for human consumption is cruel and vile. I'm no PETA member, and I eat meat on the regular, but I believe that if there is a way to minimize pain and suffering, we should try to use that method whenever possible. A lobster, fish, shrimp, etc can quickly be killed before put in the boiling water, much as a captive bolt gun can incapacitate or kill livestock before slaughtering if properly implemented. Foie gras is near the top for me as far as pretentious and unnecessary cruelty, at lesst for how most of it is produced anyway. There are certain areas where farmers have developed "ethical" foie gras by letting the birds feed naturally on special diets, and it seems like that is starting to become more common even though as of now it is still rare and higher priced. I'm all for that though, because nobody really "needs" foie gras, and most of the pretentious fucks who've had it probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and a good substitute anyway. But then again, the people who have the kind of money to chow down on it regularly might not have the morals to care if a goose is having a tube forced down its throat and fed to the point it's in chronic liver inflammation, and if they DO have money and morals, they'd probably pay more for the "ethical" type.

As far as "national dishes" go, it's hard to tell what is what, when there is a long history of cultural melting pots. As you said, British food has alot of influences, particularly from Indian and other former colonial populations. Food, much like culture, is always evolving. Largely homogeneous and/or culturally isolated populations on a regional scale is a better marker, in my opinion. For example, a New Year's traditional food in the American south is usually some sort of beans or peas and rice/hoppin' john concoction with fried greens like okra, cabbage or collard greens, and ham or porkchops. In the Appalachian region, pork roast and sauerkraut with potatoes is traditional due to a large German ancestry influence, meanwhile in the Pacific northwest, fish, usually salmon is traditionally served as a New Year's day meal, and in the south with heavy Mexican influences, tamales tend to be the food of choice. I guess if you come from a part of the world where famine scarcity and food cooked in electrical transformer oil is actually a thing, I wouldn't blame you one bit for dumping that "culture" the minute you managed to make it out of that hellhole.

 

[ArthuriusMartyrius]

The only Chinese food I've ever liked is Peking duck. Everything else they make is complete garbage. Indian food is fucking horrible, they drown everything in spice to the extent where it feels like a forced culinary gangbang in your mouth.

If we're just looking at cultures that make real food (that is to say, anywhere except for sub-saharan africa and "indigenous" America), my vote is the balkans. I love balkaners but their food there is the blandest thing on earth. It is literally just bread and meat, usually sosig or lamb. That's it.

Pretty much anything edible in Balkan cuisine is due to the influence of the Ottoman Empire mixing in Arabic/Asian influences. And Germanic influences up north in places like Croatia and Hungary. Strangely enough not a whole lot of Roman/Byzantine culinary influence, whereas it's pretty pronounced in places like Italy, Spain and France.

 

[teriyakiburns]

When you get to the UK and you ask what's the most popular food around and it's pizza, deep fry and curry, you know the local food is bad.

You're asking the wrong people.

The English "national dish" depends on what part of the country you're in, but it's generally accepted to be some sort of roast joint with roasted or boiled potatoes, a couple of other kinds of roasted or boiled vegetables (usually carrots and turnips), green cabbage or spinach, and something bready, like a yorkshire pudding. Warm beer or ale for accompaniment. The roast will typically be pork or beef, or a lamb joint, often glazed with honey or something similarly sweet. If it's beef, it'll be accompanied by hot mustard or horseraddish. If it's pork, apple sauce or some other fruit sauce. Lamb will be with mint sauce.

There's a reason the French still call the English "rosbif". A well-made roast is one thing the Anglo can reliably produce in just about any circumstance.

 

[rel=alternate]

You're asking the wrong people.

The English "national dish" depends on what part of the country you're in, but it's generally accepted to be some sort of roast joint with roasted or boiled potatoes, a couple of other kinds of roasted or boiled vegetables (usually carrots and turnips), green cabbage or spinach, and something bready, like a yorkshire pudding. Warm beer or ale for accompaniment. The roast will typically be pork or beef, or a lamb joint, often glazed with honey or something similarly sweet. If it's beef, it'll be accompanied by hot mustard or horseraddish. If it's pork, apple sauce or some other fruit sauce. Lamb will be with mint sauce.

I might have left my hatred of the country cloud my judgment here a little bit, I agree. Pies are also pretty great.

Nevertheless, these days, it seems that these dishes are mostly eaten there on special occasions rather than part of the day to day food culture, which is dominated by fast food and foreign dishes.

Maybe the Netherlands is a better example.

 

[ITK]

Agreed - that and most food from Scandinavia. The vast amount just seems to be bland, boiled-to-shit poverty food designed to be stored for long periods of time.

It's potato, meat and lingonberries. Greatest shit in the world right there. What more could you ask for? Don't say spices or you're going to hell for gluttony. You American sissies just aren't MAN enough for this MAN FOOD.

 

[Atli]

Nevertheless, these days, it seems that these dishes are mostly eaten there on special occasions rather than part of the day to day food culture, which is dominated by fast food and foreign dishes.

That is a product of industrialization and globohomo ruining cultures. Take, for example, the American south which is pretty famous for its cuisine (and no I don't mean the junk food like chicken and waffles or gumbo, I mean chicken and dumplings, corn bread, peach cobbler, every type of chili and barbecue imaginable, etc). However, if you go to the south nowadays 75% of the population (probably more) usually just eats pizza, Chic-fil-a, chinese takeout or some frozen garbage they bought at Walmart. Local cuisine hasn't died out but it certainly isn't the "norm" in most of the world anymore because of globalism. It's a shame and is why the "slow food" movement in Europe is based, even though I'm sure a lot of the people pushing for it aren't.

 

[rel=alternate]

That is a product of industrialization and globohomo ruining cultures. Take, for example, the American south which is pretty famous for its cuisine (and no I don't mean the junk food like chicken and waffles or gumbo, I mean chicken and dumplings, corn bread, peach cobbler, every type of chili and barbecue imaginable, etc). However, if you go to the south nowadays 75% of the population (probably more) usually just eats pizza, Chic-fil-a, chinese takeout or some frozen garbage they bought at Walmart. Local cuisine hasn't died out but it certainly isn't the "norm" in most of the world anymore because of globalism. It's a shame and is why the "slow food" movement in Europe is based, even though I'm sure a lot of the people pushing for it aren't.

Yes. When I gave the example of the US, I had in mind something I read about how something like 60-70% of restaurants there were actually just fast food.

In my opinion, it plays a big role in this degeneracy. Because it's cheap, it's convenient and it's admittedly pretty good tasting for the price. But they are destroying the industry, forcing everybody to meet their low standards.

If you want to cook good food, your expenses are such that you cannot compete against fast food.

They buy by the ton, so have huge economies of scales, they actually own the supply chain, so guaranteed lowest price. They hardly provide service, so they don't need qualified employees. Standards are low.

If you want to run your own restaurant and make quality food, on the other hand:

• You need good staff, because this is what people who go to the restaurant expect, and that's how you drive up profits (with drinks and sides).
• You need a chef, and and some kitchen staff, size varies depending on how much volume you do, but at the very least one. The chef cannot do the purchase, the prep and the cleaning by himself in most places. You obviously need to pay them well so they stay.
• You need to buy fresh products, which takes time and energy.
• You need to monitor storage, inventory and waste, always think ahead on how you minimize loss and maximize margins.
• You need someone to manage the front of house, someone to manage finances
• You have all the regular expenses any other business does (machinery, cleaning etc...)
• You NEED to be there all the fucking time, and even when you don't anymore, you still need to.

One way that latin countries have handled this issue is with the meal of the day. In France, Spain or Italy, you can easily get away with a full meal (appetizer, main and dessert or wine) for something like 8-12€ for lunch. They cook big batches, switch it often and offer two options in most cases, so you never really get bored either. It's cost effective for both parties, and you don't have to compromise on quality or speediness of service.

 

[Arianne Chan]

Asians in general

"Bat soup" lmao

 

[Troon_Patrol]

I fucking hate Indian food, never tried Nigerian, Ethiopian or any African weird shit.

 

[naaaaiiiiillllll!!!]

You're asking the wrong people.

The English "national dish" depends on what part of the country you're in, but it's generally accepted to be some sort of roast joint with roasted or boiled potatoes, a couple of other kinds of roasted or boiled vegetables (usually carrots and turnips), green cabbage or spinach, and something bready, like a yorkshire pudding. Warm beer or ale for accompaniment. The roast will typically be pork or beef, or a lamb joint, often glazed with honey or something similarly sweet. If it's beef, it'll be accompanied by hot mustard or horseraddish. If it's pork, apple sauce or some other fruit sauce. Lamb will be with mint sauce.

There's a reason the French still call the English "rosbif". A well-made roast is one thing the Anglo can reliably produce in just about any circumstance.

Sorry mate, chicken tikka masala is the national dish of the UK. I recently cooked it and it was delicious (made me think about your awesome Prime Minister).

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

That is a product of industrialization and globohomo ruining cultures. Take, for example, the American south which is pretty famous for its cuisine (and no I don't mean the junk food like chicken and waffles or gumbo, I mean chicken and dumplings, corn bread, peach cobbler, every type of chili and barbecue imaginable, etc). However, if you go to the south nowadays 75% of the population (probably more) usually just eats pizza, Chic-fil-a, chinese takeout or some frozen garbage they bought at Walmart. Local cuisine hasn't died out but it certainly isn't the "norm" in most of the world anymore because of globalism. It's a shame and is why the "slow food" movement in Europe is based, even though I'm sure a lot of the people pushing for it aren't.

Globalism is just a codeword for america. "Globalism ruined it" means american influence ruined it.

Wallmart, frozen dinner and chic-fill-a are just american stuff.