Favorite cuisine?

[jowcol]

Thai for me.  I like a lot of others, but Thai wins.  Unfortunately, I just got back from Thailand a month ago, and I still can't get too excited about the Thai food in the US.

(Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Iranian, Indian, Middle Eastern are also way up there..)

[david johnson]

SOUTHERN

fried ham
catfish
fried chicken
bbq
beans
biscuits
greens
corn bread
tomatoes
hash browns
peach cobbler
black coffee
beignets
ice tea
coca cola
moon pies
'shine
...etc   

dj

[The Six]

Fake American Chinese food is much better than the real stuff.

[MDL]

Fake American Chinese food is much better than the real stuff.

You're being cheeky now!

From my limited experience, Chinese food is a pretty broad church. While the food I ate in Shanghai and Beijing was fairly familiar, my one meal in Chongqing was unlike anything I've eaten in London or America. It was terrifyingly hot, although delicious once your mouth got over the shock.

And the food in Xi'an bore absolutely no resemblance to Chinese food in the West. One meal consisted of a mutton stew served over bread (which you had to break into crumbs yourself, while the locals laughed at you because you weren't doing it properly). It seemed far more Middle Eastern than Chinese. Another meal consisted of a spread where the two of us simply had no idea what was what or what went with what. Snake, blood soup with ginseng and sea slug were included amongst the exotic delights.

Luckily, a helpful waitress guided us through the courses. Unluckily, she was extremely offended when we tried to leave her a tip, went purple in the face and practically threw our money back at us. Sounds funny now, but at the time, we were absolutely mortified. Everywhere else in China, the locals were perfectly happy to receive tips. It was obviously not the done thing in Xi'an.

You live and learn.

[SonicMan46]

As w/ many of us, a difficult decision to narrow the choices down to just three - 

I did pick Italian - veal piccata w/ a tart reduced lemon sauce & plenty of capers is a favorite of mine! 

And I had to do an 'oriental' choice - many appeal to me, but chose Japanese - just love sushi!

Finally, selected US American and not meaning the usual cheap chain joints, but the blending of multi-national styles w/ local ingredients and historic regional cuisines, there are so many examples - just a coastal visit to Charleston & Savannah; a recent trip to New Orleans; and a vacation to Maine (returning yesterday) - we ate lobster & Maine oysters 6 days in a row!  Also, the blueberries were in season so some blueberry pie & short cake w/ freshly made blueberry sorbet.  We stayed at two nice resorts w/ great kitchens and chefs - at one of the places, Susan had the same dish twice, i.e. lobster de-shelled and poached in a butter sauce over some 'baby' local veggies and home-made gnocchi - a perfect combination for her!

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes, Dave, 3 is a tough number. I picked Chinese, by which I meant Szechuan, since I like the nice bit of heat that typifies those dishes. I don't really go for a lot of exotic stuff (no cobra bile for me, Dude, I'm trying to taper off  ) so I don't know if I would like it in China, but the US version is the most appealing form of Chinese for me.

I also picked Mexican, but specifically I mean Tex-Mex, which is not either the real, typical Mexican, nor is it the typical Americanized version of Mexican either. Just one example should do: the ever-popular fajita. Fajitas never saw the light of day south of the border, they were invented in Texas, down in The Valley (of the Rio Grande). Just one of many dishes thought of as Mexican but really, they're Texican. I could eat 1 meal a day of Tex-Mex...

And I took good old, underloved American food. I'd'a taken Italian in a heartbeat. So many great dishes that one can scarcely choose a favorite!  But if pressed to make a choice for dinner, American food seems to rise to the top every time. I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who picked it.



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[SonicMan46]

Hello Gurn - I really enjoy good Mexican food, esp. seafood (have had some wonderful 'eats' on my 3-4 trips to Mexico); Susan is not a fan, but what we get around North Carolina just is not the same, although we've had such an influx of Mexican people into this area that the restaurants have improved.

But, in October, we'll be attending a medical meeting in San Antonio (probably my 4-5th visit there, but first for Susan) - I expect to see her enjoy some GOOD Mexican or Tex-Mex food - looking forward to the return - Dave 

[bwv 1080]

Hello Gurn - I really enjoy good Mexican food, esp. seafood (have had some wonderful 'eats' on my 3-4 trips to Mexico); Susan is not a fan, but what we get around North Carolina just is not the same, although we've had such an influx of Mexican people into this area that the restaurants have improved.

But, in October, we'll be attending a medical meeting in San Antonio (probably my 4-5th visit there, but first for Susan) - I expect to see her enjoy some GOOD Mexican or Tex-Mex food - looking forward to the return - Dave 

Don't try to get good mexican food on the Riverwalk, the restaurants there suck.  You have to go into some neighborhoods to get decent mexican food

[SonicMan46]

Don't try to get good mexican food on the Riverwalk, the restaurants there suck.  You have to go into some neighborhoods to get decent mexican food

BWV - I've eaten on the Riverwalk many times before and have not been impressed - of course, we will 'research' the other eating possibilities, but if you (or others) have specific recommendations, please let us know - thanks in advance - Dave 

[bwv 1080]

Yes, Dave, 3 is a tough number. I picked Chinese, by which I meant Szechuan, since I like the nice bit of heat that typifies

I also picked Mexican, but specifically I mean Tex-Mex, which is not either the real, typical Mexican, nor is it the typical Americanized version of Mexican either. Just one example should do: the ever-popular fajita. Fajitas never saw the light of day south of the border, they were invented in Texas, down in The Valley (of the Rio Grande). Just one of many dishes thought of as Mexican but really, they're Texican. I could eat 1 meal a day of Tex-Mex...

A) Texas was once part of Mexico
B) There are a number of regional cuisines in Mexico, not one "real mexican" cuisine

therefore Tex-Mex is real Mexican Food

[Gurn Blanston]

A) Texas was once part of Mexico
B) There are a number of regional cuisines in Mexico, not one "real mexican" cuisine

therefore Tex-Mex is real Mexican Food

A) Not in the Age of Fajitas  (or pretty much any other Tex-Mex except chili). I've eaten 'Mexican' food in New Mexico, Arizona and California and none of those are Tex-Mex or even close. New Mexico is the closest to the Mexican cuisine that I have eaten in allegedly authentic Mexican restaurants.

B) Very true. None of those authentic cuisines closely resembled Tex-Mex. It may well be 'real' Mexican food. But no Mexican that I know (which is a lot ) seems to think so. It's OK with me either way, I like it no matter what it is.



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[arkiv]

My favorite food is Georgian food, and Georgian wine, there's nothing like it...
http://www.youtube.com/v/oYL674UZLKM

Appetizing food from the Caucasus.

[DavidRoss]

It looks as if most of us would have little trouble agreeing on a restaurant were we to get together for dinner. 

My choices coincided with the majority: Mexican, Italian, and Chinese.  Thai, Japanese, and Indian would vie for fourth.  I was tempted to choose American, since our cuisine includes all of the above plus virtually every other ethnic cuisine plus noteworthy U.S. regional fare like those already mentioned and California nouvelle cuisine (which I might have ranked first, had it been offered as a choice)...but a price had to be paid for all those bland Midwestern casseroles!

[The Six]

and California nouvelle cuisine (which I might have ranked first, had it been offered as a choice)..

Well it's part of American cuisine, so why would you separate it?

[DavidRoss]

Well it's part of American cuisine, so why would you separate it?

For the same reason that "Scandinavian" is separate from "Northern European?"  Or "Moroccan" separate from "African?"  or maybe because:

a price had to be paid for all those bland Midwestern casseroles!

[The Six]

For the same reason that "Scandinavian" is separate from "Northern European?"  Or "Moroccan" separate from "African?"  or maybe because: 

Not many votes for those entries. The US isn't the only country with a wide variety of native cuisine, so I'd have no problem taking in all kinds of American food as a whole.

[matti]

I vote Northern European, as Finland is not part of Scandinavia. I am about to taste the very best food I know: fish, just fished by yours sincerely, fried or smoked. Mushrooms, picked by the same person, fried, possibly made into sauce with some double cream. New potatoes and dill, just picked and some butter. Some wild strawberries and bilberries as a dessert. Spices: salt and some pepper with the mushrooms. May sound bland, but with fresh ingredients, I assure it is not.

Mike and his wife Jane will have to live with that cuisine, although I suspect they might prefer something else... 

PS. Oops forgot to vote: Italian, Thai and NE

[Jay F]

Italian
French
American