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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   3392 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 7, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Non-mediterranean western food sucks. That's well known. The French are single handedly keeping the reputation up, but French lunch/dinner doesn't make it to Tier 1. Amazing desserts and baked items though.

Spanish is honestly quite underrated. Maybe I've just been lucky, but all my best meals have been in Spain. Contemporary Spanish blends Northern African & Latin American with existing Spanish food, to give you the best cuisine. The spanish can do preserved foods, meats, rice dishes, spicy food, everything.

(Note: Must be food food. Breakfast (bakery foods) & Dessert do not count. Alcohol only counts if part of the meal itself. )

My personal ranking goes (in order):

Tier 1

  1. Spanish (Plus colonies which are primarily ethnic Spanish. Ie. If you killed ALL the natives, then you Spanish)
  2. Thai
  3. Indian (South Asian generally. I might be underrating because I want to avoid personal bias)
  4. Chinese (All Ethnic chinese food.)

Tier 1.5

  1. Mexican
  2. Japanese
  3. Korean

Tier 2

  1. French
  2. Vietnamese
  3. Brazil
  4. Peru
  5. Levant / North African
  6. Ethiopian
  7. Italy

Tier dunno much but probably good

  1. Indonesian / Malay (These are probably tier 1.5)
  2. Iranian (Too similar to Levant / Parsi-Indian to differentiate. Same for Afghani)
  3. West African (Maafe and Jollof is good)
  4. Greek / Turkish (I don't like octopus that much. Turkish breakfast is great, but rest is alright)

Tier bad

  1. British
  2. Scandinavian

Everything else is mid.

A lot of Japanese food is extremely mid and bland, though. Dining in Tokyo is great but that’s because chefs have adopted all the best French methods and cook with rare precision (compared to the rest of the world). The best, most flavorful ramen is available outside of Japan reinvented by others who wanted more from it. Japanese curries are more bland than Currywurst. A lot of bland deep fried food, almost Dutch in character.

Sushi and wagyu are good but stand out because of the ingredients (and the same is true for other Northern Euro cuisines, one could say the same about British wild game or Dover sole or oysters for example). Eating in Japan is great but it is only rarely so because Japanese cuisine is.

It seems we have similar tastes. Main differences I'd have are fusing 1/1.5 then bumping up Italy and MENA into Tier 1.

Haha, 1 and 1.5 were fused until I separated them last minute.

Middle east's best dishes are Tier 1. But, I've docked points for lack of variety. I love their mezze spread, but MENA quickly runs out of ideas once you beyond that.

Italy got docked on a technicality. Gelato and Tiramisu were considered desserts. Foccacia & Pizza went to baked goods. And Italian coffees did not feel exclusively Italian. With all of those included, Italy woud rise back up.

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