Foreign foods that just taste... BETTER!
I just got back from a week in southern Germany and I have to say, the salad that comes standard with just about every meal has to be the most simple and delicious salad I can remember having. Also the bread crusts! It threatened to break a tooth, I gave it five stars.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2651/3857520523_2d276b5032_b.jpg
What have been your simple favorites in -your- travels?
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24 Comments:
I really like the dairy products mainly cheeses, beers, meat, poultry, seafood and also the breads in Europe. Also the in Mexico I had the best seafoods and the Mexican foods.
pjracz10 at 7:12PM on 08/27/09
Japanese candy. Especially the gummis, and pocky. We love the seasonal flavors.
Agua Fresca. It's not really a foreign food here, with our large Mexican/Latino population. It's essentially diluted fruit juice. The best are lime and watermelon.
beth1 at 7:24PM on 08/27/09
Mexican (or any other country other than the United States, from what I understand) Coca-cola.
Gator Pam at 7:32PM on 08/27/09
I felt the same way about the salads in France - so simple, so fresh...so perfect. I always assumed it was from primarily using local produce and high quality oils & vinegars to dress. The cheese, the bread, the crepes...same story. Basic foods, basic preparation, and somehow it was just all better over there. *sigh*
kimberlymac at 8:13PM on 08/27/09
French mustard is very different from what's normally found in the U.S.-- even the stuff that's labelled "Dijon." The only mustard I've found that tastes like what's in France is Trader Joe's Dijon.
MarvinDog at 8:17PM on 08/27/09
I've had platanos and arroz con pollo here in the U.S. but NOTHING beats my family in Panama! everything is fresh ..down to the chicken that is "harvested" that day!
foodiegal at 8:40PM on 08/27/09
@Gator Pam...omg you literally stole the words right out of my mouth. Coca-cola from Mexico in the glass bottles is downright the most addictive beverage....I'm convinced they still sprinkle coke in it down there....
cakelove08 at 9:55PM on 08/27/09
@cakelover:
actually, what the difference is, from what I understand, is that the good old USA is the only country that no longer uses only sugar in their Coca-cola. High-fructose corn syrup is the primary sweetener. If what I am told is correct, every other country uses sugar. I know for certain Mexican Coca-cola uses sugar and no H-FCS.
Do you remember the "new Coke" fiasco and the reintroduction of "Coca-cola Classic" after? I have no proof, but I strongly believe H-FCS replaced sugar in the "classic" formula when it was "reintroduced" after the new Coke. And most of us didn't notice the difference, because even with H-FCS, Coke Classic was still better than new Coke.
...but if we had any original Coca-cola handy from prior to the new Coke hitting the market, I bet we would have noticed the difference.
I do know that the yellow capped two liter bottles of Coca-cola Classic (not Coke with Lemon or Diet Coke) that is sold for Passover and is certified as kosher for Passover by a rabbi is also made with sugar instead of H-FCS. I stock up on as many cases of that as I can get when it goes on sale. It still isn't quite as good as the Mexican Coke in the glass bottle, but that may be nostalgia talking. The flavor of the Passover Coke is still way better than the current one with H-FCS.
IMHO anyway...
Gator Pam at 10:15PM on 08/27/09
Pickles - they're better almost everywhere, especially Japan.
BangieB at 11:31PM on 08/27/09
YES! When living in southern Germany (around Stuttgart) I couldn't get enough of the salads when I'd go out to eat; I think a lot of it had to do with having many of the vegetables soaked in the dressing or vinegar before serving. I had completely forgotten how much I miss that!
curlycook at 11:52PM on 08/27/09
Coconut, bananas (both the eating and cooking kinds), pineapple, chicken and roast pork in the Philippines.
French and German bread and pastries, especially any pastry with apples, which don't taste like any American apple I've ever eaten.
Soba or any other noodles in Japan. Fried tofu and even the green onions in Japan taste different--better--than here, probably because of the ajinomoto.
Hot tea and scones with clotted cream in Ireland.
Wonder what non-Americans think after a visit here. . .Do you suppose they go back raving about our fried chicken and cornbread, our pizza, our hot dogs and burgers? My Filipino and German relatives who've visited us in Seattle have never gushed rhapsodic about the food when we've gone out, but they have marvelled at the number of restaurants and the huge portions. When we lived in Illinois, White Castle and Home Run Inn Pizza were always a big hit with the foreign relatives.
betteirene at 2:23AM on 08/28/09
Cheese, specifically cow's milk feta from Romania.
sorahatch at 2:28AM on 08/28/09
P.S. Why isn't it creamy in the States?
sorahatch at 2:29AM on 08/28/09
As a non-American, I can say that pizza and hotdogs and chili are the things I long for when I visit the States. We don't seem to understand them in Britain. And as a Chicago-raised boy, I'm sure you can imagine how painful the lack of decent pizza and hotdogs would be for me.
In the Czech Republic, they have a dish which is deep-fried cheese served with tartar sauce. It's like a very mild unsmoked Gouda, breaded and fried. Amazing.
In Germany (particularly Munich) there's a white sausage (Weisswurst) that you have in the morning, with a beer. Cannot be beaten.
Bread in France. They just know bread.
Gelato in Italy. Plain vanilla for me, please.
Soba or Udon noodles in Japan. I was taken to lunch, and had noodles, miso soup, tempura vegetables, pickles and rice, with sweet barley tea. It cost about £5 and was amazing.
NotAmerican at 5:11AM on 08/28/09
French yogurt. Nothing in the US comes close, not even the French "style" yogurts we have.
lamenteuse at 7:46AM on 08/28/09
Potatoes and most vegetables tasted better when I was living in England--especially potatoes and greens. Even chips and crisps were better, although not fresh. Ditto cereal bars--contrast heavenly flapjacks with middling American granola bars. Chocolate by and large tasted better. Indian food obviously!
HeartofGlass at 7:52AM on 08/28/09
Italian pizza, calzones and espresso.
KarynMC at 9:09AM on 08/28/09
churros and chocolate in Spain...
any corn tortilla in Mexico...
cheese pizzas in NYC...
MadelynRodriguez at 10:23AM on 08/28/09
Homemade yogurt in India. Can never replicate it here, unless you can smuggle a bit through customs.
inothernews at 11:29AM on 08/28/09
Ditto everyone who said Mexican bottled coca cola, that stuff is so freaking good!
Lets see...
Jamaican beef patty in (you guessed it) Jamaica
Pao de Queijo in Brazil
A simple al pastor taco becomes a thing of beauty in Mexico
And, calamari in Spain.
AyeEat at 2:49PM on 08/28/09
@Gator Pam & @Cakelove - I wholeheartedly agree with you guys, and for my carnitas where I boil the pork in coke and orange juice it's the best because it ends up caramelizing SO MUCH BETTER!
@curlycook - Where around Stuttgart!? That's precisely where I was!
Also I have to add, the milk in France is the best. It's even the namesake of a book!
GretchinF at 4:23PM on 08/28/09
beef in argentina.
ryan425 at 5:29PM on 08/28/09
bread in France.
hmw0029 at 5:35PM on 08/28/09
Beef in Argentina, without a doubt is better. From what they told me there, there beef is all grass-fed.
justin h at 10:37PM on 08/28/09