Ethnic foods you're supposed to like (but hate)

I can't say that I hate any "ethnic" cuisines as a whole. But there are certain dishes that I find mediocre at best, and thus don't order very often, despite the seemingly huge popularity.

1) Korean bbq that you cook yourself. . . seriously, I'm paying good money, cook it for me.

2) hummus. . . so many people I meet seem to think this is gourmet or something, it is mashed beans.

3) pho. . . meh

4) any food that is basically hot purely for the sake of being hot (Buffalo hot wings are a great example)

5) does the Southern US count as ethnic? it does for me, I'm not from there. Grits are bland and flavorless.

6) borscht . . . wow is that stuff awful

Originally Posted by Milhouse

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I can't say that I hate any "ethnic" cuisines as a whole. But there are certain dishes that I find mediocre at best, and thus don't order very often, despite the seemingly huge popularity.

1) Korean bbq that you cook yourself. . . seriously, I'm paying good money, cook it for me.

2) hummus. . . so many people I meet seem to think this is gourmet or something, it is mashed beans.

3) pho. . . meh

4) any food that is basically hot purely for the sake of being hot (Buffalo hot wings are a great example)

5) does the Southern US count as ethnic? it does for me, I'm not from there. Grits are bland and flavorless.

6) borscht . . . wow is that stuff awful

Grits aren't always bland and flavorless. Like most things people tend to make them wrong rather frequently. I wouldn't go out of my way to taste any well made grits because, still, they are grits.

Originally Posted by odoreater

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No, I went there with some friends not knowing that we'd be eating with our hands. Even though the food was very good, I will not be going back.

that's why i remarked that [if you liked the food] you can just take out... and eat at home with utensils.

Originally Posted by IIIrd Icon

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that's why i remarked that [if you liked the food] you can just take out... and eat at home with utensils.

Next time, I'm bringing my own utensils. Mustapha will be like, "My friend, where you get that fork from" and I will respond, "My friend, I bring from home."

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Barbeque, oxtail, chitlins, cornbread, collard greens, pretty much anything cajun/creole, so gumbos, po' boys, etc.

Just like going to somewhere and eating non-authentic tacos doesn't make you an expert on Mexican cuisine, eating ****** fried fast food served in America doesn't represent all that is American peasant food.

Realistically, most 'peasant' American food is more continental than American (excluding Native American stuff). Barbecue, beef jerky, a lot of seafood that's native to North America, and a few other things here and there I'd consider 'American'. When most of the 'American' foods were created it was by people who just got off Ellis Island. Some amalgamations are different enough to be considered American (corned beef and cabbage, pastrami on rye) while some are just bastardized versions of continental or ethnic cuisine (pizza, tres leches I think), and others should be shied away from entirely (shrimp and grits -- this dish combines ingredients that are better separate).

Originally Posted by SField

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You're absolutely right, I haven't had good mexican food.

In fact, can someone do me a huge favor and put the 10 best mexican spots in LA or San Fran here. Also, if anyone has cannot miss options in Chicago (besides Bayless), please let me know.

there are a few places on clark that are good. very frankly, if you eat at el rey de tacos on clark, and you don't like it, then you really don't like mexican food. it is about what you would get at a middle of the road place in mexico.




I can't think of an entire ethnic food that I don't like, except maybe that I have had trouble getting good food in romania. maybe irish - that is pretty bland food. maybe scandanavian. ecadorian isn't anything to write home about.

Originally Posted by celery

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Well, I'm gonna have to go with Russian food. WTF is that ****? Keep it away at all costs.

oh, forgot that. yeah, russian, that is just plain crap

Originally Posted by globetrotter

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oh, forgot that. yeah, russian, that is just plain crap

You've obviously never had a good borscht, pirozhki, or blini then.

I'd also say most of you posting in this thread are some picky motherfuckers.

Originally Posted by Kempt

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You've obviously never had a good borscht, pirozhki, or blini then.

I'd also say most of you posting in this thread are some picky motherfuckers.

I have certainly never have a good borscht. Blinis are good though.

Originally Posted by SField

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In the grand scheme of italian cooking there is preciously little that is spicy, and spicy by the standards of Chinese or other types of typically spicy cooking. Italian food is mostly about fresh, clean flavors that are well balanced and nuanced. You mostly only find some heat in Calabria and Sicily, but even then it's totally different in application than the thoughtless heat in most ****** food.
in puglia as well plus form salerno south in general. an you severly underestimate the spicy of sicily and calabria, most of the traditional dishes that coem form there particulary clabria are spicy. it is that nortern crap that tastes like garbage. but you also misrepsent mexican food it is not all spicy, infact only if you decide to put it an extra sauce on it does it becoem spicy.

Originally Posted by cheessus

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+1 to Korean food. I don't get all the love it gets. The most horrendous thing I've had was this cold broth noodle soup. I forgot what it was called.

My friends decided that it would be a good idea to get some Korean BBQ to cure our hangover, and I thought it would be best if I got this dish because it didn't look spicy.

What I got was a bowl of pickle juice with noodles and an overcooked boiled egg (ring of green) and some really chewy pieces of mystery meat. It was truly horrendous.

You're probably refering to buckwheat noodles they tend to give you at the ends of meals.

Originally Posted by jpeirpont

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Grits aren't always bland and flavorless. Like most things people tend to make them wrong rather frequently. I wouldn't go out of my way to taste any well made grits because, still, they are grits.

Well people can do nice things with them... shrimp n grits etc... I've seen some pretty good chefs treat it like a rissotto.

Originally Posted by scarphe

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in puglia as well plus form salerno south in general. an you severly underestimate the spicy of sicily and calabria, most of the traditional dishes that coem form there particulary clabria are spicy.
it is that nortern crap that tastes like garbage.

but you also misrepsent mexican food it is not all spicy, infact only if you decide to put it an extra sauce on it does it becoem spicy.

Well most heat in any cuisine comes from sauces. Northern Italy is rather cultured so it's a little interesting (given that many of the world's culinary meccas are in the northern part of the country) for you to say it's crap, but then again I am not impressed with mexican food.

I will slightly amend my statement by saying that I just don't really enjoy mexican, I won't go way out of my way for it. When I want simple, shovel it in my mouth food, there are things I prefer.

I agree with whoever said hummus... (when I worked in Paris, we'd never have time to eat in the kitchen so it was common for us to constantly be snacking on good hummus). I don't get why it's elevated to the level of wagyu by some people. It's a great simple food, in some ways very close to a mexican concept.

Originally Posted by Milhouse

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I have certainly never have a good borscht. Blinis are good though.

My great grandmother made some borscht that was excellent and very different, almost every commercial one I've tried I have disliked and hot > cold for me. So I can see how most people would dislike it.

To the poster that likened most Mexican food to dog food, really?? My favorite dishes aren't Mexican, but there are dishes I like a lot from Mexico.

Someone mentioned that it all tasted the same. How can you compare a good chocolate mole to an excellent chile colorado? They taste nothing alike.

I'm not a picky eater and neither do I have some sort of especially refined palette, but I'm also not naive enough to ever believe I simply dislike an entire cuisine from a particular region of the world. Especially one that is quite large and varied.

I'm sure there will be a lot of disagreement on this but, the only "ethnic" food I don't particularly like that everyone raves over is sushi. Some of it is decent, some of it I am not fond of (I do like a lot of other Japanese dishes). I just don't understand how people act like it's a religious experience when they talk about eating the stuff. It's ******* seafood on rice ffs and yes I've had "good" and "bad" sushi. It just seems extremely trendy to like the stuff and act like you're some sort of connoisseur here in the Seattle area.

Gefilte fish.

Pickled herring.

I don't know that I'm supposed to like these 2 items but they are traditional Jewish foods, and I can't stand them.