Which cuisine for life if you could only choose one?
Discussion
This will probably get moved by the Mods to Food and Drink where no one will read it...
This was a question posed to me by my daughter a couple of days ago ie if I was forced to eat the cuisine of just one country for the rest of my life, which one would I choose?
The question itself is a bit problematic as how would you define, say, British cuisine when it has absorbed so many “foreign” dishes in recent years. There must be people younger than me who think Spag Bol and Pizza are British dishes. However, I think it is possible,
just, to identify cuisines if you focus on “traditional” food (of course all cuisines have imported foods and dishes over time). For the U.K. I would say roasts, fish and chips, bangers and mash, ploughman’s, shepherds pie, meat and two veg, full English and puddings (not desserts) would sum up our traditional cuisine quite well.
I really like the food from many countries but would I be prepared to take one over British food? Possibly Indian. I did spend six months living with my wife’s family and eating Indian food every day and it wasn’t a hardship. I think I might struggle with the lack of spice in English food (assuming that I wouldn’t be allowed extra hot chilli sauce to pep it up!) But then Indian sweets are not great and could I go the rest of my life without rhubarb crumble and custard? Or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding? Or a bacon butty? Or scone, jam and clotted cream?
Japan probably the only other cuisine I would consider - very varied, some great meat and fish dishes, curries, ramen, udon, hot pots. But not that keen on traditional sweets (they do have amazing desserts but all Japanese variations of foreign food).
Surprisingly I think I would go with British food. I suppose you can take the boy out of England but not England out of the boy!
This was a question posed to me by my daughter a couple of days ago ie if I was forced to eat the cuisine of just one country for the rest of my life, which one would I choose?
The question itself is a bit problematic as how would you define, say, British cuisine when it has absorbed so many “foreign” dishes in recent years. There must be people younger than me who think Spag Bol and Pizza are British dishes. However, I think it is possible,
just, to identify cuisines if you focus on “traditional” food (of course all cuisines have imported foods and dishes over time). For the U.K. I would say roasts, fish and chips, bangers and mash, ploughman’s, shepherds pie, meat and two veg, full English and puddings (not desserts) would sum up our traditional cuisine quite well.
I really like the food from many countries but would I be prepared to take one over British food? Possibly Indian. I did spend six months living with my wife’s family and eating Indian food every day and it wasn’t a hardship. I think I might struggle with the lack of spice in English food (assuming that I wouldn’t be allowed extra hot chilli sauce to pep it up!) But then Indian sweets are not great and could I go the rest of my life without rhubarb crumble and custard? Or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding? Or a bacon butty? Or scone, jam and clotted cream?
Japan probably the only other cuisine I would consider - very varied, some great meat and fish dishes, curries, ramen, udon, hot pots. But not that keen on traditional sweets (they do have amazing desserts but all Japanese variations of foreign food).
Surprisingly I think I would go with British food. I suppose you can take the boy out of England but not England out of the boy!
Despite love of Yorkie puds and advanced chilli addiction I'd forgo British and Indian cooking, would swerve past Italian and Mexican and head straight for French cooking for life. With such a great variety of sympathetic cooking techniques I could never get bored and would have lashings of pastis, wine and calvados to keep me lubricated.
I'm assuming I could still import Scotch though, right?
ETA: looking at the thread title, there is only one cuisine!
I'm assuming I could still import Scotch though, right?
ETA: looking at the thread title, there is only one cuisine!
I'd struggle to choose. Japanese cuisine has such variation and incredible refinement, but Mexican just hits you with those big flavours with every mouthful. Food from Turkey and the western end of the middle east can be absolutely spectacular too.
I think one of the great joys of modern life is not being tied to any one cuisine, perhaps they'd lose their magic if you had to eat them exclusively.
I think one of the great joys of modern life is not being tied to any one cuisine, perhaps they'd lose their magic if you had to eat them exclusively.
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