EUROPE - which country has the best cuisine?

that's not really a criticism of italian food as such though...

Most of that should tell you why Italian food is so very, very good. Second only to Cypriot, in fact. ;-)

In all seriousness, the same thing applies there as well. You go to a restaurant. You go to a taverna, eat meze with souvlaki and seafood and veggies and pitta and halloumi and taramasalata and houmous and grilled meats, and you desire nothing else.

but there is a bit of a lack of variety: there seems to be about ten basic ingredients and everything is made up of some combination of these

Cucina povera, innit?

Only in Italy (or a very good Italian restaurant) could a plate of pasta with tomato sauce and pepper be turned into a transcendent experience. The trick to great food is resourcefulness in simplicity.

AA Jagger

italian food: minimalism
british food: grime

salmon calzone: 65DOS

I hadn't even taken cheese into account - shit I'm going to end up voting for France.

really hungry now as a result!

what about countries that do other countries' food really good? such as the Swedes doing damn fine sushi, the Uk and Indian, the Netherlands and Indonesian...

the lack of Cornwall is certainly a sad omission as that would have been my vote.

So Scotland will have to do.

if you include drinks does france really come out any worse?

you've got champagne, muscadet, sauternes, cabernet, cognac, armagnac, pastis, pernod, grand marnier, and on and on

i wanted to say portugal but salted fish, as wonderful and variegated as its different incarnations can be, doth not a conquering cuisine make, even if it is sitting in an inch and a half of melted butter

English summer food is hard to beat, when it's all freshly caught crab and proper tomatoes and strawberries and Jersey Royal potatoes and asparagus

pastid is good???

Hmm I love Portuguese food, not least for the cakes; leaning on the counter of a Lisbon cafe snacking on a custard tart is one of life's truly lovely experiences.

I happen to love bacalhau (salt cod), so the answer has to be Portugal for me.

i knew i was going to catch hell for that

xpost

spanish cuisine has the right ingredients but constantly tend to underachieve.

Yes, Ken, and Portuguese food goes down far too easily.

whereas by using simple, well-disciplined and dependable dishes, Greek food somehow finds itself succeeding over its flashier competitors.

Israel

impossible. cassoulet vs chorizo in wine vs moussaka etc.

Spain has the lock on seafood as far as I'm concerned but on the other hand there are seemingly no vegetables anywhere in the country.

not true, i had a green bean soup thing in bilbao one time! chris told me that many spaniards eat mostly veg-only dishes at home and will dine out for meat and fish, or something like that.

thanks to fairly recent mallorcan holiday + more recent amazing dinner at Barrafina on Frith Street i am going with Spain.

http://static.flickr.com/72/189171135_d2da6e5329.jpg

question to brits: when was the last time you ate chicken tikka masala anyway?

can't remember

Probably about a year ago - was a place near my old work that had a good lunchtime deal and their ctm was pretty respectable.

I eat out a heck of a lot but hardly ever go for continental European of any kind. Maybe that can be my new year's resolution.

does new yorkers eat more tikka masala than londoners? or does blueski mean people eat different "curries"?

gabbneb i mean for all the talk of CTM being 'the nation's favourite dish LOL' i never think to have it and hardly ever hear it mentioned by someone else.

now i want to go to tayyabs again for the chargrilled lamb chops dammit

i thought about trying to eat at a restaurant for every country in the world or as close as i could get to that, in London, over this year and maybe the one after.

Where's the best Argentine restaurant in London then?

Stick to Gaucho or is there better off the beaten track?

Buen Ayre on Broadway Market seemed good

I ate Chicken Tikka Masala in December. In New York.

was it nice?

Not bad actually. But I was starving. It was a take out from Whole Foods. I ate it on a wall in Union Square.

Also Georgia deserves an honourable mention for wine, and interesting and varied uses of walnuts, pommegranite, spinnach and sharp cheese - but I've only ever eaten one Georgian meal in my life, so it's not much to go on.

buen ayre is incredible but a word of advice: have somehting besides meat if you plan on drinking heavily later on

anna there's a georgian restaurant just south of broadway market, i can't remember what it's called but it is thee awesome

it used to be on broadway market proper but their landlord raised the rent and now the former location is a terrible french restaurant called "la vie en rose"

orig restaurant reviewed by Freaky Trigger!

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/pumpkin/2004/02/little-georgia-broadway-market-london-e8/

I think 'La Vie en Rose' translates to 'terrible french restaurant'.

i will try that - only tried one Georgian place so far (Tblisi) xp

Holland--worst cuisine in Europe?

depends on yr policy towards hash brownies

i would probably say yes altho you can get excellent steak there (not just in the south american places) and hey giant pancakes! xp

Yeah pancakes are about all I remember fondly.

Tblisi on Holloway Road was the setting for my one Georgian meal - it was lovely, so will probably try this place.

The Dutch have... edam...

Bless.

Zuurkoolstamppot, sauerkraut mashed with potatoes. Served with fried bacon or a sausage. Sometimes curry powder, raisins or slices of pineapple are used to give a stamppot an exotic touch.

Where's the best Argentine restaurant in London then?

I dunno about the best but there's a cracking one right on the heath in Blackheath. Also the proprietor is a weird ex-paparazzi bloke who looks like Tugay and began his career taking homoerotic shots of Che Guevara lying on a bed with his shirt off.

Chicken tikka masala etc count not because they are an example of England doing Indian food really well (it doesn't, by and large) but because they're dishes invented in England to cater to local tastes.

it doesn't, by and large

how come? i take it you're including Indian restauranteurs here

What is aforesaid cracking Argentine place called? There are a couple of South American-looking places there.

Not bad actually. But I was starving. It was a take out from Whole Foods. I ate it on a wall in Union Square.

that's a salad bar, not a restaurant, but it's pretty great (if expensive) for a salad bar

I dunno about the best but there's a cracking one right on the heath in Blackheath. Also the proprietor is a weird ex-paparazzi bloke who looks like Tugay and began his career taking homoerotic shots of Che Guevara lying on a bed with his shirt off.

-- Matt DC, Wednesday, 2 January 2008 15:54 (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Think this may be Buena Ayre mentioned upthread: http://www.buenayre.co.uk/chemenu.htm

LOUIS I ONLY VOTED FOR ENGLAND ONCE HOW DARE YOU?

I wanted to vote for Pizza Hut.

I want to know who was repping for Serbia, Latvia and San Marino.

Serbs, Letts, San Martians?

DJ San Martian.

BRING BACK CHANGEABLE USERNAMES :(

I voted for Latvia. We're off there on holiday in a few weeks, so it was kind of a vote in hope: if I *say* they have good food, maybe I'll find some when we're there.

loving the England vote, give me a sunday roast over anything you get elsewhere in Europe. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Judging by the Polish shops/restaurants round our way I am unsurprised at Poland's showing here.

i don't know why everyone's getting so hot under the collar. the poll never mentioned "indigenous" cuisine - just cuisine in general. hence my vote for England, which I think has richer variety thanks to the broad palate of many of its residents.

In what world Irish cousine is better than Russian? In what world, I ask you? And pierogis? How come pierogies get no love?

WHAT A FARCE

Shall we just post a load of pictures of footballers and potentially racist bottle openers and chalk this one up to experience?

whcih country has the best crusade

i'm pleasantly surprised someone else voted for ireland, as i felt quite guilty doing so myself.

brother, please!

oh yeah, britain isn't parochial at all, especially with regards to food, as this thread clearly demonstrates!

alright, who voted for the Netherlands? And WHY?

Mmm, pancakes.

the dutch are good at pancakes and rijstaffel and pretty much horrible at everything else. Boiled eel is a national dish! They can't even make good beer despite bordering Belgium and Germany!

However, they do eat hagel on toast, which is the king of breakfasts.

http://www.thehollandring.com/food/food-hagelslag.gif

omg there's worms on my toast!

i don't know why everyone's getting so hot under the collar. the poll never mentioned "indigenous" cuisine - just cuisine in general. hence my vote for England, which I think has richer variety thanks to the broad palate of many of its residents.

-- CharlieNo4, Wednesday, January 9, 2008 11:37 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

INGREDIENTS

English summer food is hard to beat, when it's all freshly caught crab...

Here is a blurry photo of the best meal I've had this year.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2432/3829276997_26951387b3.jpg
Fucking hell it was delicious.

Whoever voted for Norway is crazy. Now... Wait. Nobody did. Oh well, right then.

Whoever voted for Norway is crazy. Now... Wait. Nobody did. Oh well, right then.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, 18 August 2009 00:02 (4 years ago

lol