# Abominable local cuisine **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322 "2008-10-10T14:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/41 "2008-10-10T21:26:40Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > P > For this reason it always makes me laugh when someone in the States opens a restaurant with “Cuban cuisine.” It’s only because few North Americans ever go to Cuba and eat there that they can get people to patronize the place. They hope people will think the food is “exotic.” You do know that Miami has a large Cuban population, and since Miami is itself a popular destination for Americans, many people develop a taste for that cuisine? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/42 "2008-10-10T21:48:00Z")
Gefilte fish (jellied fish) popular in Jewish cuisine is a very aquired taste. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/43 "2008-10-10T22:19:48Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > Again, DC area/Mid-Atlantic. > > Scrapple. It’s the stuff too nasty for use in pet food that they scrape off the slaughterhouse floor… Bleah, yeah, agreed. I live in Baltimore and Scrapple is everywhere for breakfast. I love meat, but Scrapple has snouts in it. Too much for me. (My problem was, I looked at the ingredients first, before I ever ate it. You should never do that if you like meat products.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/44 "2008-10-10T22:36:44Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I had the same experience with Puerto Rican food. A Puerto Rican friend dragged me to this new PR restaurant that opened and was “authentic.” Well, plantains and completely unseasoned meat is pretty damn boring. Salt & pepper were the only condiments available too. I’d have killed for a bottle of hot sauce. There’s a Puerto Rican restaurant near where I live, Sol Food, that’s fucking amazing. I don’t know if it’s “authentic” or not, but its damned good food either way. They bottle their own hot sauce, too. I was not aware that chorizo was supposed to be disgusting. It’s one of my favorite foods. Of course, I’ve the good sense not to inquire to deeply as to what goes into a sausage. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/45 "2008-10-10T23:10:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There’s a Puerto Rican restaurant near where I live, Sol Food, that’s fucking amazing. I don’t know if it’s “authentic” or not, but its damned good food either way. > > They bottle their own hot sauce, too. I dunno. I was in the military at the time and the girl I was with was born & raised Puerto Rican, and very excited to bring me to this restaurant, and declared it “just like home.” Then again, this was also in New England (Mass), so it could very well have been blanded-down. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/46 "2008-10-10T23:15:31Z")
Garbage plate. Delicious to eat, abominable addition to any beer-filled gut. [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Garbage_plate.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Garbage_plate.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/47 "2008-10-11T00:14:49Z")
I ate this stuff in Morocco. It has absolutely no taste and is one of the main cuisines there: > **[Tajine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine)** > > A tajine or tagine (Arabic: طاجين) is a North African dish, named after the earthenware pot in which it is cooked. It is also called maraq or marqa. > The Arabic طجين (ṭažin) is derived from the Berber ṭajin 'shallow earthen pot', from Ancient Greek τάγηνον (tágēnon) 'frying-pan, saucepan'. > According to Rebecca Jones, in the 1990s, the late Dr Vivien Swan identified pottery from various sites on Scotland's Antonine Wall, built by the Numidian governor of Roman Britain, Quintus Lollius Urbicus, ... Some people in UK eat fish scraps, which are basically bits of batter lying at the bottom of the fish-fryer at the end of the day. I’m suprised nobody mentioned the deep fried Mars Bar: > **[Deep-fried Mars bar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_fried_Mars_Bar)** > > A deep-fried Mars bar (also known as a battered Mars bar) is a Mars-brand chocolate bar covered in batter then deep fried in oil. The dish originated at a chip shop in Scotland as a novelty item. Since various mass media began reporting on the practice in the mid-1990s – often as a critical commentary on how unhealthy the Scottish diet was – the popularity of the dish has spread. > The dish is prepared using standard commercial Mars bars. The chocolate bar is typically chilled before battering, to... Black Pudding? > **[Black pudding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pudding)** > > Black pudding is a distinct regional type of blood sausage originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork or beef blood, with pork fat or beef suet, and a cereal, usually oatmeal, oat groats, or barley groats. The high proportion of cereal, along with the use of certain herbs such as pennyroyal, serves to distinguish black pudding from blood sausages eaten in other parts of the world. > The word pudding is believed to derive from the French boudin, originally from the Latin... ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/48 "2008-10-11T00:28:59Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I dunno. I was in the military at the time and the girl I was with was born & raised Puerto Rican, and very excited to bring me to this restaurant, and declared it “just like home.” Maybe her mom was a crappy cook? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/49 "2008-10-11T00:34:59Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Maybe her mom was a crappy cook? The food wasn’t crappy, just bland. ---
**Author:** ![stucco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@stucco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucco)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/50 "2008-10-11T01:25:01Z")
Scotland. The chip shop across the street from my flat in Edinburgh served a variety of dinners. Pizza dinner was deep fried pizza over chips (french fries) smothered in “brown sauce.” Haggis dinner was deep fried haggis served over chips smothered in brown sauce. Not only were there deep-fried mars bars, but also deep-fried cadbury cream eggs. It was so bad, it was almost good. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/51 "2008-10-11T01:35:59Z")
People go ga-ga over Thai food, but a lot of the stuff served here would make you throw up. Insects and pig’s blood, which are mainly consumed in the Northeast, although the ethnic Chinese seem also to go for the blood. Also in the Northeast is a dish called _pla ra_, which is basically fermented raw fish and is absolutely disgusting. Then there’s rat, also in the Northeast. (The Northeast has always been the poorest area, so I guess they have a rich history in disgusting foods.) Certain hilltribes, such as the Akha, and ethnic Vietnamese (although seemingly only the older Vietnamese) eat dog. And then there is the dreaded durian fruit, which I have banned from our home. Smells like a rotting corpse. The very few times I’ve eaten it, it tasted like what I imagined a rotten corpse would taste like. Many farangs (Westerners) claim to like it, but I think they’re all amateur poseurs just trying to fit in. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/52 "2008-10-11T02:08:18Z")
Compared to all of this, the deepfried stuff at the Texas State Fair doesn’t seem bad. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/53 "2008-10-11T02:25:37Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Gefilte fish (jellied fish) popular in Jewish cuisine is a very aquired taste. This is true of most gefilte fish, but there are some frozen kinds that are actually good. I never knew about them until recently. As for the jarred kind, I’ll tolerate it once a year at the seder as long as it has plenty of horseradish. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/54 "2008-10-11T04:00:48Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > The worst meal I ever had in my life was in Beijing. Non-Americanized Chinese food is, well, let’s just call it “different” to avoid value judgments. Next time, come down to Sichuan. The food here is great! ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/55 "2008-10-11T04:04:48Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > I ate this stuff in Morocco. It has absolutely no taste and is one of the main cuisines there: > > [Tagine - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine) That’s like saying soup has no taste. A tajine is a stew cooked in a certain pot, not a specific dish. You must have had a bad one, because all the tajines I’ve ever had have been richly flavored and delicious. No mention of Spain? Basically all pig, all fried, all the time, and the only raw vegetable anyone will get near is iceberg lettuce. Completely flavorless to an American palate, and full of such delicacies as pig’s feet, jellied pig’s blood, pig’s brains, and other things better left unsaid. Be careful, though, insulting Spanish cuisine comes in second only to insulting a Spaniard’s mother. _looks furtively around for the board Spaniards_ ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/56 "2008-10-11T04:22:44Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Be careful, though, insulting Spanish cuisine comes in second only to insulting a Spaniard’s mother. _looks furtively around for the board Spaniards_ I almost certainly wasn’t in Spain long enough to really judge ( and I was only in Andalusia ), but the best food I had in Spain…was Persian :p. The second best was Italian. The third best was at a Basque place. Non-Basque Spanish came in 4th and downwards. For one thing I discovered I really don’t care for most tapas or paiella ( no surprise, I’m not a big shellfish guy ). But I pretty much figured that was a failing intrinsic to me and my pedestrian palate, rather than the fault of Spanish cuisine ;). ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/57 "2008-10-11T05:23:45Z")
Bulgarians cuisine is quite similar to Greek and Turkish food, and as I am a vegetarian, I usually liked it. Lots of peppers and tomatoes and cucumbers. But they eat these meat dishes that sounded REALLY awful. Number one, which Bulgarians consider a great comfort food (and a hangover cure) is shkembe, a soup made of sheep stomachs. (It’s common in Turkey, too, and maybe some other Balkan countries as well.) The only American I knew who liked it had immigrated to the US from Mexico as a kid, so I figured he wasn’t fazed by organ meats. I was once given a terribly translated English menu at a restaurant, and had to double check with someone else that “chicken heart” was not a translation mistake. It wasn’t. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/58 "2008-10-11T05:31:43Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > The everyday food in Northern Cameroon sucked. > > The staple was boiled millet paste called “cous cous” (not the same thing as what we call cous cous.) It had the same consistency as, uh, paste. This was served painfully hot in football sized portions. It’s extremely rude not the eat the whole thing. It just kind of sits there in your stomach, especially when it is 110 degrees out. I had a similar dish in Zambia. I was told it was made from maize, although I couldn’t be sure. It was the color of paste (completely white) but had a slightly courser texture. It had no taste whatsoever. I’d eat it if there was nothing else, but damn, some corn porridge with some onions and salt would taste a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/59 "2008-10-11T05:44:53Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > My nomination for abominable local cuisine is the unidentifiable meat parts that come with a standard [Phở](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pho): I love pho, but the first time I had it was in a dive in San Jose. There was piece of animal flesh that looked like beef liver with swiss cheese holes. It wasn’t very good at all. Can a cow get cirrhosis? [QUOTE=Mr. Moto] I like the tripe and tendons. Phở is good food. [/QUOTE] I like the tendons and tripe in small quantities, but the amount of tripe in menudo is just way too much for me. [QUOTE=Siam Sam] And then there is the dreaded durian fruit, which I have banned from our home. Smells like a rotting corpse. The very few times I’ve eaten it, it tasted like what I imagined a rotten corpse would taste like. Many farangs (Westerners) claim to like it, but I think they’re all amateur poseurs just trying to fit in. [/QUOTE] When I had durian, it was neither as awful smelling or delicious tasting as people told me. I’ll try it again, maybe it’ll be stinkier and taste better next time. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/60 "2008-10-11T07:30:04Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > I had a similar dish in Zambia. I was told it was made from maize, although I couldn’t be sure. It was the color of paste (completely white) but had a slightly courser texture. It had no taste whatsoever. I’d eat it if there was nothing else, but damn, some corn porridge with some onions and salt would taste a lot better. Back in international school, we had the same thing served once. On the whole, our students from developing countries thought it was great, and the students from developed countries all wanted to rinse their mouth out with lard. Man, that stuff is just nasty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322.md?page=4)