# Dishes you've never had, but know you'd like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903 "2012-01-27T20:39:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/21 "2012-01-28T20:44:52Z")
Baked alaska ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/22 "2012-01-28T21:24:46Z")
> [@Billy-o](#): > > Goulash! I’ve had a few native Hungarians and Poles extol its virtues, but have yet to eat any. I have a recipe, but want to try it prepared by someone who knows how to do it right so I can tell whether my attempt is close to the mark. You really should just give it a shot–it’s not difficult, but I do understand the feeling of cooking up a new dish having no clue whether it’s close to what is intended or not. [Here’s my illustrated recipe](http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=176835) for beef goulash, as well as the noodles that are usually served along with it. The most important points are to use a good quality sweet Hungarian paprika (or unsmoked Spanish paprika–the quality is very important here), use about 2:1 meat : onions ratio by weight, and add the paprika to the fat and onions after they’ve turned translucent off the heat (so it doesn’t burn) and stir it around for about 30 seconds to a minute in the hot oil so the paprika dissolves and flavors the oil. If you add the paprika after adding your liquid ingredients, it does not flavor the dish as thoroughly (because of the fat-soluble flavor components of paprika.) And you do not need a lot of liquid at all (maybe 1/2 cup of water at most for two pounds of meat–the onions and meat expel a lot of liquid in the cooking process, and goulash is traditionally not thickened with flour or anything.) Unless you are make goulash soup, in which case you’d add a good bit of liquid, as well as a number of vegetables. I still have not experienced _rijsttafel_ (which isn’t a single dish, to be fair), and I know I’d love it. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/23 "2012-01-29T00:33:30Z")
I finally made poutine. I thought I’d like it but I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/24 "2012-01-29T01:04:40Z")
A [pasty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty). I read about them in Neil Gaiman’s book American Gods, and it sounded delish. I’ve wanted one ever since, but haven’t bothered to make one. No one around here (that I can find) sells them either. I should get one that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/25 "2012-01-29T02:29:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **bouv** : > Actually, just two. Fries, being a plant, have no cholesterol…unless they were fried in animal fat. I was taking it for granted that they would be fried in animal fat. And anyway, the only way I’ve found to make decent fries at home involves copious amounts of bacon. > [@](#): > > Quoth **pulykamell** : > …and add the paprika to the fat and onions after they’ve turned translucent off the heat (so it doesn’t burn) and stir it around for about 30 seconds to a minute in the hot oil so the paprika dissolves and flavors the oil. If you add the paprika after adding your liquid ingredients, it does not flavor the dish as thoroughly (because of the fat-soluble flavor components of paprika.) Huh, I did not know that about paprika. I wish I’d read this earlier today: I just made up a big casserole that had paprika in it, and if I’d known, I’d have added it like this. And doesn’t goulash have potato in it, too? That would thicken it up. At least, that’s the way a friend of mine makes it, though he’s not Hungarian himself. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/26 "2012-01-29T06:04:19Z")
[Crispy Pata.](http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2012/01/popular_filipino_fried_chicken.html) (filipino deep fried pig knuckle) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/27 "2012-01-29T06:21:13Z")
My neighborhood has had a bunch of restaurants opening recently. I haven’t made it to one of the higher-end places, but just heard about an appetizer they feature: Deviled eggs topped with bacon and one fried oyster (per egg)… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/28 "2012-01-29T06:24:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I was taking it for granted that they would be fried in animal fat. And anyway, the only way I’ve found to make decent fries at home involves copious amounts of bacon. > > Huh, I did not know that about paprika. I wish I’d read this earlier today: I just made up a big casserole that had paprika in it, and if I’d known, I’d have added it like this. > > And doesn’t goulash have potato in it, too? That would thicken it up. At least, that’s the way a friend of mine makes it, though he’s not Hungarian himself. Well, it depends on what you mean by “goulash.” _Gulyás_, in Hungarian, is really a thick soup, also known as _gulyásleves_ (goulash soup.) [This is arguably](http://receptkalauz.hu/recept_img/1093-gulyasleves.jpg) what is really Hungarian goulash, and it often does contain potatoes, as well as carrots, parsnips, and sometimes celery root. But those are not a requirement. However, on most English menus I’ve seen in Hungary, Austria, and Germany, that dish is listed as “Goulash soup” or _Goulaschsuppe._ The dish that usually translates into goulash in English and _goulasch_ in German is what is known as _pörkölt_, and looks like [this](http://www.theopapa.hu/pix/etlap/_big/660.jpg), often served with spaetzle (_nokedli_ or _galuska_ in Hungarian) or boiled potatoes. I grew up in a Polish family, and what was known as _gulasz_ in Polish was pörkölt, as well. While I make pörkölt quite often, I would say that soup version is far more interesting, especially when cooked outside in a traditional cauldron called a bogrács, for a dish that is known as _bográcsgulyás_ (“kettle goulash”). You basically follow the same recipe as for pörkölt, but then add a bunch of water and root vegetables. Plus there’s variations that use beans as the protein, too (_babgulyás_.) That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about goulash. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/29 "2012-01-29T06:31:03Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > [Crispy Pata.](http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2012/01/popular_filipino_fried_chicken.html) > > (filipino deep fried pig knuckle) Haven’t had that one, but the German version, [Schweinshaxe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweinshaxe), is delicious. (Didn’t realize it was roasted; the ones I’ve had tasted fried.) ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/30 "2012-01-29T11:17:27Z")
Anything at [The Fat Duck](http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/The-Menus/Tasting-Menu/). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/31 "2012-01-29T11:53:03Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Anything at [The Fat Duck](http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/The-Menus/Tasting-Menu/). Been there, done that, all seventeen courses. The most amazing food experience ever. :smug: ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/32 "2012-01-29T13:46:13Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > A [pasty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty). I read about them in Neil Gaiman’s book American Gods, and it sounded delish. I’ve wanted one ever since, but haven’t bothered to make one. No one around here (that I can find) sells them either. > > I should get one that. They can be [shipped](http://www.jeankayspasties.com/menu.php), and they freeze well. That said, they really aren’t all that great. I mean, they’re OK, but they pretty much taste just like they sound - meat and potatoes in a crust. No heavenly spices or anything like that. If you do order some, eat them with gravy. They’re best that way. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re better with ketchup; they’re not. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/33 "2012-01-29T14:01:04Z")
Speaking as a proud Englishman, I think **Athena** ’s scathing assessment of the humble pasty is absolutely accurate. A good pasty fresh from a bakery in Cornwall is pretty damn good, but generally they’re quite bland. They’re designed to be eaten as finger-food, though, originally by holding onto and eventually discarding the pastry crimp, so gravy isn’t normal. But if you do use gravy, make sure it’s the brown sort. And I agree about the ketchup - an abomination, though I do like a little salt and pepper. My desire for this list is kobe beef. I have access to it, but I want the experience to be perfect when I finally try it. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903/34 "2012-01-29T15:28:38Z")
Poutine. Tell me how [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Poutine.JPG) could possibly go wrong. Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-youve-never-had-but-know-youd-like/610903.md?page=1)