Oh, and they’re easy to make at home, too. I’m not saying they’re not a bit labor intensive, but it’s hard to screw 'em up. And then you can freeze 'em for your own use later.
The dough can be a bitch if you’re not used to working with doughs. It’s taken me a while to get the right feel for it. My doughs always came out too tough and thick. They were all egg-flour-and-water-based. Some people make it with only flour and boiling water. (Don’t ask me why boiling. For some reason, it works, but room-temperature water doesn’t.) My mom—Polish to the bone and living there till she was 20—cheats and buys premade wonton dough, rolls it out, and cuts circles out of it. :eek:
I can do it now, and it is indeed easy once you have someone show you what the dough should feel like. But it is awfully labor-intensive.
I don’t know what you meant by “ethnic” cuisine, but I have yet to eat something from other country that I particularly disliked. I don’t eat meat (as in 'from animals that walk) but do everything else. I haven’t tried much of Swedish or Norwegian cuisine, but it if is anything like Danish I have to say I love Danish cuisine.
My favorite of course is our own cuisine (which I take great effort in promoting), and which is riduculously close to Puerto
Rican Cuisine. Outside this my second favorite would be Thai cuisine, followed by Italian.
Hey don’t pick on us Swedes just because it’s cold and we have to ferment our fish to make it keep longer… hehe… No, seriously I hate that stuff too.
I can say that I enjoy most “ethnic” cuisines; especially of the Asian variety. One country’s food I cannot enjoy as thoroughly is Britain. Offal & that stuff… hmm… no thanks!!
Favorites: Thai (green/red curry, tom yam soup, etc.), Indonesian (Nasi Goreng!), Indian (any variation of curry!), Chinese (especially Szehuan, but practically everything), Japanese (except trad. New Year’s food!), Korean (Bibimba and Pulkogi)
…and many more.
I live in Houston, Texas, where Louisianans have been moving for years, looking for work. We’ve got excellent Cajun & Creole food here. Plus TexMex & MexMex. But I’ve never heard of “Creotex” & am not particularly eager to do so. For one thing–beans do NOT go into gumbo! Please don’t judge Louisiana (or Texas) food by that meal.
Soul food, barbecue & the aforementioned cuisines of Louisiana & Mexico are actually local–they aren’t “ethnic” to me. Houston does have a huge immigrant population, so we do have many other options. Vietnamese, Thai, Indian & Chinese are widespread. Also Persian, Greek, Japanese, Jamaican, etc. Not to mention Italian. I can’t say I’d reject any cuisine. And, rather than cook for friends, I’d probably take them out.
I don’t like Thai or Vietnamese. Either that or I haven’t found a good enough restaurant. 
If I were preparing something for guests I’d chose Greek. Greek is basically meat and rice with some interesting spices thrown in.
I’d make a nice tzatziki (yoghurt dip) and hummus with some good bread and steamed veggies for a first course. Or I’d make avegolemono soup which is chicken with egg and lemon.
Then I’d grill a nice piece of fish or lamb with oregano and rice on the side. I’d make a moussaka or pasticio to go with it. For a side I’d make puffed pastry filled with spinach and feta.
For dessert I’d bring out a selection of heated baklava and coffee with ice cream.
Damn I’m hungry . . .
I love Cajun food. All I can say is jambalaya is going to heaven, 'cause I cook the hell out of it. It’s great to make for groups because it’s so flexible; you can add any meat or make it veggie, add or subtract most any vegetable.
I love genuine Mexican food. My buddy Marcos made amazing delicious meals from scratch. It was his idea to put my jambalaya in burrito wraps and make jambalaya burritos!
Korean is really good too – that and Indian are the only Eastern cuisines I’ve enjoyed. I don’t know what some of the stuff in there is, but you close your eyes, swallow, and don’t think about it too hard.
I’ve eaten Thai soup, which tasted fine but after I finished the bowl I felt like I hadn’t eaten anything at all. I’ve tried to eat Chinese several times (lots of people I know love it) but there’s nothing about any of it I find palatable. Greek, bleh, too much spinach and cheese.
I love plain steamed rice (just as well living here) but only if it’s grown anywhere but China. I’m not keen on meat cooked in true Chinese style, i.e. with desparately little meat but lots of gristle, bone and fat. I absolutely hate the shrimp paste (and some other sauces) with which they ruin perfectly good vegetables. Chinese style sausages (laap cheung) are an absolute disgrace and should not be dignified with that name. I enjoy Kweilin chilli paste, especially on the well known Cantonese delicacy, pork luncheonmeat. I emigrate every Chinese New Year because there’s only so much chicken (insipid chicken with skin on it and lots of blood, not your KFC) a man can take. I’m very fortunate in that my mother-in-law is very observant and very kind as well as being a very good cook. Hence when we go over there we get westernised Chinese food. I would bet that 95% of you would love it. Lots of steamed stuff, lots of seafood, lots of green veg, lots of new dishes she gets off the telly.