# Sum up some lesser known cuisines **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606 "2017-06-22T14:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/1 "2017-06-22T14:50:00Z")
There’s a Filipino restaurant nearby that I want to try. Ditto a few Ethiopian places, and also I just discovered a Burmese restaurant. I know a tiny bit about Filipino food (pork, fish, vinegar marinades, expect sourness, not as spicy as Thai or Szechuan). For Ethiopian, I know (or think I know) it’s flavorful and spicy stews served with an unusual sour-ish flatbread. I know nothing about Burmese food. What can I expect? Can anyone sum up Malaysian, or Indonesian, or Nepalese, or Bolivian, or other less widespread, but still interesting, cuisines? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/2 "2017-06-22T15:03:43Z")
Great thread topic! I’d love to expound more, but have little time. But I do love me some Indonesian [Rijsttafel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rijsttafel). Say “Yes!” to nasi goreng and lemper! ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/3 "2017-06-22T15:44:34Z")
Not knowledgeable enough about any of the above to summarize them, though I did enjoy the Burmese “tea leaf salad” I had in SF years ago – an unusual and tasty salad green. One little-known cuisine I’d like to explore more is Uighur food, aka “Halal Chinese.” Tried it on a whim, and it was good, though I missed having pork options. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/4 "2017-06-22T15:55:59Z")
Nothing specific to contribute, but I have observed that geography seems to be an indicator of cuisine. In that: [ul] [li]If you know the cuisine from country A[/li][li]And you know the cuisine from country C[/li][li]Then the cuisine from country B, which is between country A and country C, could be described as “halfway between A-ish and B-ish”[/ul][/li] Of course, I haven’t verified this across the globe, but it might be a useful starting point? So I would expect southern Pakistani cuisine to show influences of western Indian and Persian. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/5 "2017-06-22T16:00:09Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > also I just discovered a Burmese restaurant. Is it Myanmar in Falls Church? I’ve been to [Mandalay](http://www.mandalayrestaurantcafe.com/) in Silver Spring and it was really good. A mashup of Chinese, Thai, and Indian food is the closest description I can give it. There’s an emphasis on strong, pungent flavors, but not necessarily spicy (which is not to say there aren’t some _very_ spicy dishes, but it’s not a major feature of most dishes). ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/6 "2017-06-22T16:07:52Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Nothing specific to contribute, but I have observed that geography seems to be an indicator of cuisine. > > In that: > [ul] > [li]If you know the cuisine from country A[/li][li]And you know the cuisine from country C[/li][li]Then the cuisine from country B, which is between country A and country C, could be described as “halfway between A-ish and B-ish”[/ul][/li] > Of course, I haven’t verified this across the globe, but it might be a useful starting point? So I would expect southern Pakistani cuisine to show influences of western Indian and Persian. Agree, and in that vein, Burmese food is halfway between Thai and Indian. My local Burmese place has, among other dishes, biryani, coconut noodle soup, samosa-ish appetizers, and of course, the ubiquitous tea-leaf salad. The tea is actually in the dressing, it’s fermented, and a bit funky and grassy and bitter all at once. The salad of chopped lettuce, tomato, and a few fried crunchy toppings like lentils and peanuts, is dressed tableside. If you dislike the tea leaf flavour, you can get the same salad with a ginger dressing, which is equally delicious. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/7 "2017-06-22T16:19:15Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Is it Myanmar in Falls Church? > > I’ve been to [Mandalay](http://www.mandalayrestaurantcafe.com/) in Silver Spring and it was really good. A mashup of Chinese, Thai, and Indian food is the closest description I can give it. There’s an emphasis on strong, pungent flavors, but not necessarily spicy (which is not to say there aren’t some _very_ spicy dishes, but it’s not a major feature of most dishes). Yes, Myanmar is the one I was thinking of. Haven’t been yet. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/8 "2017-06-22T17:40:13Z")
I grew up in a region heavily populated by Dutch Americans, to the extent where there was a local dutch restaurant serving such dishes as snert (super thick pea soup), oliebollen (fried dough), metwurst (sausage), bitterballen (little meatballs), kroketten (fried chicken loaf), stamppot (sausage with potatoes and veggies). Lots of meat and potatoes in that tradition. The restaurant went out of business, but the local grocery carries drop (ammonium chloride liquorice), stroopwafels, windmill cookies, and Wilhelmina mints. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/9 "2017-06-22T18:38:06Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Nothing specific to contribute, but I have observed that geography seems to be an indicator of cuisine. > > In that: > [ul] > [li]If you know the cuisine from country A[/li][li]And you know the cuisine from country C[/li][li]Then the cuisine from country B, which is between country A and country C, could be described as “halfway between A-ish and B-ish”[/ul][/li] > Of course, I haven’t verified this across the globe, but it might be a useful starting point? So I would expect southern Pakistani cuisine to show influences of western Indian and Persian. But weigh in colonial influences, and the contribution of ethnic minorities. They’re sometimes huge. OP mentioned Philippine cuisine. Much of the cited bits appear to indigenous, and structurally analogous to Indonesian and Malay, but there’s lots of Chinese (pancit, e.g.) and Spanish (IMHO, Spanish-influenced modifications of pre-colonial recipes). Plus tons of US-style “cuisine”. But that last is all over nowadays, not just our official former colonies. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/10 "2017-06-22T18:59:29Z")
There is a sort of overall Caribbean cuisine type but each island has it’s own very distinct variations. Puerto Ricans love their pork and their tropical root starches. Plus [recaito](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reca%C3%ADto) goes in everything. Yummy, yummy recaito. I have a jar of it in my fridge at all times. Sofrito is recaito but with tomatoes, which makes it red and not green. And, unlike a lot of Caribbean food, it is not spicy hot. [Mofongo](http://cook.fnr.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/cook/fullset/2011/9/15/0/CCFDH206_Mofongo-Recipe_s4x3.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.616.462.jpeg) exemplifies all this. Plus it is also super yummy. Another thing us Puerto Ricans like to do is take our pork and our tropical starchiness and fry it. We call this [cuchifritos.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuchifritos) There are many different types of chuchifritos. My two favorites are[accapurrias](http://images-gmi-pmc.edge-generalmills.com/14168a7c-e0b9-4ba6-ac36-bdd1519c8cb9.jpg) and [bacalaitos](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/07/50/a6/38/sol-caribe-puerto-rican.jpg). Good gracious I could go with a big bag of assorted cuchifritos right now. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/11 "2017-06-22T20:22:49Z")
Slovak food is pretty much the same as other slavic foods. Czech, Slovenian, even Hungarian and Polish. There’s potica which is nutroll or poppyseed roll. Of course, pierogi and kolatchky which most Eastern European or slavic nations have. At Easter my family makes what they call “shreva” which is pork & potato sausage. I think the real name is bobrovecke droby and the casing for any sausage is called črevá. There’s also Paska bread (raisin bread) and Easter cheese (eggs and milk reduced down and chilled into a cheese-like substance). At Christmas we have a traditional Christmas Eve dinner which has cabbage soup, fish, peas, bobalki (balls of bread covered in honey and poppyseed) and pierogi. I’m not really a fan of Slovak food at all. It’s a lot of cabbage, boiled stuff, sausage, fish…poor mountain people food, I guess. Mostly my family eats it just for the good memories. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/12 "2017-06-22T20:35:36Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I grew up in a region heavily populated by Dutch Americans, to the extent where there was a local dutch restaurant serving such dishes as snert (super thick pea soup), oliebollen (fried dough), metwurst (sausage), bitterballen (little meatballs), kroketten (fried chicken loaf), stamppot (sausage with potatoes and veggies). > > Lots of meat and potatoes in that tradition. > > The restaurant went out of business, but the local grocery carries drop (ammonium chloride liquorice), stroopwafels, windmill cookies, and Wilhelmina mints. Ah, beloved Netherlands, home of interesting cheeses on boring breads with butter and sliced meats and a glass of buttermilk, all before 9 AM. It is well said that to tell the difference between a Dutch breakfast and a Dutch lunch you have to look at your watch. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/13 "2017-06-22T20:55:59Z")
Korean food is still a bit of a novelty for most Americans. Nothing like [bibimbap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap) for lunch! Korean BBQ places are a lot of fun, too, as you’ll get to sample all kinds of [uel=[Banchan - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banchan)]banchan, and grill your own meats at the table, combined with flavorful sauces. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/14 "2017-06-22T21:24:57Z")
**Belgium**. Frequently described as “food of French quality in German quantities”, Belgian cuisine includes excellent versions of the hearty rib-sticking specialties of Dutch and German food (fries with mayonnaise sauce, sausages, mashed veggies, etc.) as well as the superbly complex soups, stews, sauces and sweets typically associated with France. **Kerala** (southwest India). The cuisine of Kerala on the southwest coast of India is straight up the best Indian food there is (and note that I never met any regional variety of Indian food I didn’t like, so when I award the blue ribbon to one region in particular I am taking this seriously). All the delicious tropical fruit and veg and fresh non-greasiness of other south Indian cuisines, all the non-vegetarian variety of north Indian cuisines, with a combination of seafood and coconut and a subtlety of spiciness that’s special to Kerala. Put it in your face hole. **Iran**. Iranian food combines the tangy flavorful gloppiness of familiar Middle Eastern dishes from the drier lands west of Iran with the richness and sweetness of cool-climate cuisines east of it, including game and other marinated meats, delicate sweets and savory roasted dishes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/15 "2017-06-22T21:30:02Z")
Are there any Canadian restaurants in the US? ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/16 "2017-06-22T21:44:06Z")
Tim Hortons? 🙂 A [link](http://ask.metafilter.com/30869/Canadian-restaurants-or-bars-in-the-United-States) for your reading pleasure… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/17 "2017-06-22T22:51:56Z")
I’ve posted in the past of my lack of fondness for Filipino cuisine. Here is a sample: > [@Any fans of Filipino (Pinoy) cuisine out there?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fans-of-filipino-pinoy-cuisine-out-there/679991/7): > > I’m married to a Filipina. She can’t cook, and my mother-in-law is a bad cook, but I’ve also been to just about every Filipino restaurant in Queens and Brooklyn (NY). > > I am not a fan of Filipino food (nor of the service in Filipino restaurants). One good thing about Filipino restaurants is that you are getting Filipino food, not American food labeled ‘Filipino’. But I find everything to be overcooked. Meat, fish, vegetables, etc. are all cooked until it is dead, dead, dead, and then cooked a little more. Also, unlike many of their southeast Asian neighbors, the cuisine isn’t very spicy. I always get a kick when one of my in-laws tells me they like spicy food, and then I serve spicy food. What I consider medium heat, they consider atomic heat. Sadly, I like really spicy but don’t get to make it. > > If you must eat, adobo is a safe bet. There are all types on pancit - I find them mostly bland. Kare kare is oxtail in a peanut sauce that many like. If you are feeling slightly adventurous, you could try the sisig. The fried lumpia are good, though I prefer Thai spring rolls, and my wife loves the fresh lumpia (another item I’m not too fond of). > > Of course, all of this is just one man’s opinion, so take it for what it is worth. We still try out just about any Filipino restaurant that opens nearby, and we did find one that I like (though it’s more of a pan-Asian fusion focusing on southeast Asian flavors). > … ---
**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:** [June 22, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/18 "2017-06-22T22:54:56Z")
Hungarian is like Slavic food, but with paprika and some of the best pastries and cakes I’ve ever had, especially strudel (_rétes_). Many basic Hungarian savory dishes start with frying onions in lard or sunflower oil and then adding paprika and moving on from there. There is also more of a chance that you will run into something spicier than black pepper in a Hungarian dish although, despite its reputation as a “spicy” cuisine, it’s more well-spiced with paprika than spicy hot. In the east you get influence from Romanian and Transylvanian cuisine, and the south from Balkan cuisine. But it’s a lot of meat, noodles, root vegetables flavored in an onion-paprika base. Lithuanian cuisine, meanwhile, is one for lovers of potatoes, bacon, and sour cream. I had no idea how many things you can make from potatoes until I had Lithuanian food (which was actually early on, since I grew up in a community with a lot of Lithuanians nearby.) This is, of course, greatly simplifying it. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/19 "2017-06-23T01:54:15Z")
**ZipperJJ re: Slovakian food**. Got a recipe for cabbage soup? I’ve been making cabbage soup passed down by my Czech ancestors for years, and tried recipes from all the other Central European countries, but the best damn cabbage soup I ever et was in a bistro in Bratislava. It had tomato in it, and possibly marjoram, things Germans and Austrians and Czechs and Hungarians would never put into a cabbage soup (Poles might; they put marjoram into their tripe soup). I’ve not been able to find a good method for this Bratislavan delight on the internets. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606/20 "2017-06-23T02:19:14Z")
Sounds like you’re describing a version of kapustnica. Was it fresh cabbage or sauerkraut? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sum-up-some-lesser-known-cuisines/789606.md?page=2)