# Worst national cuisine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134 "2015-08-06T05:49:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 6, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/1 "2015-08-06T05:49:39Z")
I figure hardly anyone has tried the cuisine of every nation on earth, so it’s hard to say definitively. But I think the following are relatively familiar to the Western world (which is the primary audience for this forum). Without going into subtypes: Italian Mexican Chinese British German Indian Nordic (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) French Thai Middle Eastern (a lot of crossover between countries) Japanese I don’t know if it’s really valid to include “American” - we are so heavily influenced in our regional foods by all of the above, I don’t think there’s a real American cuisine…unless it’s “manufactured”😃 Any others that are relatively familiar? From that list that I could think of, every country has at least one or two good standouts, but I’m looking for opinions on the overall. My vote is easy: Nordic. With the exception of Danish pastry and Swedish meatballs, pretty much everything I’ve ever seen, tasted, heard of or watched on a cooking show has fallen somewhere between “impossibly bland and tasteless” to downright revolting ([lutefisk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutefisk) and [Surströmming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surstr%C3%B6mming)) For awhile there was a cooking show on my local PBS station that was Danish or Swedish… and while it looked like it was shot on the Sound of Music hillsides, the food was relentlessly uninteresting. The overwhelming impression I came away with: the food is as white as the land where it came from and the people eating it. I’m not personally a fan of Indian cuisine, too sweet and/or hot for me, but I recognize that it’s got a lot of pizzazz and many fans. And I’ve never had Japanese food that appealed to me at all, but I know boatloads of people love it. I think the runners-up would probably be Germany and Britain. Fish & Chips are great, but I can’t think of much else in the way of British food that most people care for especially, and I can’t even think of a German dish that is widely popular… is there one? All the other cuisines seem pretty beloved by large percentages of people, with, in my unscientific opinion, Italian-Chinese-Mexican way out in front of the rest, with pizza being the single most popular dish on earth, by many accounts. So whats the general consensus, if any, about which national cuisine just sucks? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/2 "2015-08-06T06:04:49Z")
I’ve heard very bad things about Tibetan cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/3 "2015-08-06T06:20:28Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I can’t even think of a German dish that is widely popular… is there one? About a thousand different types of sausage, most of which are delicious. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/4 "2015-08-06T07:43:49Z")
I think if you’re going to give the USA an exemption from your list, then you should give Britain one too. Sure, there are a number of individual dishes and items that exemplify British food (haggis, pork pies, fish and chips, full breakfast, roast beef, steak and kidney pudding etc - and I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of those have their origins outside of the UK), but not an overall style or practice of cooking that you could pin to our damp and windy corner of Europe and truly call a “cuisine”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/5 "2015-08-06T07:55:24Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > I think if you’re going to give the USA an exemption from your list, then you should give Britain one too. Sure, there are a number of individual dishes and items that exemplify British food (haggis, pork pies, fish and chips, full breakfast, roast beef, steak and kidney pudding etc - and I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of those have their origins outside of the UK), but not an overall style or practice of cooking that you could pin to our damp and windy corner of Europe and truly call a “cuisine”. But you can say that about any country - Provencal cuisine is different from Breton, and Sicilian food is different from what you’d find in Northern Italy. The more you know a country, the less uniform it seems, including its food. Besides, to a non-Brit, haggis, pork pies, fish and chips, full breakfast, roast beef, steak and kidney pudding definitely come across as an overall style. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/6 "2015-08-06T08:13:53Z")
How does food come off as ‘white’? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/7 "2015-08-06T08:22:28Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > How does food come off as ‘white’? When it lacks color. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/8 "2015-08-06T08:26:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > When it lacks color. She said the food was as white as the people eating it?? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/9 "2015-08-06T08:27:39Z")
By looking colorless, pale, washed-out, and generally monochromatic. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/10 "2015-08-06T08:28:46Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But you can say that about any country - Provencal cuisine is different from Breton, and Sicilian food is different from what you’d find in Northern Italy. The more you know a country, the less uniform it seems, including its food. But that points out Britain as being different again, rather than similar to other countries. Yes, I totally agree that France, China, India, Italy etc have regional cuisines. Britain, not so much. There is no Northern/Southern/Eastern/Western cooking style. There is no Cornish/Kentish/Northumbrian tradition of preparation or ingredients. There is no dish (bar a very few exceptions) uniquely identifiable as Mancunian or Glaswegian or Liverpudlian. > [@Alessan](#): > > Besides, to a non-Brit, haggis, pork pies, fish and chips, full breakfast, roast beef, steak and kidney pudding definitely come across as an overall style. Sorry. Don’t be sorry. I’m delighted that anyone thinks we have a cuisine, no matter what their opinion of it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/11 "2015-08-06T08:30:34Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > She said the food was as white as the people eating it?? Not a lot of olive-skinned brunettes in the Nordic lands, yo. At least, that’s the stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/12 "2015-08-06T08:36:09Z")
Maybe I misunderstood. Is Scandy food really white? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/13 "2015-08-06T08:38:55Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Don’t be sorry. I’m delighted that anyone thinks we have a cuisine, no matter what their opinion of it 😃 I bet it’s that way with everyone. As far as most people are concerned, other countries have cuisine; we just have food. (Except for the French, of course. The way they see it, \*they \*have cuisine, and other countries have crap). And I like English food, although with my health I probably shouldn’t eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/14 "2015-08-06T08:40:28Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Maybe I misunderstood. Is Scandy food really white? Do you have some sort of metaphor deficiency? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/15 "2015-08-06T08:41:54Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Maybe I misunderstood. Is Scandy food really white? Well, some of it’s kinda grey… Soak a piece of fish in lye for a couple of weeks, and it’s not likeky to have much left of whatever vibrancy it had when it came out of the water. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/16 "2015-08-06T09:08:07Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Do you have some sort of metaphor deficiency? Perhaps an incomprehensible metaphor deficiency. White food needent be bland. Chicken. Angelfood cake. Marshmallows. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/17 "2015-08-06T09:09:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Well, some of it’s kinda grey… > > Soak a piece of fish in lye for a couple of weeks, and it’s not likeky to have much left of whatever vibrancy it had when it came out of the water. Lutefisk is a test of our culinary courage 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/18 "2015-08-06T09:09:38Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Perhaps an incomprehensible metaphor deficiency. White food needent be bland. Chicken. Angelfood cake. Marshmallows. So that’s a yes. When I said that the food lacked color, by “color” I meant “flavor”. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/19 "2015-08-06T09:15:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But you can say that about any country - Provencal cuisine is different from Breton, and Sicilian food is different from what you’d find in Northern Italy. The more you know a country, the less uniform it seems, including its food. Actually, this is the premise of _La Cuisine au Beurre_, a classic French comedy from the 1960s with **Fernandel** and **Bourvil**. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056969/?ref\_=ttmd\_md\_nm](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056969/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm) Regarding German cuisine, there is dressed sauerkraut which means that, by definition, it cannot be the worst. I have it for dinner on New Year’s Day every year. Among the cuisines that the OP mentioned, I am not crazy about Mexican or Japanese dishes. OK, but not great. However, I would not say there are bad either. British cuisine is a contender because of Marmite which is an abomination but I cannot bring myself to vote against anything British. I guess if I really had to choose, it would be Nordic although I have occasionally had some pretty good food there. But on the whole, yeah, it is either kind of bland or disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/20 "2015-08-06T09:23:07Z")
Someone I knew was going to be passing through Croatia, so I looked up what sort of food they had there: > **[Croatian cuisine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_cuisine)** > > Croatian cuisine is heterogeneous and is known as a cuisine of the regions, since every region of Croatia has its own distinct culinary tradition. Its roots date back to ancient times. The differences in the selection of foodstuffs and forms of cooking are most notable between those in mainland and those in coastal regions. Mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier Slavic and the more recent contacts with Hungarian and Turkish cuisine, using lard for cooking, and spices such as black ... In short, I’m not going to be hunting down Croatian restaurants any time soon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134.md?page=2)