Favorite ethnic/regional cuisine not your own

[ChrisTaylor]

I don't use teff and that may be one of the problems I don't know. It is basically unleavened bread with soda water to make the bubbles. Mine tend to come out more like crepes or something. In the restaurants it is more like a spongy flatbread with a texture sort of like chinese steam bun.

I use some cookbooks, but let me see what I can find online. The two main dishes are doro wat and yebeg wat.

iirc the Ethiopian government doesn't allow the exportation of teff. So no matter how good your local Ethiopian restaurant's injera is, it's being made with something else. You could coax a recipe out of them, maybe, but down here at least most Ethiopian restaurants seem to get their injera from central bakeries (which sell direct-to-the-public, too), so they might not know. I suspect it's just regular wheat flour tho' (not sure how strong or anything) given you can get wholemeal injera.

[Dejah]

I didn't realize teff is not allowed for export. I see it in our little Asian food store that also caters to the Ethiopian population in our little city of 44,000.

Chinese is my native cuisine, but Thai is my favourite outside of that, Indian a second.

[ChrisTaylor]

I didn't realize teff is not allowed for export. I see it in our little Asian food store that also caters to the Ethiopian population in our little city of 44,000.

Chinese is my native cuisine, but Thai is my favourite outside of that, Indian a second.

K. That's weird. I Wikipediaed it and it said nothing of the sort. Indeed, the stuff is cultivated in the US and Australia (even tho' my Ethiopian grocer doesn't have it). I'm 100% sure I heard that it wasn't allowed--either from the grocer or a cookbook I have here or both.

Indeed ...

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/718 (old article, so maybe the law has changed)

Edited January 29, 2011 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[runwestierun]

I didn't realize teff is not allowed for export. I see it in our little Asian food store that also caters to the Ethiopian population in our little city of 44,000.

Chinese is my native cuisine, but Thai is my favourite outside of that, Indian a second.

K. That's weird. I Wikipediaed it and it said nothing of the sort. Indeed, the stuff is cultivated in the US and Australia (even tho' my Ethiopian grocer doesn't have it). I'm 100% sure I heard that it wasn't allowed--either from the grocer or a cookbook I have here or both.

Indeed ...

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/718 (old article, so maybe the law has changed)

Wikipedia says it's grown in Idaho and Kansas in the US now.

[andiesenji]

Teff, both the "red" and "ivory" are available in the U.S. and have been for many years.

Bob's Red Mill has been offering both the whole grain and teff flour since the late 1990s because I have been buying it at my local health food store since then, after getting Jessica Harris' African Cookbook about that time.

It's possible that teff grain is not exported from Ethiopia because of the repeated famine situations there.

[janeer]

True Mexican, hands down. Followed by Sichuan.

[acautrell]

Korean for me. We eat/cook Korean at least twice a week.

[maggiethecat]

French: haute, basse and in-between.

[ruthcooks]

French: haute, basse and in-between.

Me, too, but I was going to say classic, peasant or Creole. Love sauces.

Second favorite is Russian. Lots of butter, sour cream and my favorite herb, dill.

[bjcohan]

Mexican (real Mexican, not Americanized) is first, followed closely by Thai, southeast Asian, real Chinese, Cuban, Indian. Pretty much anything but bland American food. Not particularly fond of French bistro food or game.

Barb

[v. gautam]

I am from India, and specialize in a couple of regional cuisines. My journey has been in the opposite direction to that of my friend, C. Sapidus, i.e. towards classic "back of the can" cooking involving the holy trinity, Campbell's cream of chicken, mushroom and celery,with shrimp bisque reserved for the rare extravagance:

Group A: Midwestern casseroles & hot dishes topped with tater tots or Ritz crackers, casseroles of Oreida steak fries +soup + cheese all mixed together(!!), mini-wienies/grape jelly/Heinz chili sauce cooked for hours & served as elegant appetizers [and you imagined middle America had no clue to sous vide before you guys did, shame on you!!],Utah green Jello salad, T-day fixin's with canned Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, "Waldorf Salad" etc. Cheese & mac: I now have 28 recipes, including the Velveeta ones!!

Group B: Things with Hellman's Mayo! The many different types of potato, egg, chicken,tuna, pasta & whatever salad.

Group C: Popeye's Fried Chicken and their sorta Cajun Dirty Rice & Red Beans, my own sorta Cajun jambalaya & gumbos, my very good Puerto Rican arroz con pollo with sofrito made fresh, magic mofongo & gizzard escabeche. American-Chinese lo mein.

The ideal food pyramid: choose 1 from Group A [dairy & fruit], 1 from B [fresh vegetables], 2 from C [grains and protein].

[Dejah]

v. gautam: Most interesting!

I sincerely hope you'll do a blog of this "back of the can" cooking. I've been thinking about this type of cuisine and would love some guidance!

[nakji]

Oooh, yes. Better yet, Let's start a topic.

[Kim D]

Ethiopian. I buy teff online From www.teffco.com. I was going to post a picture of my injera but can't seem to do that with my iPad.

Thai. Indian. Cajun. Bistro French. Peasant food from anywhere.

[mkayahara]

Japanese is definitely one for me: I didn't grow up eating it, but have taught myself to cook a variety of Japanese dishes, and could quite happily eat it every day. After that, I would say Moroccan. Although it's been a while since I cooked any Moroccan dishes, I would say it's definitely one of the world's great cuisines.

[Jenni]

I have British and Indo-caribbean background, I mostly cook Indian food at home.

If we are allowed to be specific I call Tamil cuisine (especially Tam-Bram pure veg!) my favourite cuisine not my own! Otherwise, I LOVE middle eastern food, especially Turkish and Lebanese.

Edited February 1, 2011 by Jenni (log)

[Robbie]

I love all food, but I think the one I am ALWAYS in the mood for is Mexican. I don't even care if its the "american" version of it, I'm not sure why it gets such a bad rap because it can be very good (just stay away from taco bell). Its funny because I was thinking about this yesterday while eating a burrito at lunch, I think it all comes down to the "freshness" of (good) mexican.

[kalypso]

Mexican.

I grew up eating pretty respectable Cal-Mex, but it wasn't until I went to central Mexico in the early '80s and lived with a Mexican family and was exposed to the depth and variety that I was utterly seduced by the cuisine

[Beebs]

Ethnically Chinese, but a Canuck all the way. Incidentally, Chinese cooking is what I least do at home. It's an inferiority complex - I can't make any of my Chinese food taste as good as my mom's.

Favourite ethnic for dining out: Japanese, Spanish

Favourite for cooking at home: Italian/Mediterranean

Most interested in more in-depth exploring: Quebecois and Middle Eastern for at home; anything African for dining out.

[TongoRad]

My father is Italian (Calabrese) and my mother is from Kentucky, so we grew up with a combination of Italian and Southern cooking in the house. When I was a teenager I was introduced to both Mexican and Indian restaurants and really took a shine to them. The food definitely clicked with me, but it was also that time in one's life where you start branching out and doing things on your own. So I happily went down that path, with the reading, shopping, experimenting, etc. until it got to the point where that's all that my family associates with me these days (random quote from my dad: "sure we'll come over for dinner, just make sure you don serve any of that crazy Indian stuff"). So I guess I'd have to go with either one of those two, maybe even a combination (I have been known to put tandoori chicken in an enchilada or two).

[Shelby]

I am from India, and specialize in a couple of regional cuisines. My journey has been in the opposite direction to that of my friend, C. Sapidus, i.e. towards classic "back of the can" cooking involving the holy trinity, Campbell's cream of chicken, mushroom and celery,with shrimp bisque reserved for the rare extravagance:

Group A: Midwestern casseroles & hot dishes topped with tater tots or Ritz crackers, casseroles of Oreida steak fries +soup + cheese all mixed together(!!), mini-wienies/grape jelly/Heinz chili sauce cooked for hours & served as elegant appetizers [and you imagined middle America had no clue to sous vide before you guys did, shame on you!!],Utah green Jello salad, T-day fixin's with canned Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, "Waldorf Salad" etc. Cheese & mac: I now have 28 recipes, including the Velveeta ones!!

Group B: Things with Hellman's Mayo! The many different types of potato, egg, chicken,tuna, pasta & whatever salad.

Group C: Popeye's Fried Chicken and their sorta Cajun Dirty Rice & Red Beans, my own sorta Cajun jambalaya & gumbos, my very good Puerto Rican arroz con pollo with sofrito made fresh, magic mofongo & gizzard escabeche. American-Chinese lo mein.

The ideal food pyramid: choose 1 from Group A [dairy & fruit], 1 from B [fresh vegetables], 2 from C [grains and protein].

I love this!!!!

Have you ever seen The White Trash Cookbook? I LOVE this...it's funny and there are some true, down south recipes in there.

[Robbie]

My father is Italian (Calabrese) and my mother is from Kentucky, so we grew up with a combination of Italian and Southern cooking in the house. When I was a teenager I was introduced to both Mexican and Indian restaurants and really took a shine to them. The food definitely clicked with me, but it was also that time in one's life where you start branching out and doing things on your own. So I happily went down that path, with the reading, shopping, experimenting, etc. until it got to the point where that's all that my family associates with me these days (random quote from my dad: "sure we'll come over for dinner, just make sure you don serve any of that crazy Indian stuff"). So I guess I'd have to go with either one of those two, maybe even a combination (I have been known to put tandoori chicken in an enchilada or two).

Yes!, I think the Indian/Mexican combo wins for me. I'll have to try tandoori chicken enchilada cause that sounds amazing. We often make butter chicken burritos and they can be pretty amazing.

I'd still like to hear people's reasoning behind the general hatred for "americanized" mexican. I've had some very good meals from both, although I admit I really don't exactly know where the line between them is. The food I had IN mexico was probably the best I've had, but I think this is more due to the incredible freshness of the ingredients. We just can't get the same quality avocados up here in Canada

[TongoRad]

Robbie- if I had to guess, it's probably that most people associate Americanized Mexican food with being overly greasy, over simplified, pulling punches in terms of flavor and ingredients, and overuse of cheese (and probably the wrong kind of cheese at that). For example- one of my favorite dishes is a chile releno; in my local joint I can get a freshly roasted poblano stuffed with any number of fillings, but at the chain place it will most likely be a canned Anaheim chile filled with cheese. Still, like you said, if you go to the right place it can certainly make for an enjoyable meal.

[helenjp]

All kinds of Middle Eastern food for me...even when I lived in NZ. I think it must be because dishes go well with both rice and bread, and there is a good balance of fruit, vegetables, fish,and meat.

Chinese and Korean food...probably because they blend in well with our "mostly Japanese" style of eating.

[ScoopKW]

Sushi.

I could eat sushi -- breakfast lunch and dinner -- every day for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to.