Posted :May 2014
Author : Serusha Govender
Every country has its own favorite dish that’s a national
favorite; here are a few of them
There’s a lot to be said for “eating like a local” when
you’re traveling abroad. Enjoying the regional cuisine in the same way as the
people of that country always gives you a better sense of the flavors,
cultures, and the history of the place. National dishes are a must try because
they usually embody the best tastes the country has to offer.
National dishes are not like the national bird or the
national coat of arms… they’re rarely officially designated as the endorsed
dish representing the country (though in some cases this does indeed happen).
National dishes are considered more the favorite food of the country -
something it’s known for and that the local population enjoys eating regularly.
For example, indulging in a big bowl of Doro Wat in Ethiopia, a spicy stew
usually made with slow cooked lamb in a regional red wine (“wat” means “stew”
or “curried stew”), is as normal a fare as chowing down on a burger and fries
in the U.S.
In many countries, the national dish represents the melding
of many different cultures; it’s the amalgamation of hundreds of years of
colonization, occupations, and the settling of immigrant populations that all
brought their own foods with them and integrated it into the local cuisine.
Today those national dishes are a wonderful mix of all those flavors and
histories.
In South
Africa, for example, a common national dish
is bobotie - a mixture of minced meats baked in an egg-based topping and served
with rice and spicy chutney. The recipe actually appeared in a Dutch cookbook
from the South African Cape as early as 1609 but the dish actually goes back much
further than that… likely all the way back to Indonesia and a similar dish
called “bobotok.” Today it’s enjoyed by people all over the country, though
especially by communities in the Cape
Peninsula.
Argentina
is known for its high-quality, grain-fed beef so it’s understandable that the
national favorite dish of churrasco con chimichurri, a grilled flank steak
served with a delicious tangy herb sauce, is built around that beef. In the Philippines,
lumpia, similar to egg rolls, are so popular that the Filipino communities
abroad have imported the dish to eat no matter what country they’re in.
Read on to find out more about some incredible and delicious
national dishes eaten across the world.
Philippines
— Lumpia
Also sometimes called Filipino Spring Rolls (and the smaller
meatier ones are called Lumpiang Shanghai), these are usually made of ground
meat, minced onions, finely chopped carrots, and seasoning all rolled
up in a paper thin wrapper made with flour and water. It is sealed at the
end either by using a sticky beaten egg or plain water.
Argentina
— Churrasco con Chimichurri
This Argentine favorite is a grilled flank steak with a
tangy herb sauce that is traditionally made with the grass-fed beef and cooked
over a wood fire on a grill grate called a parilla or a cast-iron
skillet called achapa. At home, you could use a charcoal or gas grill, a
broiler, or even a cast-iron grill pan. If you're using a grill and want to add
extra smoke flavor, toss a handful of soaked wood chips over the coals before
cooking.
South
Africa — Bobotie
This Cape
Malay favorite is mixture
of minced meats baked in an egg-based topping and served with rice and spicy
chutney. It likely originated in Indonesia and is similar to a dish
called “bobotok.” Today it’s enjoyed by people all over the country, though
especially by communities in the Cape
Peninsula.
Greece
— Moussaka
Until the early 20th century, moussaka was a simple dish
comprising of little more than vegetables and a little meat. Then Greek chef Nikos
Tselementes (who trained in France)
began adding a béchamel sauce and the dish was forever changed to the national
favorite we know today. While some versions can still get involved, the basic
dish is a layered oven casserole dish made with vegetables and meat, layers of
eggplant slices, cheese, and a meat sauce, topped with a thick béchamel sauce.
Other favorite ingredients include potatoes, zucchini, or a combination of
vegetables
Poland
— Pierogi
Pierogi are dumplings of unleavened dough
which are boiled, stuffed with potato, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or
fruit that are then they are baked or fried, usually in butter with onions, and
served hot with sour cream and apple sauce. Pierogi (that’s the plural, the
singular form is actually pieróg) are of Central and Eastern European
provenance, they are usually semicircular, but are rectangular or triangular in
some cuisines.
Spain
— Paella
Paella is Spanish rice dish that originated in the fields of
a region called Valencia on
the eastern coast of Spain.
Today paella is made in every region of Spain, using just about any kind of
ingredient that goes well with rice. There are as many versions of paella as
there are cooks. It may contain chicken, pork, shellfish, fish, eel, squid,
beans, peas, artichokes, or peppers. Saffron, the spice that also turns the
rice into a wonderful golden color, is an essential part of the dish.
Lebanon/Syria — Kibbeh
Kibbeh is a
popular Levantine dish enjoyed in Syria and Lebanon, is made
of bulgur (cracked wheat), minced onions, and lean, finely ground
beef, lamb, goat, or camel meat. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped
fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. Other types
of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked or cooked in
broth.
Korea
— Bulgogi
Bulgogi is one of the most popular Korean dishes now being
enjoyed all across the world. It’s thinly sliced meat which has a smoky sweet
flavor when broiled or cooked on the grill. It's even delicious stir-fried, and
the tender beef can be used in anything from Korean “sushi” rolls (kimbap) to
stir-fried noodles (chapchae). Bulgogi is usually accompanied with
lettuce wraps and spicy red pepper paste (kochujang) for wrapping and spicing
up the meat.
France
— Pot-au-Feu
According to the James Beard Foundation this classic French
dish, translated as “pot on the fire,” is actually two dishes in one. It
consists of a hearty beef broth as well as the meats and vegetables that are
braised in it. Although the ingredients change slightly from home to home and
province to province in France,
the method remains the same. If you have meat left over, serve it the next day
with some crisp home-fried potatoes.
Hungary —
Goulash, Hungary
Originating in the historically ethnic Hungarian ethnic
region of Central Europe and Scandinavia
during the ninth century, goulash (in Hungarian this is “gulyás”) is
a soup or stew of meat, noodles, and vegetables seasoned
with paprika and other spices. The cooked and flavored meat was air-
and sun-dried, packed into bags produced from sheep's stomachs, and needs only
water to make it into a meal.
~Blog Admin~
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