A Journey Through the World’s Most Unique Dishes
Last month, a list of the world’s worst dishes went viral on social media, and Turkey’s “cabbage soup” made it to the list. I don’t want to label these as “bad.” Most of these dishes reflect local culture and provide essential nutrition. The term “disliked” might be more appropriate, but the accurate description should be “unusual.”
No matter which country you visit, street vendors in back alleys, market stalls, and street carts will offer you interesting foods you couldn’t even imagine. Most of them might be considered “bad,” “disliked,” or “unusual” for others. To truly know a country, you must encounter street vendors and market sellers!
List of the most tasteless dishes
TasteAtlas, the globally renowned platform for sharing flavors from different parts of the world, recently released a list of the world’s 100 most tasteless dishes, which received a significant reaction from Turkey. People from the Black Sea region expressed their discontent because they can’t make it without black cabbage. It turns out that the dish on the list was not black cabbage soup but regular cabbage soup.
Actually, cabbage is an important food item in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Russia. It is versatile and used in various dishes. For us, it’s an indispensable vegetable for pickles and salads, and it is highly nutritious.
I’ve seen dishes in different parts of the world that wouldn’t make it to my “most unusual dishes” list. First, let me tell you about the top 10 unusual dishes from the TasteAtlas list.
The first on the list is Hákarl, coming from Iceland, a distant culture for us. Hákarl is a traditional Icelandic dish made from special species like Greenland shark and sleeper shark. The uniqueness of Hákarl comes from the fermentation process of shark meat. The meat is first fermented for about three months, then hung to dry for an additional four to five months.
I’ve seen many such different dishes in documentaries about Iceland.
Another dish, Yerushalmi Kugel, emerged when European Jews brought the tradition of baking similar casseroles in the 18th century.
Yerushalmi Kugel is a casserole dish made with thin-cooked noodles, covered with caramelized sugar. In this delicious recipe, noodles are mixed with egg, olive oil, pepper, and salt. Then, this mixture is cooked in a pan until it hardens.
Being a traditional dish, Yerushalmi Kugel originated in Jerusalem and remains popular, especially during Sabbath and other Jewish holidays.
Appearing in movies
In every Japanese movie, there is always a scene with “ramen,” just like the hotdog scene in American movies. In recent Korean films, you’ll also find “kimchi” scenes, usually made with cabbage. Unfortunately, we can’t even find Turkish coffee in Turkish movies.
Anyway, what I’m going to talk about here is an American-style ramen. “Ramen Burger” is a type of hamburger consisting of a patty sandwiched between two fried ramen noodle buns. The patty is usually prepared by dipping it in soy sauce and adding fresh arugula and green onions on top.
Ramen Burger was first created by Keizo Shimamoto, an American of Japanese descent, in Brooklyn in 2013. This innovative burger caught the attention of food enthusiasts and became a popular alternative, even featured in Time magazine.
Sklandrausis is a traditional Latvian pastry prepared since the 16th century. The dough, made from unleavened rye flour, is rolled into discs and shaped by folding the edges upwards.
Sklandrausis is characterized by layers of potato and carrot filling, topped with cream after the layers are assembled. The pie is often adorned with spices such as cinnamon or caraway seeds.
Another type of dish is something like saying, “I did it myself.” “Carlskrove” is an original presentation from a restaurant in Skellefteå, Sweden. It seems to follow the global trends of hamburgers and pizzas. It contains a calzone pizza enriched with bread, various sauces, and french fries.
Carlskrove, a calorie-rich dish, seems to be designed for those who can’t decide between pizza and a hamburger after a night of drinking.
Bocadillo de carne de caballo is a traditional Spanish sandwich filled with horse meat. The typical Spanish baguette bread, ‘barra de pan,’ is split lengthwise and then filled with roasted, fried, or grilled horse meat slices.
Other common ingredients added to the sandwich filling include fresh garlic, slices of cheese, crispy fried bacon, beans, and onions.
This unusual sandwich is created with sliced buttered bread spread with Marmite and topped with crispy potato chips. The thick, yeast-based Marmite spread, originating in England, has become extremely popular in Australia and New Zealand.
The Marmite and chip sandwich is often consumed as a quickly prepared and satisfying snack alternative.
Endives au jambon, especially popular in the Seine-Maritime region, is a traditional French dish. This dish typically consists of endives, lemon juice, milk, flour, butter, ham slices, nutmeg, Neufchâtel cheese, salt, and pepper.
The endives are halved lengthwise, boiled in salted water and lemon juice, and then wrapped with ham slices before being placed in a buttered baking dish.
The sauce is drizzled over the endives, and the dish is baked in the oven for about twenty minutes before serving.
Encountering them in movies
For instance, if you said, “I love fish,” Surströmming is one of the most unusual dishes in the Swedish cuisine. It is a fermented dish made with fermented herring. The fish is salted and left to ferment in closed containers, emitting a strong odor during this process.
Surströmming is a dish consumed in Sweden for centuries. It is usually served with fresh bread and potatoes. For those who cannot tolerate the smell of Surströmming, it is also sold in cans.
You can endure the smell and taste of these dishes in some way. However, you should be careful because there are varieties that could be poisonous, like Fugu in Japan.
Fugu is one of the most famous and dangerous dishes in Japanese cuisine. Fugu is a poisonous fish species found in Japan’s waters. The flesh of Fugu becomes delicious and nutritious when properly cooked. However, if the poisonous organs of Fugu are not removed correctly, it can be lethal.
Making Fugu dish requires the chef to carefully remove the poisonous organs of the fish. Among the toxic organs of Fugu are the liver, ovaries, and skin. These organs are much more poisonous than the flesh of Fugu.
Stay away if the fisherman is not an expert!
Another dish is Pad Kee Mao, one of Thailand’s most popular dishes. Pad Kee Mao is a noodle dish similar to pad thai, usually made with shrimp, chicken, or pork.
Pad Kee Mao is typically cooked in a wok, which is a deep pan. The ingredients of Pad Kee Mao are quickly stirred in the wok. This allows the flavors of the ingredients to mix. Pad Kee Mao is usually served with lemon juice, hot peppers, and peanut butter.
Every city has its unusual dish. While raw meatballs may be one of the weirdest dishes for some, it is a rapidly spreading meal worldwide, especially in vegan menus.
The best dishes are cooked in mom’s kitchen. Whether we like them or not, the most unusual dishes are the other face of the glittering world, different, colorful, and even delicious.
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