Ethnic foods cooked by a ethnic that knows how to cook it. I was enjoying a black olive, and thought about a meatloaf an Italian woman made.


What do you think?

I had some Indian food once cooked by call center Indians.


It was horrific.

Same here,JC
I was in London once with Mrs Rong and we decided to have (try) Indian food,,,ended up in the hospital.
That was almost 30 yrs ago and haven't had it since.
I can eat almost anything,but it's a no-go on Indian

The problem with ethnic is - who determines what is "good"? I am very critical of some mexican food because I grew up with it. But when eating other ethnic foods all I know is that one restaurant's food tastes better than the other, what ever the cuisine. As far as food making me sick that could potentially occur at any restaurant at any time and may not be related to the actual cuisine but sanitary conditions or tainted ingredients beyond control of said business (such as recent problems with romaine lettuce).

As an example, I really like the Kung pao chicken at a local Chinese chain, but not so much at our favorite family owned Chinese restaurant which makes other entrees much better.

Kind of opposite in an odd way as we had an old Mexican guy open here that really took pride in that his food was fabulous but the locals just didn't cotton to all the traditional spices. After a couple of years making dishes that were very bland he packed up and left.

You Iowans sure do talk folksy.

Funny how certain words give you instant images in your mind.

How many thought about peach pie, chicken n' dumplings, skillet fried walleye or brisket when reading the word ethnic.

Truth is I really enjoy all the ethnic food pics and recipe many of our pigment challenged members post.

Like that awesome bean casserole thing Jim posts about that I still haven't tried.

Or that skillet puffy pancake looking thing sse posted about.

I'll eat about anything Richard.

In fact, Deb & I go "out of our way" to experience regional cuisine, when ever, & where ever we travel !

Gave in to a friend about 10 years ago who wanted to try an Ethiopian restaurant. No desire to ever eat that stuff again.

Can't think of one style or ethnic origin of food I don't like.

Maybe old style English meals. They're bland as fugg.

I'm pretty much OK with most things. Exceptions would be the consumption of anything that no one in anything resembling a sane state of mind would introduce into his mouth/digestive system. This includes, but is not limited to things that would either 1) gag a maggot or 2) burn the heat shield off of an Apollo capsule.

I have ranted about this before.
Authentic Mexican. WTF.


Tex-Mex is authentic to
Northern Mexico and the S.W. US.

I love the stuff. It's one thing I miss about long haul trucking.

All the places here are Snooty Authentic.

Not a dam bottle of Cumin in their kitchen

Some of it ain't bad.
But it's not what I want.
If I won the lottery, I would be in New Mexico eating Huveos Rancheros
by the weekend.


PS. At least I can get good puddin meat and panhaas. And maple syrup.

I agree for the most part. But as you go west from TX the food does change some what with more Sonoran and Baja influence. The food in Northern NM can be a bit different also. I particularly like the Adobada.

Hands down best ethnic food I've tasted is Persian food made by people who emigrated from Iran. If I'm in a city where they have good Persian (NYC, LA/Orange Co), I'm finding it.

I want to try Turkish Pizza.

Loc ma june....er something like that.

Used to work for a Persian fella. He’d take us out to a Persian restaurant in Atlanta on occasion. He’d babble something in Farsi to the owner, we’d get set up at a private table, and they’d just start bringing dishes out.

Could of been a stewed camel for all I know, but it was damn good.

Friend took us to a Persian restaurant in LA, it was outstanding.

To the OP, in general I like exotic foods and trying something different so yes I like ethnic foods. I haven't turned down marine mammals when given the opportunity. I've had raw muktuk, didn't mind the taste but man is it chewy! When I tried sea lion I went back for seconds.

Best ethnic food I remember is pork ribs, sauerkraut and polenta. Not that soupy stuff Italians make, but nice and firm that slices and holds it's shape. Like Gramma used to make. Was always amazing to watch the little baba just whip the bejeezus out of a pot of the stuff and plop it on a plate exactly when it's firming up.

The best fried chicken I have ever had was prepared by my grandmothers health aid years ago. She also made collard greens and other ethnic treats that were delicious. Her husband “Chocolate “ claimed his fried chicken was better but we never sampled any.

Sounds condescending and racist. 😜

Speaking of ethnic foods, there's going to be quite the mix at my house tonight for Passover. The standard gefilte fish with horseradish, chicken feet soup with gizzards and matzo balls and kishke (chopped up guts in a gut casing, essentially) will be on the table, but now that I'm the chef I decided to have a twist on the traditional brisket. I made a kosher for passover dry rub last night and right now the brisket is in the smoker. It's either going to be a spectacular failure or a welcome change from the typical.

Remsen,

My old hunting pard shows me his Russian G Grandmother’s chicken soup recipe. Old weathered and faded piece of paper. Scribbled in faint pencil,

Step #1

First you steal a chicken..........

😉

Haha!

Is the kiske any good or just something you eat......cause it Passover?

Stolen chicken tastes better...

It sounds disgusting, but it's actually really good. It's basically like any other sausage, so if you like things like chorizo or kielbasa, you'd like kishke.

Never met that soupy stuff. The traditional way or serving polenta is it has to be thick enough when dumped in the middle of the table on a cotton towel that it holds it shape. You slice or spoon off how much you want, spread it out, spread some butter on it an then top with a marinaro sauce which usually had pheasant, rabbit or squirrel in .Some times all three.

Worse case of food poisoning I ever had was from a Italian sausage sandwich in a restaurant in Las Vegas. I think it was called the Bootlegger .

Now days I am more of a fan of Mexican food

I love General Tso's chicken but it is different (sometimes very different) wherever you go.

Sure!


I would like to try it.



Just took what was left of a brisket and put it in the brine for corned beef.


Thats sorta ethnic yeah?

It sounds ethnic to me...

I know it's not always a good thing to switch topics in a thread, but since there are some cattlemen here I figured I will try my luck.

I have to split my time between Montana and California, due to elderly parents in California. When I am in Montana, I get steaks from a local butcher who buys beef from local ranchers. The steaks are the best, but something I've noticed is that that fat on the local beef tastes different from fat on beef I get in California. I trim all visible fat off of cooked steaks in California, but the last steak I had in Montana I left the fat on and I swear it tasted like butter.

Is it generally true that beef fat tastes better when the meat is REALLY fresh and then it gets a bit heavy and off-tasting as time goes by? Or could it be that the local beef in Montana is simply better?

No telling what they feed them Californification Cattle. 😜

So does watermelon.

It does matter what the cattle are fed.

Generally speaking....I find there to be a big difference between the fat on a grass fat and grain fat beef.


The grass fat animal normally has a stronger flavor....some people describe it as gamey. I personally can find not a single thing wrong with some of the grass fat animals that I have raised. I like the strong beef flavor.


There is grass fat and then there is grass FAT! The quality, and quantity of the grass makes a huge difference.


The beef you eat in Montana is probably grain fat unless otherwise specified. A great deal of that beef is barley finished.


The fat of these animals all tastes different.



Also, generally speaking....the least amount of time an animal will hang after killing is a week to ten days.


Two weeks is average at a locker plant. Three weeks is better yet.


Very little beef is consumed truly "fresh".



My guess would be that you are eating animals that have been fed/grazed vastly different finishing rations. The freshness of both animals was probably pretty similar.

Sign on a watermelon patch: "One of these melons has been injected with poison."
Next morning: "One of these melons has..." crossed out and replaced with "Two of these melons have...."

Thanks, Jim, I learned something new today. I'll have to ask the butcher if he knows more about the feed and finishing (I suspect I'll get an earful).

[/quote]
I love General Tso's chicken but it is different (sometimes very different) wherever you go.[/quote]

You do know that's an American dish?

You do know that's an American dish?
[/quote]


No. I assumed since it's served in Chinese restaurants and not at KFC that it was not.

You do know that's an American dish?
[/quote]
No. I assumed since it's served in Chinese restaurants and not at KFC that it was not. [/quote]

Its a Chinese American dish which still makes it Ethic. You were correct in your assumption.

No. I assumed since it's served in Chinese restaurants and not at KFC that it was not. [/quote]

Its a Chinese American dish which still makes it Ethic. You were correct in your assumption.
[/quote]


Thanks Fats!

***sticks tongue out at Rob96***

I remember fixing a dish for a "Mexican/South American" potluck dinner.
They told me I almost killed them with the heat from a dish fixed at "normal" New Mexican red
level of "Mecxican" food.

I always wonder how watered down/changed American versions of ethnic foods really are.
Thai is one that I really see a difference, when they open it may well be spicy and hot and going back later are closed or Americanized to meet the tasted buds of the local populace.


I think "authentic" ethnic depends on a fairly sizable local ethnic population to keep the doors open.
I think back to a class I took in the LA area and one of the folks offered to take us to an authentic ethnic place. A couple of the folks could not use chopsticks and the restaurant had a difficult time finding utensils for them to eat with.

I’m up for anything ethnic. I’ve travelled a bit and always make a point of trying to eat where and what the locals eat. I’ve never been disappointed.

Current wife is Ukrainian and I love the food. But dated a Vietnamese woman for a year and many times had their home cooking. It’s still my favourite food and if I’m on the road and have time I’ll try to look up a Vietnamese restaurant.

Having grown up eating "Mexican" food, as prepared by Mexicans, father and mother, I can tell you that not all "Mexican" food is hot. Much of it is spicy but not necessarily flaming hot. I have found that much of what I call "Gringo" food is made a lot hotter than Mexicans would fix it. Do Mexican have some hot foods absolutely but chili is more often used as a spice not to test the toughness of your mouth, tongue and palate. Lived in NM for 10+ years and do remember some dishes being fairly hot but never encountered any dishes that would particularly set me back.

Like every food in America, every chest thumping idiot decides that if xxxx food is
known for using XXX spice, mine will have more!

That's why you get sausage dominated by sage.
Pumpkin pie that tastes like spices. (Hell p-pie spice has become a taste)
Apple pie where you can't taste apples........

Amen to that. My criteria which I told my wife of 34 years when discussing how to use spices is that if you do spices right then the food tastes good without tasting any of the spices.

used to go to a place in Cleveland where i could get kidney stew

Alrite.... now u have to give up 2 of each of thier best dishs...so i can see what we got here ! .....

The Bootlegger! A now departed friend of mine was the nephew of the owner and I ate many a late night meal there. Mediocre food and a kitchen that would gag a maggot. It used to be a real hangout for the local wops.


mike r

I have to say Mexican / Tex-mex is my favorite, but I will try anything once. I also try and find interesting ethnic recipes to try at home even if I've never had the dish to begin with. The best thing I've made so far is Puerco Pibil which is a great slow roasted pork, here's the recipe

Puerco Pibil

Don't be afraid of the Habanero, the rest of the marinade really dulls it down. I take out most of the seeds but still leave a few and end up with a real nice spice, not too hot but enough of a kick for my taste.

Thank You !

I'm going to try that recipe !

Bob, I saw the same one at a friends house, except it read: Primero, roba dos pollos a la viuda pobre que vive en el camino.