Taste Atlas came out with their 2024/25 list of the “100 Best Cuisines in the World”.
The list is compiled by people all around the globe and entails nearly 500,000 ratings. 15,478 foods were taste tested and ranked.
After browsing through the list…um, I have questions.
Now, I consider myself a foodie. And I’ve traveled quite a bit. By my count, I’ve visited 39 countries in my lifetime. I love discovering new cuisines. The food served in various countries gives you a sense of the people themselves – their values, customs, and experiences.
Having said that, as diverse as my culinary experiences are, the best way to describe it is it’s a mile wide but an inch deep.
Take the number one cuisine of this year’s list: Greece.
I have some experience with Greece. I was fortunate enough to visit there just a few months ago. It’s a beautiful country, filled with friendly people and yes, I did enjoy the food. But I must confess, we encountered the same few dishes whether we were in Santorini, Crete, or Athens.
There was Greek salad (and by the way, if you’re eating a Greek salad in Greece, do you really need to call it a Greek salad?), pita, olives, gyros, souvlaki and moussaka. As good as it all was, we found a hamburger place on our last day as I was craving a boost in my cholesterol.
Everyone has their own preferences. Mine happens to be Chinese food. The cuisine of China was rated the 10th best cuisine in the world.
However, the one cuisine on the list I had the most questions about was #13, which was American cuisine. And the question I have is…really?
A few things to consider. Greece was officially founded in 1830. Archaeologists say that early settlements in Greece date back to 3200 BC. Italy (#2 on the list) was inhabited by people since at least 850,000 years ago. Scholars say that China was originally founded in 221 BC. Say what you will, but that’s a lot of time to develop a country’s culinary chops.
Now let’s look at #13 on the list – The U.S. as a country is 248 years old. To put things into perspective, I’ve been a citizen of this country for about 25% of its entire existence.
Here’s another observation. When I walked the busy streets of Athens and its markets, I would routinely see signs saying “Authentic Greek Food” in the windows of various restaurants along the street. In China, it’s a bit different. You won’t see any “Authentic Chinese Food” signs out and about, but you will see small restaurants that cater to a specific food – noodles, dumplings, hot pot, and so on. Many of these restaurants have been operating for generations, and they know what they’re doing.
I was born and raised in the U.S. I love this country. But I can’t remember seeing any signs saying “Authentic American Food” on the window of any restaurant. I mean, what would be authentic American food anyways? I suppose BBQ is a valid answer, maybe chicken pot pie too. You can’t even say hamburgers and french fries – they’re from Hamburg, Germany and Belgium (nope, not France) respectively. So what’s left – meatloaf and tater tots?
I’m being facetious, of course. In fact the Taste Atlas lists a number of dishes that stand out for each country on the list. For the U.S., it says that Pacific Salmon is one of the “must try” dishes to be enjoyed in the U.S. But it does bring up another question.
While the U.S. is #13 on the list, Canada comes up at #43. However, Taste Atlas lists Pacific Salmon as a highlight from both countries. So why is Canada 30 spots lower on the list? Both countries share a common border. I’m assuming that the salmon don’t know that they’re crossing territorial boundaries when they’re swimming about.
Is there a class distinction when it comes to salmon in the Pacific Ocean? Is that why they’re in schools? Sorry – I couldn’t resist.
Seriously though, I think I know the answer to why there aren’t “Authentic American Food” restaurant signs here at home. One thing I noticed while I was in Greece. It was Greek restaurant next to another Greek restaurant – one after another. Same thing in China.
But here at home? You might have a burger place, but it’ll be next to a pizza place, a French bakery, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and so on. In fact, most of my foodie experiences of trying different cuisines didn’t start out by traveling to another country – it was trying them out right here at home. Trying the same dishes again when I traveled there only confirmed that we can do it all right here.
That is one of the blessings of living here. It really brings home my original point – eating the food here has given me a good sense of its people.
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