What are your Favorite Ethnic Foods

[shilohautumn]

What are your favorite ethnic-type foods that you that you keep going back to and make again and again?

For me, it's Aloo Sholay (or Alu Chholey): potatoes and chickpeas cooked in turka, or curry sauce (onions, tomato, and spices: garam masala, turmeric and chili powder) accompanied with fresh roti (chappati), and kuthha (raita) - a sour cream and buttermilk sauce. Yum!!

 

[pdswife]

I love Greek food!

 

[Robo410]

middle eastern/Arabic
Latin American/Mexican
Chinese Asian
soul food/African

 

[Constance]

I love just about anything Italian or Eastern European, probably because there are so many people of those ethnicities who came here to work in the coal mines here.
Mary's ravioli and Mrs. Sevenski's cabbage rolls are two of the best things I've ever eaten. I can come very close to Mrs. Sevenski's cabbage rolls, but I'll never be able to duplicate Mary's ravioli.

Mary had her tiny restaurant in an old railroad dining car, which was attached to a local tavern in a small mining town. You had to enter the restaurant through the tavern. Her dinner menu was simple...spaghetti or ravioli, bread, and slaw or lettuce salad. She took orders in the dining car, then served the meal in the tavern.
The tavern was picturesque, full of old Italian men and their families. Children were welcome. They served ice cold Stag beer on draft, and when you were there, it tasted great. It was all part of the ambiance.
Mary was no sweet little old lady. She was a foul-tempered woman who slammed your plate on the table and never smiled. Without words, she let you know you were durned lucky to get what you got.
But, oh, what you got!
Her sauce was truly amazing, obviously cooked slowly for a long time, but it was only a condiment to her pasta. To serve, the pasta was dipped onto a plate with a little of the cooking liquid (I think she cooked it in chicken broth), with a moderate amount of the sauce spooned over the top, and over that, freshly grated parmesan. I have no idea what was in the ravioli filling, except that it did contain meat.

Mary passed away some time ago. She kept her recipe to herself, never even sharing it with her daughter. When she went, her ravioli went with her. What a shame.

 

[Robo410]

Thank you for sharing Mary with us. I knew a Miss Dot, a grand Cajun cook, and a fine friend of the family who let us help her make fish gumbo and dirty rice. I can recreate it because I got to make them with her once or twice. I was lucky. Today I was allowed to make pasties with a lady from the UP. This simple but delicious meat turnover is a staple of Upper Michigan and parts of Wisc and Minn too. But the secret is shown and felt not written down. Here on the eatern shore of Delmarva, we have slippery dumplings...served with chicken in a thick broth/gravy. Another regional "mystery", simple and delicious.

 

[TATTRAT]

Indian, turkish, south american, dutch, south western, ethiopian, and SOUL FOOD! I love me some soul food!

 

[Reanie525i]

I will always have a passion for Costa Rican food....Ceviche, arroz con pollo...mondongo...and of course my fav which is chicheronnes?? not sure of the spelling but it tastes great!!!

 

[boufa06]

Mine is Peranakan. Can anybody hazard a guess as to what it is?

 

[Michael in FtW]

Greek, Middle Eastern, Italian, Eastern European, Irish, American, Tex-Mex, Chinese ... in that order ... but not limited to those and the order is subject to change from time to time.

boufa06 - is this close?

 

[Ishbel]

In order of preference

French
Italian
Greek
Middle Eastern (Lebanon, Egypt etc)
Indian
Chinese

Oh, and not forgetting my own ethnic cuisine

 

[Michael in FtW]

LOL - you left off Haggis Ishbel - and I left off French

I like French food - but prefer the peasant food - not so much the fancy restaurant fare.

 

[XeniA]

Lebanese without a doubt, Chinese coming in shortly thereafter.

 

[boufa06]

Close enough Michael. It is basically an amalgamation of Chinese and Malay cuisine. The dishes have a rich, spicy and robust taste. Coconut milk and spices are present in most of them. Of course for a healthier diet, you can always replace coconut milk with milk or yoghurt. The desserts are really yummy but very laborious to do. In a way, the cuisine is quite similar to Greek, not necessarily in taste but style of cooking.

I will post some recipes later when I find the time to put them together.

 

[Mel!]

Humus
Indian Korma
Thai coconut curry.

Mel

 

[karadekoolaid]

I am passionate about Indian food. Chenna Dal cooked in a spicy tomato sauce; Shrimp in coconut sauce with Curry leaves; buttery, flaky parathas; Aviyal....

Stop! Stop! I'm getting hungry!

 

[Ishbel]

LOL - you left off Haggis Ishbel - and I left off French

I like French food - but prefer the peasant food - not so much the fancy restaurant fare.

I didn't mention it by name, but I did say my own ethnic cuisine!!!

 

[GB]

I just love food in general. There is not a cuisine that I have tried that I have not absolutely loved. Indian took me the longest to warm up to, but now it is at the top of my list.

 

[lulu]

Wow, almost un-answerable! British (I am lumoing them together, but I should sat English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh) I consider my starting base of ethnicity, so I guess I love that food!, then Carribean, French, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Greek, American, Morrocan. I want to say Jewish, but don't want to offend anyone who would break it down futher, eg sephardic. I just cook very general Jewish food as taugh to me by my husband's aunt and a load of Jewish cookery books. And American!

 

[Chopstix]

Mine is Peranakan. Can anybody hazard a guess as to what it is?

I was in Singapore for a week-long conference years ago. There I met a colleague from Hongkong who asked me out. He took me to the charming Peranakan Place on Orchard Road in Singapore. (It's still there today.) I remember being told that Peranakan is of Malay origin that has evolved through various cultural influences. I can't remember if I liked the food though. That was waaaaay before I became a foodie. Actually, I think I was too goo-goo eyed with my hot date to even remember tasting the food.

I have a trip to Singapore coming up. Maybe I'll try Peranakan again.

 

[ehlcee]

I grew up on filipino food. I love lumpia, pancit, siopao, adobo chicken. Of course it's always better when my mom makes it than when i make it. But I also love pizza, and curried foods.

my favourite comfort food which I can't have anymore because of diabetes is my dad's potato with egg. I think it's filipino or spanish omelet.

slice up a bunch of potatoes like french fries. fry in med-low heat until just tender. not mushy or golden brown. if they stick together, that's good. Beat up a couple eggs with pinch of salt. pour over the potatoes. flip. serve hot. it should be more potatoey than eggy. yummm...