"Ethnic" foods - what do you enjoy?

[cassiesmom]

My brother and his family went to an Ethiopian restaurant while on vacation, and have found a couple in Chicago that they really like. I've never been, but my brother told me that the dishes are highly seasoned and onion is a frequent ingredient. They all come with a flat bread (like a pita, maybe??) that you apparently use as a "pusher". There are lots of vegetable dishes, but there are meat dishes as well.

I like Greek food, too ... dolmades ... the salad of bulghur and onions and feta cheese with olive oil ... spanakopita ... tzatziki ... avgolemono ... pastitsio! Yum!

[Karen]

My brother and his family went to an Ethiopian restaurant while on vacation, and have found a couple in Chicago that they really like. I've never been, but my brother told me that the dishes are highly seasoned and onion is a frequent ingredient. They all come with a flat bread (like a pita, maybe??) that you apparently use as a "pusher". There are lots of vegetable dishes, but there are meat dishes as well.

I like Greek food, too ... dolmades ... the salad of bulghur and onions and feta cheese with olive oil ... spanakopita ... tzatziki ... avgolemono ... pastitsio! Yum!

The Ethiopian bread is thicker than a pita - more like flatbread like some folks use as a pizza crust, I guess! I haven't had spanakopita in a while, should get some soon! There's a dense Armenian population in Watertown and when I look for it, I can sometimes get this yummy flatbread-ish stuff with feta and onions and spinach on it, which is scrumptious!

Watertown is of course where the Boston Marathon bomber was eventually captured, and when I initially saw the picture of the kid on the news, I thought, "Oh, great - that's what half the young men in Watertown look like!" - I dare you to spot the difference between an Armenian and a Chechyn based on a headshot alone!

[Grace]

I'm Swedish and Scottish - and my food preferences are not ethnic but geographical. I was born and raised in Rhode Island. My favorite foods are from the sea, and now, living in MIchigan, from Lake superior.

I love Lake Superior White Fish - but my main love is for shellfish - oysters, clams, mussels - and shrimp and swordfish and tuna and lobster - just fish - of all varieties.

Friday morning we head out to the fish market to buy Lobster Salad, Little Necks, Shrimp and anything thing else that appeals to me. Once a year I really splurge and pretend I'm back on Narragansett Bay

[smokey the elder]

Ethiopian food is really good, Typically the meal is served on a table-top sized piece of injera (sp?) bread and smaller rounds are used to pick up portions and eat them with your fingers. I love cuisines where eating with your fingers is not only allowed but encouraged! I was at a Moroccan restaurant in Savanna, GA of all places, which was "forks optional" too.

[pomtzu]

I'm Swedish and Scottish - and my food preferences are not ethnic but geographical. I was born and raised in Rhode Island. My favorite foods are from the sea, and now, living in MIchigan, from Lake superior.

I love Lake Superior White Fish - but my main love is for shellfish - oysters, clams, mussels - and shrimp and swordfish and tuna and lobster - just fish - of all varieties.

Friday morning we head out to the fish market to buy Lobster Salad, Little Necks, Shrimp and anything thing else that appeals to me. Once a year I really splurge and pretend I'm back on Narragansett Bay

I'm with you, having grown up almost in the same neighborhood as you. I'm Italian (dad's side), and English from my mom. I must confess that I'm not much a lover of Italian cuisine, tho I do eat it occasionally - and mostly just lasagna. I do love spumoni ice cream tho - YUM ! I'm more of a plain meat and potatoes gal, and of course seafood is my very favorite. Unfortunately I'm pretty limited now as to what seafood I can eat since I developed a shellfish allergy several years ago. How I miss those clams, shrimp, scallops, lobsters, crabs, etc.............

[cassiesmom]

I'm going to a Thai restaurant next week with some friends. It will be my first time eating Thai food other than pad thai from Noodles and Company. I'm looking forward to yummy Irish soda bread for Saint Patrick's Day too and maybe potato and leek soup

[kuhio98]

My brother and his family went to an Ethiopian restaurant while on vacation, and have found a couple in Chicago that they really like. I've never been, but my brother told me that the dishes are highly seasoned and onion is a frequent ingredient. They all come with a flat bread (like a pita, maybe??) that you apparently use as a "pusher". There are lots of vegetable dishes, but there are meat dishes as well......

True story ~ Alaskan friends/family were "outside" visiting Washington, D.C. Someone suggested having Ethiopian for lunch.
They responded, "Ethiopians have food? We always see commercials that they are starving."

[jennielynn1970]

Hey Karen, I lived in Sweden for a year as an exchange student. I loved all their food EXCEPT korv. It is like a hot dog meat, if you've ever had it. I hated it. They made in different sizes, cooked, grilled, fried, you name it they made it, and potatoes were served at almost every lunch and dinner in homes and in school.

I LOVED lingonberry jam, especially on fried bloodpudding. It's not like the German kind, but has cloves and spices in it, and is brown and has a scrapple like consistency until you fry it, then it's like fried bread. You ate it with jam on top, and it was delicious. I had to remind myself I wasn't eating blood though to be able to eat it, lol.

I had reindeer, moose, lutefisk (yuck), and my favorites were the sweets. Almond paste, cocos bullar (coconut covered confections that were made with spun oatmeal, sugar, cocoa, and lord knows what else but it was moist), I could eat 5 of them and think nothing of it. Damsugare (not sure of spelling anymore), but it meant vacuum cleaner, lol. They were green and brown marzipan and had almond past on the inside. Oh so good.

I have such fond memories of my times over there. Skipping classes, going to my best friend's house instead and making scones (real scones, not the huge sugar coated lumps of crap you get here), but buttermilk scones with melting butter on them, with tea. Oh so nice, especially on those cold days we had over there from October until April. We still had snow in May back in 1988, but not much, because of the Russian nuculear reactor meltdown... it warmed up the atmosphere enough that we didn't get as much snow as normal, but it did dip to below 0 many days where you couldn't even wear earrings cause they would freeze in your ears.

I do still have my favorite candy bag from a candy store (found on every block over there, lol), it's brand has an elephant as it's mascot or logo, and the candies were soooo good. Salt licorice is still one of my faves and I found a candy market here in Allentown that sells them!! I was so excited!

Anyway, so I love Swedish food a lot, miss it so much, and almost any Arabic food you put in front of me. Mediterranean (sp?) food you put in front of me. I keep kalamata olives in my fridge at all times, with the pits in of course, because they have more flavor, and it's a tradition with the spitting out of the seed. I just love different flavors and textures and spices (not spicey necessarily), but the spiced flavor of the food. I find American food lacking in the spice department. It's very bland compared to other cuisines. Chinese hot and sour soup with tofu. So good when you have a cold. Takes some getting used to, but I'll take that over chicken noodle soup any day! I could go on and on about food, but I'll stop here, lol.

[Karen]

Jenn, that was fun, thanks for sharing your memories with us - and its funny, as I always thought of scones as English - we make them at home, too - just slightly sweet, without the giant glaze of sugar some commercial places use. And whenever I bring "real" scones anywhere, they get exclaimed over! One of the few regrets my Dad had was that he never got his own father's pickled herring recipe from him, and the store-bought stuff was just not nearly as yummy. I am now allergic to fish, or I'd still hunt that recipe down, as we were all allowed a tiny bit when we got a jar form him!

[RICHARD]

True story ~ Alaskan friends/family were "outside" visiting Washington, D.C. Someone suggested having Ethiopian for lunch.
They responded, "Ethiopians have food? We always see commercials that they are starving."

I dated a woman who once asked me what my family ate for Thanksgiving.

I told her, "Tacos, burritos, beans, rice and tortillas........"

We do turkey - but....I am a tortilla kinda guy. That would drive my mom CRAZY...I was forbidden to eat Thanksgiving dinner with a tortilla in hand!

[mon]

We had Ukranian food last Thanksgiving for a change and it was delicious! One of my favorite Aunties was so irate that there was no turkey that she would not attend. I thought that was hilarious. It's Thanksgiving after all, I guess turkey, cranberries and tradition trump family shindigs and giving thanks. Maybe she just hates perogies

[Karen]

We had Ukranian food last Thanksgiving for a change and it was delicious! One of my favorite Aunties was so irate that there was no turkey that she would not attend. I thought that was hilarious. It's Thanksgiving after all, I guess turkey, cranberries and tradition trump family shindigs and giving thanks. Maybe she just hates perogies

Did she not volunteer to cook and bring a turkey herself? That's what she would have been told in my family, should the situation arise!

[mrspunkysmom]

I love greek and italian, but these days it's hibachi style food. it's the gluten free thing.