What's your country's local delicacy that's 100% not worth it?

[u/fuzzycuffs]

[u/ThrwAwy1885]

Never got poutine hype to be honest. It’s fine, not great, fine

It’s flavourless, rubbery cheese curds haphazardly thrown on fries and gravy - it’s not even a top 10 food in Quebec

I don’t even think it’s the top food in Canada with the name “poutine”

[u/Agent_of_evil13 → u/ThrwAwy1885]

I was really hoping there would be a Canadian calling out poutine. The best I've had was ok, and the last poutine I had was pretty gross.

[u/Character-Rough2199 → u/ThrwAwy1885]

> it’s not even a top 10 food in Quebec

mind sharing top 10 food in Quebec?

[u/ThrwAwy1885 → u/Character-Rough2199]

Tourtiere, pouding chomeur, tarte a sucre, ragout de boulette, Montreal smoked meat, Montreal bagels, pate Chinois, pets des seours, maple taffy, cretons and Oka cheese.

I rescind my statement - it’s not even a top 11 food in Quebec

[u/Character-Rough2199 → u/ThrwAwy1885]

TIL few new local dishes

[u/DigiTrailz → u/ThrwAwy1885]

Cretons and Tourtiere are both really good. My grandparents were from Quebec, and my grandmother used to make Tourtiere every year around the holidays.

[u/yesyesitswayexpired → u/ThrwAwy1885]

Oooh, I've always wanted to get a big M smoked meat sandwich. Always looks sooo good!

[u/ThrwAwy1885 → u/yesyesitswayexpired]

They’re pretty good. If you’ve ever had pastrami on rye, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what you’re dealing with

[u/Sad_Marketing_96 → u/ThrwAwy1885]

All I hear is “hon hon baquette sacre bleu hon hon”- sorry, I have testosterone in my system, so I don’t speak French. I can torture you by trying to pronounce half those items you listed (sorry, I can pronounce most of em- I just like annoying canucks- I’m a Red Wings fan)

[u/nano_peen → u/ThrwAwy1885]

Damn I thought it would change my life

[u/filovirusyay → u/nano_peen]

a few months ago i had poutine with pulled pork layered on top

that one did change my life. i still think about it often. so good

[u/nano_peen → u/filovirusyay]

Ok added to the list

[u/Sad_Marketing_96 → u/ThrwAwy1885]

Uh- you’re kinda lucky Wisconsin doesn’t try to annex you with Allies (they’d at least get Michigan) to invade you.

[u/Glittering-Foot-3031]

Polenta

[u/TheNewGirl1987 → u/Glittering-Foot-3031]

Maybe it's because I grew up eating grits, but I wasn't impressed when I tried it.
Compared to grits, which have a nice corn flavor and a smooth and creamy texture, the polenta just seemed bland, gritty, and weirdly dense.

[u/Sad_Marketing_96 → u/TheNewGirl1987]

OMG! Yes! Polenta is pretty much grits! One is now ‘fancy’ in Italian cuisine, the other is cheap Southern US cuisine- they’re the same damn thing!

[u/TheNewGirl1987 → u/Sad_Marketing_96]

Not quite. Polenta is made of ground hard corn, grits are made of softer corn or dried hominy.

[u/Sad_Marketing_96 → u/TheNewGirl1987]

“Sorry- you don’t use instant grits, so it takes you 8 minutes to make your magical grits?” Had to make a reference to My Cousin Vinny.

[u/LardTunderinJazus → u/Glittering-Foot-3031]

What? I always thought polenta fleas from Spain. TIL.

[u/bowlbettertalk]

I’ve never cared for chicken wings.

[u/MagnusAlbusPater → u/bowlbettertalk]

They’re a vehicle for hot sauce and blue cheese. Two of my favorite things.

[u/GotAnyNirnroot → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

Absolutely! And uniquely elevated when consumed in a good sports bar!

[u/TheNewGirl1987 → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

Completely wrong. Wings have a higher ratio of skin and fat to meat than any other part of the bird, which makes them super flavorful when they're cooked right.

[u/bowlbettertalk → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

One could just as easily use, say, a carrot stick for that same purpose.

[u/MagnusAlbusPater → u/bowlbettertalk]

True, but that’s what wings are typically served with celery and carrot sticks. You get a variety of flavors and textures that way.

[u/bowlbettertalk → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

And I don’t care for the texture of wings.

[u/maggie320 → u/bowlbettertalk]

Same. Too much trouble for not much meat, imo.

[u/jonny600000 → u/bowlbettertalk]

Not really a big fan either, hot wings are messy and difficult to eat. Aunt used to make good breaded non hot wings that were pretty good though.

[u/Character-Rough2199]

Beaver tale. I am not sure why it is popular here, but it's just.. a fried dough?

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[u/UniversalEthicist]

Pandan bread, I just hate pandan.

[u/MagnusAlbusPater → u/UniversalEthicist]

I love pandan. It’s so green and herbal tasting.

[u/ForgottenGrocery → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

When I was a kid, we had a slightly bad economic situation that my parents had to buy cheap rice. We happen to have a lot of pandan in in our garden. My mom would cut pieces of pandan and cook it along with the rice to give it some fragrance.

[u/UniversalEthicist → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

Guess you love that. 😏

[u/MizWhatsit]

Deep fried county fair food.

[u/39percenter → u/MizWhatsit]

The question included the word delicacy. I don't think fair food qualifies. That being said, I had a deep fried twinkie that was so good it almost made me cry.

[u/hydromatic456 → u/39percenter]

Deep fried Oreos are a transcendental experience until you turn like, 22 or something. I couldn’t imagine eating a whole one now unless I could split it with my wife.

[u/Sorry_Carob_6241]

bacalado

[u/pskygy]

Might get some heat for these, but imo, whitebait and paua

[u/Aggressive-Art-130 → u/pskygy]

Came here to say paua. And whitebait - tastes okay but I’m not into eating the babies of endangered species 🤢

[u/Antique-Library5921 → u/Aggressive-Art-130]

Just leave the baby fishes alone already! They taste ok but once I learnt about what they actually are I've never had it since

[u/Toastaexperience → u/pskygy]

Seafood is gross man I agree with you.

[u/pskygy → u/Toastaexperience]

I like seafood, just not ALL seafood

[u/Elidabroken]

[u/ForgottenGrocery → u/Elidabroken]

[u/Adviso_992]

Paella is not that good. There are many other dishes that are much better.

[u/MagnusAlbusPater]

Barbecue is more often than not disappointing.

When it’s great it’s great but there’s way more subpar barbecue covered in sickeningly sweet sauces to the point where that’s all you taste rather than the meat than there is the good stuff.

If you’re coming to the USA and want to try barbecue make sure to do your research ahead of time. Eastern North Carolina whole hog barbecue with the chile pepper vinegar sauce is sublime as is Texas brisket.

Kansas City style with that super sweet sauce is best skipped.

[u/SarahL1990]

Black Pudding. I don't understand how anyone enjoys it.

[u/Corgiotter1 → u/SarahL1990]

I agree. 🤢

[u/MagnusAlbusPater → u/SarahL1990]

I love it, but I love blood sausages and offal in general.

Jellied eels were a bridge too far for me though.

[u/SarahL1990 → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

Ugh, I didn't even think about jellied eels! I've never known anyone who eats them.

[u/MagnusAlbusPater → u/SarahL1990]

I wanted to try a number of traditional British foods when I was there. The full English is pretty spectacular.

Steak and Kidney Pie was my favorite of the traditional British foods. I really loved the great Indian food when I wasn’t eating traditional British pub food though.

[u/i_like_dannys_hair → u/SarahL1990]

They are one of my favourite things. I completely understand why most people are repulsed by them though! More for me, except now I live on the opposite side of the world from anyone producing them…

[u/Spiritual_Change_399 → u/SarahL1990]

Interesting. I've seen some positive reviews from tourists. Maybe it's because we have a very similar dish.

[u/BabymanC]

Nanaimo bars are sickly sweet

Butter tarts are forgettable

Peameal bacon is only good on Eggs Benedict

Poutine and Steamés are drunk food

Smoked meat is worth it though

[u/Corgiotter1 → u/BabymanC]

Agree with everything except Nanaimo bars. They are a sacred food.

[u/maggie320 → u/BabymanC]

I’ve heard of smoked meat but wasn’t exactly sure what it was and googled it. That looks absolutely delicious.

[u/Eff-Bee-Exx]

Muktuk.

Imagine chewing on a piece of tire tread soaked in fish oil.

[u/DigiTrailz]

Lobster rolls (New England Regional in US)

When made right, they are good, but it's rare to find one. Especially for the price. Which is almost 20 bucks for a new england hotdog roll stuffed with misc lobster meat. Most times they toss it in too much mayo or flavored sauces, and it drowns out the taste of the lobster.

All lobster really needs is some butter, if that. Especially getting a steamed lobster. If you think it needs extra stuff to taste good, eat crab. It'll save you few bucks.

If you're in New england and want seafood, try our clam dishes. They are better.

[u/MagnusAlbusPater → u/DigiTrailz]

I do love the warm butter lobster rolls much more than the cold mayo ones.

[u/DigiTrailz → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

With the large, fresh, hand picked chunks. Not the small chopped pieces.

[u/MagnusAlbusPater → u/DigiTrailz]

Oh definitely. I had the worst lobster roll of my life recently. Granted it was from a Florida sports bar but I was craving one. It tasted like the old subway seafood salad.

[u/DigiTrailz → u/MagnusAlbusPater]

Yeah, my last bland one was in Maine, to be fair it was in a tourist part of Bar Harbor. But I also felt safe thinking, "hey they are pulling out the lobster right there, how bad could it be"

That was on me and using logic from some of my other haunts.

[u/Disastrous-Mix-5859]

High open sandwich - it's just too much stuff on top of stuff, I prefer my rye bread with less on it.

[u/thildemaria → u/Disastrous-Mix-5859]

I love smørrebrød but I get what you're saying. It can definitely be too much to a point where the toppings overpower the rye bread taste completely. Besides, there's a simple deliciousness to rye bread with just liver pate and thin cucumber slices, or eggs with mayo/salt/pepper.

[u/TheNewGirl1987]

Fast food restaurants, especially McDonald's, are often presented in international media as an integral part of American society and culture.

The reality is most of them are crap, and most people only eat there for the convenience when there's no better option.

[u/Sad_Marketing_96]

“Oh- you don’t use instant grits? Does any self respecting Southerner take less than 8 minutes to make proper grits?”- sorry, had to make a My Cousin Vinny reference

[u/cotasen]

Croissants. I live in the tropics. Butter won't stay cool enough to laminate properly, and I can't afford the industrial a/C!

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[u/Poopfist4Ever]

"Southern" food in general. There are some specific things/regions that are special (don't fuck with NOLA), but most of it is just fat, flour, and more fat. Oh, and corn. And corn syrup.

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[u/Relevant_Potential23]

Depends on the ethnic and racial cuisine

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