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Do you guys like Japanese food? Do you agree with this rating by Michelin guide? Also in 2009 the Food and Wine list also awarded Tokyo the best food city.
You're talking about fine dining.
From the thread title I thought it would be for Americans, the kind that live to eat. Like spending a life on the couch, eating one bucket of chicken after another while watching Judge Judy.
Do you guys like Japanese food? Do you agree with this rating by Michelin guide? Also in 2009 the Food and Wine list also awarded Tokyo the best food city.
I adore Japanese food , my favourite after French and one of my dream is going around Japan eating my way through the country from small and traditional little restaurants to foodie heaven ones. I was told the best Chefs in Japan marry the very best of Japanese and French cuisine ( most having studied in France) so it sounds like heaven to me.
Japanese food is food of the Gods. I could live on Sashimi alone but I adore Noodle based dishes, gyozas, tempura etc... Japanese food always tastes fresh and healthy to me and though it always leaves you sated you never feel "stuffed" as you do with certain foods like Indian food for example.
Do you guys like Japanese food? Do you agree with this rating by Michelin guide? Also in 2009 the Food and Wine list also awarded Tokyo the best food city.
Are they serious? Paris? When I went to Paris, the food wasn't even all that. It wasn't "gourmet" or as "bourgeois" as they always make it seem in the movies. I'm sorry but the food I tasted while I was there was food I could make at home. And did.
Well I know I'm in other battlefield, but I have to say it. Well, it's not me, it's the Times:
"...all this in a small town (San Sebastian, Basque Country) that also happens to have the best food in Spain (15 Michelin stars shared between eight restaurants). "
I think what makes a city a great foodie place is NOT the high end selection like many will claim...
The thing with high end dining is for middle or upper-middle income types it is too expensive to be a regular event; for most high income types it is often too time consuming to be a regular event. Regardless I don't really consider a city's top end dining scene to be all that relevant for most people evaluating a foodie city/country.
What matters to me:
1) availability of a diverse set of fresh produce/fresh meat/seafood
2) inexpensive, authentic, high quality ethnic cuisine from a variety of places
3) delicious local cuisine (probably more relevant in places with a smaller ethnic population or areas where local cuisine is much more concentrated in terms of the total food scene)
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4) a respectable (but doesn't have to be amazing) high end food scene for special occasions. I don't think a high end food scene that important because these type of meals are occasional enough that you can travel or eat them while on vacation
I can't say I really have any idea what the best foodie country/city in the world is, but determining it based on number of Michelin stars is a really poor way of judging it. Those type of restaurants can fly in the best ingredients from anywhere in the world on a daily basis, so things like local fresh produce is less relevant. But if you want to cook meals at home or dine out at affordable ethnic options, availability of good local ingredients is incredibly important.
I have highlighted the high end selection (Michelin stars) because other criteria are more difficult to compare.I know is subjective but, anyway, in Spain (especially in the Basque Country) we have that feeling, I mean, that we enjoy a very good food culture. I have to say Italy and France are greats too.
I disagree with Japan.
F.e. here, for tourists, the slogans are around the food: come here and taste it.
I think the best food areas, in general, will be areas within Mediterranean climate zones. You have great weather which leads to fresh produce year round, mountains for wine production, and sea/ocean for fresh seafood. These areas will often have a lot of outside influence/tourism/immigration due to their locations.
My intuition would tell me that coastal Europe and neighboring cities and California cities would be the best foodie areas in the world. I am not familiar with how good the food scene is in places in Australia, Chile and South Africa, which also are in Mediterranean climate areas, but the climate part is likely favorable. That said, I don't think culturally those areas are on the same level, but then again, I will leave that to people who are more familiar with those areas.
I personally doubt that Tokyo is a top food destination simply because Japan is relatively closed in terms of immigration which would significantly hamper its ethnic food scene. Sure there will always be good high end food in a city like that but I think it's a relatively small component to what makes a place a "foodie capital." Japanese food is certainly amazing but it is just one cuisine. Plus the climate/land situation is not particularly favorable to fresh produce which is another strike against it.
I can empathize with the need of some for statements like
best cuisine in the world ®
best place on earth ®
best country with hottest women ®
but
best country in the world for foodies ® !!!
I don't need a Prada or a LV to define my fashion statement, nor a Michelin to dictate my taste. If I crave raw seal's heart I shall go to Nunavut, whale sushi Japan, Osso Bucco Milan, Bouillabaisse Marseille, ... und so weiter.
To each his own. To all nations their unique culinary excellence.
French food is the most aesthetic food, no doubts. Every single dish is a little wonder. French ice cream..
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