Quick Quiz: Which World Cuisine Should You Try?

After traveling the world for decades, food blogger Claudette Spinelli noticed that most world cuisines can be described by a few key ingredients. If a person has a favorite food, whether meat, vegetable, or fruit, there’s probably a world cuisine that features it heavily, providing new recipes to try, such as those suggested by CNN in a recent Foods of the World article. 

Let’s explore with a little quiz of sorts. Pick the description that best describes the foods you love, and Spinelli will reveal to you which country’s cuisine you might like the most.

If You Love This…

If you love beef, cheese, and grilled or fried vegetables complemented by rich sauces… try American food, especially the quintessential cheeseburger with a side of French fries, which stem from Belgium and France but made a home in the U.S. Also, taste American BBQ, a stewing or broiling of lean meats in a tangy, sometimes spicy tomato-based sauce.

If you love chicken, crisp, fresh vegetables, light broths, and yogurt… try Greek food, which gets most of its exposure from its popular street food, gyros. That’s barely a hint of what the country’s cuisine resembles since most of it consists of healthy meals of baked or grilled chicken, fresh salads, light, water-based soups, and tasty yogurt.

If you love fried food, zingy cheese, and rich sauces… try French food, starting with a vegetable, fruit, and cheese platter, followed by a bisque soup with a croque monsieur or madame, two sandwiches that define a French brunch. 

The croque monsieur consists of thinly sliced ham and Gruyère cheese piled high on slices of French bread and topped with a béchamel sauce, then toasted so that the sauce and cheese melt into one another and the bread becomes crunchy. The croque madame uses sourdough bread and tops its sandwich with a fried egg but keeps the other ingredients of the monsieur.

If you love all things spicy, meat, soup, rice… try Indian food because it uses so many spices that every dish bursts with flavor. This country’s cuisine offers vegan, vegetarian, and carnivore options galore. 

Most dishes come in variations, such as samosas, a famous street food consisting of delicious spiced meat or vegetables stuffed inside a crispy fried pastry. Everything wonderful about food comes together in an Indian soup, called curry. 

Curry ranges from mildly spiced to so hot you need to eat a bite of dosa (a cheese-stuffed pancake) between each bite. Try curry over a bed of steamed rice for a succulent meal.

If you love corn, chiles, tomatoes, onions, and meat… try Mexican food, but not Tex-Mex. Try the real Mexican food, which features little cheese and grilled or pan-fried meats and vegetables. The people of Mexico invented so many variations on the sandwich that it’s amazing. 

Forget the Americanized flour tortillas and try traditional breads made of corn masa. From crisp tacos to soft burrito wraps, Mexican cuisine stuffs grilled chicken, beef, or pork with grilled vegetables into folded or rolled corn tortillas. Expect fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers, and chiles in the burritos and tacos and on the side as salsa or picante.

If you love coconut, basil, soup, papaya, and seafood… try Thai food, which combines some of the most unique flavors of the world to create delicious dishes. When prepared traditionally, Thai food offers a healthy cuisine replete with light broth soups, curries, and stir-fried meats and vegetables. 

Many Thai dishes come in vegetarian or vegan variations, so the cuisine lends itself to many dietary needs. Flavoring spices include lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, according to Spice Rally, so expect a little tanginess in some dishes.

If you love pasta, cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and onions… try Italian food, which ranges from dishes with thick, rich tomato sauces to light pasta dishes topped with oil and vinegar. 

Expect a hearty dose of garlic in every bite and top most dishes with Parmesan cheese. Go beyond pizza, and as Food & Wine suggests, explore antipasto dishes, such as Fritto Misto with Calabrian Chile Aïoli or Erbazzone Reggiano.

Exploring Beyond Borders

Start exploring new cuisines in small towns and rural environments by cooking the recipes yourself. There won’t be a restaurant that serves foreign food, but making it yourself lets a person enjoy the process, smells, and taste of the cuisine. For those who reside in a major city, check that an eatery hasn’t altered traditional recipes to suit local tastes, something that often happens in the U.S. Bon appétit.