Your country, must try and avoid foods and drinks.

[RussetRanger]

If you had to recommend, for someone who was visiting your country (or perhaps the reigion, regardless of living in the same or a different counry) an itinerary for food and drinks to try when someone is there what would they be? As well as that, what would you say must be avoided at all costs?

For me, living in Australia here is what I'd recommend;

Vegemite - there is no ambivalence here, it is one thing Australia is famous for.
Kangaroo - as well as emu, you can say you tried the coat of arms.
Blue Heaven milkshake - hard to find, but worth a try as it is an unusual flavour.
Lamingtons & ANZAC biscuits
Flat White - a kind of latte
Chicko Rolls - basically a crumbed spring roll, might not sound appetising but nneds to be tried once.

What to avoid;

Vegemite - yes, it is in both but foriengers HATE this. It is something to try and make your mind up then.
Iced Vovos - ugh! I don't think I ever mindfully had one.
Fairy bread - essentially buttered white bread with sprinkles. A common food served at kids parties, I never got the appeal.

 

[Carbonic Penguin]

I managed to find some Vegemite on the back shelf of a British supermarket when I was visiting, I was so happy! And is fairy bread really Australian only?... wow

 

[Dominic Burchnall]

England;

Try;
Fish and Chips from a seaside restaurant (make sure it's good quality though)
Beef Wellington
Ploughmans' Lunch to this combo; Apple, Mature Cheddar, Wholemeal Bread (from a loaf), Pickle, Ham, and Melton Mowbray Pork Pie.
A Full English Breakfast. And no skimping, hash browns, black pudding, the works.

Avoid;
Late night curries.

 

[Llil]

Finland here and three main things would be reindeer, mämmi, and salt liquorice (or salmiakki).

Reindeer is something I'm pretty sure isn't available in many countries, and proper Finnish salt liquorice is a must try for anyone coming here.
Then there's mämmi, which is an easter dessert served with milk or cream. It looks like this:

Spoiler

You might also want to try the different casseroles. We make them from everything.

As for something to avoid, I don't really know. Maybe some old traditional foods that few people eat anyway. Like this thing called piimävelli, which is a kind of thick soup made from sour milk, clumps of flour, raisins and bread cheese.

 

[Dominic Burchnall]

Sweden.

AVOID:
"surströmming"

From Wikipedia:
A Japanese study has shown that the smell of a newly opened can of surströmming is the most putrid smell of food in the world

Am I correct in thinking this is the canned rotted herring which cannot be carried on a plane or the smell removed for some 10 years if opened near soft furnishings?

 

[bakan]

I managed to find some Vegemite on the back shelf of a British supermarket when I was visiting, I was so happy! And is fairy bread really Australian only?... wow

When I visited Britain I saw Marmite which is essentially like Vegemite.

Being from Germany I wouldn't recommend anything like pig knuckles as I don't like it myself.
But I would recommend some pasta squares, Sauerbraten and pyramide cake ('Baumkuchen').

Something like this could be good, but as I eat and cook more asian stuff and don't really like that much of the 'original' german cuisine I am not the best to recommend food of my country

On the other side our wine and beer is really good and you can choose from a lot of good stuff.

 

[Krantos]

America -

Ummm... Vernors - for comedic effect.


Yeah, I got nothing. All our good food is borrowed from other countries.

Avoid Hot Dogs sold anywhere but Michigan. It's the only state (last I knew) that had any regulations on what parts of the animal they can put in those.

 

[Llil]

America -

Ummm... Vernors - for comedic effect.


Yeah, I got nothing. All our good food is borrowed from other countries.

Avoid Hot Dogs sold anywhere but Michigan. It's the only state (last I knew) that had any regulations on what parts of the animal they can put in those.

You do have that deep-fried-butter-on-a-stick-with-icing-on-top thing, right? That's something I don't think other countries have.

 

[Stalydan]

Well because I'm from England the obvious is Fish and Chips. Make sure it's a good sized Cod too because it's so tasty. Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings is a great meal and it's usually served with Roast Potatos and vegetables. Shepherd's Pie/Cottage Pie (Shepherd is minced lamb and Cottage is minced beef) is a good one to try, especially in the winter.

Avoid... (IMO) Black Pudding (also known as Blood Pudding).

 

[bakan]

snip

I can't help but think about this

Spoiler: the nordish folk loves fermented stuff

[http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40/uuml0.jpg/]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us [http://imageshack.us]

and

[...]
You do have that deep-fried-butter-on-a-stick-with-icing-on-top thing, right? That's something I don't think other countries have.

I just searched for it and it seems to be damn disgusting, a stick with pure fat on it sold as food...

 

[aba1]

Im Canadian so poutine which is actually really good.

 

[Dimitriov]

Canadian things to eat:

-Poutine (French fries covered with un-ripened cheese curds and gravy)
-A REAL CANADIAN BREAKFAST ( just cover everything in maple syrup, eg. fried eggs, sausage, bacon, and pancakes with syrup poured over all of it)
-fresh caught Pacific salmon barbecued
-Beer? lots of really good beer, but admittedly some really shitty stuff too.


Avoid:

-Anything from Tim Horton's (especially the coffee, I don't know why so many Canadians drink that shit)

 

[Llil]

Avoid... (IMO) Black Pudding (also known as Blood Pudding).

If it tastes anything like blood sausages or blood pancakes, then it's delicious. Especially with lingonberries.

 

[Superior Mind]

New Zealand.

- Hangi. Not really a food, more a method of cooking. Roast meat and vegetables cooked underground with rock, steam, fire and earth. Great taste.
- Paua. Known as Abalone in other places. A black-green slug-like shellfish. Really good in fritters. Quite a rich taste.
- Pavlova. Still some argument as to whether this originated in NZ or Australia. I say NZ can claim this and Oz can have the Lamington. Pavlova is a desert like a fluffy cake made from egg whites and sugar.
- Mussels. More shellfish. Actually any sea food from NZ is world class but apparently we're particularly good with mussels.
- L&P. A lemonade-like soft drink.

NZ food is generally really high quality, nothing is factory farmed here. It does mean it can be quite expensive but I can live with it. NZ wine is also at the top of the 'best in the world' group and some of our microbrews are awesome. Breweries Epic and Emmersons are my personal favourites.

Avoid:
- Huhu grub. Don't believe the cheeky Maori **** trying to feed one to you, it doesn't taste like a peanut.
- The cheap beers. Tui and Export are passable but things like Double Brown can be like drinking strained vomit.

 

[Tallim]

Try some proper Scrumpy......

Bovril on toast.... although that might just be me.....

Avoid classic seafront homemade toffee, unless you hate your teeth.

 

[spielburg]

Holland:

Is weed food? No?
Are hookers food? No?

Well then Cheese I guess..

 

[Gardenia]

Norway:
Avoid everything that isn't international!
Just kidding, try:
Fårikål
Pinnekjøtt
Raspeball
Fish soup
Salmon
Moose
EDIT: Oh, and if you get a chance, try some reindeer. It is delicious.

Things you have to try to decide if you love them or not:
Brunost (Brown cheese)

Lutefisk (Dissolves silver cutlery)
Smalahove (Steamed sheep's head)

Avoid:
Rakfisk (Rotten fish)
Gamalost
Most fish that has been preserved by heavy salting.
Rømmegrøt (tastes like sour cream with sugar)