Cuisines of the world: my favorites

I must say, there is no national cuisine that I've tried that I haven't found things I liked in. But my favorite cuisines are two that have a (well deserved) reputation for high spiciness: Thai and Szechuan-Chinese. So obviously, I love very spicy food. But this doesn't mean that lower levels of spiciness are objectionable, if the seasoning is done right. The one country I have visited where I never got a single meal that was not very good is Italy. Italian food is not in a category like the two I mentioned for spiciness, but they use the seasonings they do use in a very nice manner. (I never visited Thailand or China, so that is part of the reason these countries don't figure in my "best experience" description. But France, the supposed gourmet paradise, can't hold a candle to Italy. I've had some good meals in France, but some that I would not want to revisit.)

Even countries like Germany, though, with no great reputation, can put out some tasty food. The sausages I liked at Zum Zum (see my earlier posting) were typical of Germany, and in Germany I got some wonderful ones. I think that German food gets an undeserved bad rap; I enjoyed most of what they served me there — probably more than in France!

There are some problem cuisines. Indonesians use a lot of eggs — and I can't abide eggs; even looking at one is a major turnoff. This doesn't mean I can't find a good meal at an Indonesian restaurant, but that I have to be careful. (Similarly, I was with a friend at a Brazilian restaurant once, and I ordered something that seemed interesting from the menu description, only to find it coming out with a fried egg on top! Fortunately, my friend thought it looked more interesting than what he had ordered, and we just swapped dishes. So that worked out OK.)