I mean things that other nations have not really adopted and can't see the attraction in

Argentina is enamoured by dulce de leche (sort of like caramel) - they put it in EVERYTHING! bite into a croissant, and more likely than not, it's FILLED with it


Swedish folks like fresh dill, soured milk, and cardamum in sweets

Americans like cinnamon - even chewing gum and toothpaste! and peanut butter



can you think of any?

how about

ZombieKitten said:

Love Cajeta on one of these

Mmmmm, lets see'

Germany: dill, fennel seeds, nutmeg, and any other spice used for curing and pickling. Potatoes and freshly made dark breads are the staff of life...and here in the north because we live on the North Sea we eat salmon, mackeral, shrimp, sardines, caviar and eel incessantly. In the southern part of the country near the alps and Black forest, the cuisine is based more on meat, usually pork. But after that the cusine is heavy on game -like rabbit, venison, pheasant, ect.

Japan: soy, mirin (which is basically a sweeted form of sake), and dashi- which is a clear broth made from kombu sea kelp are the basis of all traditional foods. Other general ingredients include black sesame (seeds, oils, & pastes), wakame seaweed, nori seaweed, sake, shiso leaves (sort of like a basil mint hybrid), and katsuo bushi (dried fish shavings). Of all the different types of fish they eat in Japan, for some reason i have to say I'm still in total awe every time I see giant ocotopus, sometimes the tentacles are bigger than my own arms or legs!

and I can't remember if it's from South Africa or New Zealand, but since good beef is exorbitantly priced here, as a substitute I eat a lot of imported ostrich steak I LOVE IT! I swear it almost has a texture and taste reminiscent to Argentinian beef!

Ottensen said:

caraway seeds!!!

i was in florida a number of years ago and in most restaurants there was cheese in most things on the menu. i like a little but this was pretty ridiculous. has prob changed by now.

what's the deal with Vegamite?..

Italians like anise and hazelnut in sweets. Honey and chocolate too.

Hungarians are partial to walnuts, apricot, prune, poppyseed and ginger.

I have multi-national tastebuds

China loves their balut eggs--aborted duck fetus eggs.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...nxwV1w0Nqw

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of cachaça (or vodka)

1 tablespoon margarine

1/3 cup warm water with 2 pinches of salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 egg


PREPARE:

Sift the flour with baking powder.

In a large bowl, mix in the sifted flour, margarine, cachaca and egg.

Mix well while adding the warm water until you get a dough. (Or you can prepare the dough in a electric mixer).



Move the dough to a flat surface and knead it for 15 minutes.



Use a pin to flat the dough. Take half of the dough each time and flatten it with the pin. Fold the dough couple times and flatten it again until you get a thin elastic stripe about 6 inches wide.

Lay the stripes down in a floured surface.

Place full teaspoons of your favorite filling evenly distributed on the dough.

Fold it and cut with a glass or a cookie cutter. Pinch with your finger (or fork) the seam to make sure it is closed.



Deep-fry the Pastel at 350 °F for about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Pat dry in a paper towel and serve.



Fillings:

You can fill your Pastel with whatever you like.

In Brazil the most common fillings are:

Ground beef

Heart of palms

Shrimp

Cheese (you can just place a piece of cheese and fold the dough)

Bananas (Yes! I love this one. Just place a slice of banana with some sugar and cinnamon and fold the dough)



Use your imagination and create your own fillings.


SERVE:

Street vendors in Bahia (northeastern Brazil) split the acaraje and fill them with vatapa.
SERVING SIZE: about 10 fried dough.




in brazil they make this all different ways, and it's so good!!!

kimrachell said:

Those sound sooooo awesome!

BlackAdder7 said:

don't worry, it's not on everything, only some people have it in a sandwich, it isn't in anything else usually.