Ask 100 people what their favorite food is and you will more than likely get 80 different answers. Ask 1,000 people and the number grows but not in the same proportions and so it continues. What makes the compilation of lists very hard is getting a good cross section of respondents and so whenever we read a list of the top whatever you can be sure to find people who disagree with it and some who could quite possibly never heard of it.
Online website CNNgo, part of the CNN group of companies recently decided to compile a list of the top 50 foods in the world with some very interesting results. The criteria for how they achieved their results is hidden in mystery, as are nearly all such surveys, so the results should be taken with a pinch of salt (quite appropriate for a food survey don’t you think?). All that we know is that the survey was as a result of asking readers of CNNgo.
A number of the usual suspects can be found – fajitas, tortillas, hamburgers, fried chicken, tacos, chocolate to name but a few and there are some exotic listings as well but missing from the list are some very noticeable regions. There is no mention of French cooking, the place where reputedly the best food comes from.
In 50th place was buttered pop corn from the US (really??!!) with potato chips (crisps for the English) in 48th place which is understandable if the selection was favorite foods but the selection request was for the 50 most delicious foods in the world – just how chips gets in to this category beats me.
In fact when you look down the list you start to wonder as to the quality and intelligence of the respondents to the survey as many of the foods on the list are snack foods or fast foods or at best convenience foods. Could it be that the world’s appreciation of “delicious foods” is being dumbed down by mass processed foods and the addition of salts and sugars as a preservative?
I have eaten all around the world and had some simply sensational food that has left you gagging for more and at other times have spent months looking forward to a special meal.
There is no mention of steak in any format on the list (Hamburgers do not count) nor is there any individual fish. Fish and chips is on the list and Sushi makes it in to the top 5. I have no problem with sushi being there as some of it can be simply stunning but I would have rated sashimi above it and to be frank I think a number of those that voted for sushi really meant sashimi as they do not know the difference.
Peking duck at number 5 deserves a place but not so high and I could never countenance pizza, let alone Neapolitan pizza as number 2 or even in the top 50.
So the result of the survey and the world’s most delicious food is……… Massaman Curry
For those who are unfamiliar with this dish it is a mild curry that is slightly sweet in flavour and was thought to be Muslim in origins hence it is not often served with pork although can be. The 2 most common variants of the dish are chicken or beef and is normally served with rice which when you take in to account the potatoes that make up part of the dish make it quite high in carbohydrates.
The sweetness of the curry comes from the coconut milk that makes up part of the sauce along with the roasted peanuts or cashew nuts which are added to cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, chili and tamarind.
It is definitely a popular dish across Asia with slight regional variations so you would expect to find it up there in a list of 50 top Asian dishes but to head the 50 most delicious dishes in the world highlights a fault in the selection process.
Being ones to double check their facts (how I wish the news channel would do the same) CNNgo did a survey on Facebook and asked people to vote for their top 50 dishes from the list provided and the result was…….
……Massaman curry did not top the poll and only just squeaked in the top 10 in 9th place with 801 votes
out of a total number of voted cast of 35,000.
Top place went to Rendang, drive from Indonesia which only made it to 11th place on the original list but with over 7,400 votes it was clearly the favourite with over 2,000 votes more than the 2nd place dish of Nasi Goreng, also from Indonesia – do I sense a pattern emerging?
All of the top 5 dishes were from Asia which makes you wonder just who has had an influence on the result or whether Asians are just more likely to participate in Facebook surveys.
The next thing to do is to go down the list and see just how many of the dishes you have already tried – I scored 38 which leaves 12 more to go
You can see the full list at http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/eat/worlds-50-most-delicious-foods-067535?page=0,0
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