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National dish

 
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A national dish is a dish, food or a drink that represents a particular country, nation or region. It is usually something that is naturally made or popular in that country.

Contents

Overview

The concept is highly informal, and in some cases the relationship between a given territory or people and certain typical foods may seem vague. Typical dishes can vary from region to region, and the use of the term "national dish" does not always imply the existence of present borders or a "nation" in today’s legal sense or borders; e.g. rösti is the national dish in German-speaking Switzerland and fondue is in French-speaking Switzerland, although the political integrity of the Swiss state is undisputed.

Similarly, countries can share a national dish, because they share a common history and/or language, e.g. traditional food in Austria, the German state of Bavaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic is similar. In several Slavic cuisines in Central and East European countries bigos, borscht, and pierogi are popular and generally associated with one or more of them. Beverages can also be assigned the status of a national "dish", such as beer in Germany, Belgium or the Czech Republic, wine in France, Italy, Portugal or Spain, vodka in Poland, Finland, Russia or flavoured vodka, Akvavit in Sweden. In Poland beer is also popular as a social beverage choice.

National dishes also function as stereotypes. These can be either autostereotypes, describing a nation's self-image, or heterostereotypes associated with a nation in the outside world, or both. While most "national dish" stereotypes are positive to neutral, they can also acquire the status of ethnic slurs.

The French are said to have a particular taste for frog legs. The epithet may refer to the supposed origin of the fleur-de-lys in French heraldry as modified from toads; or to the inaccurate French origins in Frisia, where lily pads are a national symbol.

In some cases, supposed national dishes are similar to urban legends, especially when relating to countries that are exotic from the perspective of another country; for example, the popularity of fried spiders in Cambodia and dogs in Korea is largely overestimated in the West. Urban legend-like national dishes can also turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, as demonstrated by the example of the Scottish deep-fried Mars bar, which is believed to have become at least moderately popular after English media circulated the story of its existence.

Some national dishes in alphabetical order by country:

Country-Dish/Food

A-C

D-G

H-M

N-T

U-Y

Drink

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Andorra.html
  3. ^ Wienna cuisine
  4. ^ http://www.caribbeanamericanfoods.com/?page=island_dishes
  5. ^ http://www.culinaryartsblog.com/index.php/2006/03/17/national_dishes_of_the_world_b_1
  6. ^ http://www.culinaryartsblog.com/index.php/2006/03/22/national_dishes_of_the_world_c
  7. ^ Brady, Emily (2008-11-05). "The Years of Living Nervously". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/nyregion/thecity/07asyl.html?pagewanted=1&ref=thecity. Retrieved 2008-12-07. 
  8. ^ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/archive/archive?ArchiveId=20988
  9. ^ The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion by Eve Zibart (ISBN 978-0897323727), page 181
  10. ^ Israel Handbook: The Travel Guide by David Winter (ISBN 978-1900949484), page 52
  11. ^ From Tapas to Meze: Small Plates from the Mediterranean by Joanne Weir (ISBN 978-1580085861), page 187

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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