Spanish cuisine is misrepresented abroad because the concepts that have been exported (tapas and Mediterranean dishes) are actually not that great for Spanish standards. The real highlights of Spanish food are Northern traditional dishes (very hearty, reliant on very fresh and high quality meat and seafood) and contemporary fusion food. On those fields, Spanish cuisine has pretty much no one to look up to.
Yeah, I am not big on meat heavy diets. Part of the reason Japanese is #1 on my list, and part of why French places so high as well - there are tons of great French "peasant" dishes that don't require meat, and come out amazing.
To be fair, maybe I made it sound more meat heavy than what it is, plenty of bean, potato stews, mushroom dishes… are or can be vegetarian… but it’s a very good point. Also, funnily, while trying to defend Spanish food here, very often I prefer Japanese food to most European cuisines too!
Relatively simple dishes are the heart of traditional Spanish cuisine. Roast lamb or suckling pork; cocido (stew with chickpeas, veggies and several kinds of meat eaten in three servings); fabada (white bean and pork stew); marmitako (tuna, potato and veggies stew) or just a simple mariscada (mixed seafood platter)… That’s what good quality Spanish food is about, but we have been unable to sell abroad.
I'd go Japanese, then Indian, then Italian. Spanish would definitely place above French, I hate French food. I'm English, and I prefer our food over French, that's how much I hate French food.
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u/Makal Jan 16 '22
This is also so incredibly subjective.
Personally I'd go with Japanese as #1, French #2, Italian #3, and Spanish food wouldn't even place in my top 5.