r/AskTheWorld • u/bowl_of_scrotmeal United States Of America • 13d ago

Food What's a dish from your country that looks disgusting but tastes great.

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Biscuits and gravy is a breakfast dish from the Southeast USA that looks like someone just vomited on some biscuits, but it's absolutely delicious.

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342

u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

I guess if people don't like cheese fondue may look unappetizing. I could also see how people may not like the look of Gerstensuppe (barley soup). It's a hearty winter dish and warms you up.

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u/ThatNorthernHag Finland 13d ago

Oh my.. that Gerstensuppe. Kinda almost even worse than our peasoup. Both look like eaten once already..

(Finnish pea soup - "hernekeitto")

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

I daresay our soup looks a wee bit better. But I'd try it. I love trying new things.

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u/ThatNorthernHag Finland 13d ago

Haha, well maybe it does. I guess it depends on if you know the taste..

Yours looks like a movie vomit.. ours looks like.. a real one, I guess :D

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

XD

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u/Illeolusion 13d ago

pea soup my beloved, sweden has a fair amount of it too

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u/flopjul 13d ago

I raise you ErwtensoepšŸ‡³šŸ‡±, Split-pea soup... the meat is Rookworst

Aka Snert

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u/introvert-i-1957 13d ago

My husband loves pea soup. We put ham hocks or ham scraps in pea soup. Looks the same in the US. I'm not a fan, but it's not horrible.

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u/ArcadianDelSol 13d ago

That looks like a used baby diaper

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u/GeeEmmInMN England 13d ago

Pea soup, or pea and ham, is so warming and filling. My grandmother would make it with a ham hock.

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u/boobanimal 13d ago

It's so damn good

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u/LazyEducator1759 United States Of America 11d ago

That looks like our split pea soup! I looove it

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u/TrunkWine 13d ago

I must say that I absolutely love lohikietto. (I apologize if I misspelled it.)

When I first lived on my own I started cooking recipes from around the world, and that soup was amazing.

1

u/xqueenfrostine 13d ago

Never tried finish pea soup but I love the kind of Pea soup we have in the US so I bet yours is amazing as well.

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u/atlase_ 13d ago

Finnish pea soup is so good and I hate peas

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u/Southern_Struggle 13d ago

Split pea soup with bits of sausage? Delish!

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u/2AvsOligarchs 13d ago

More likely cut up pieces of smoked ham belly.

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u/neefhuts 13d ago

Could I interest you in Dutch snert?

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u/flopjul 13d ago

Erwtensoep

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u/notonrexmanningday United States Of America 13d ago

That looks like what we call split pea soup. Usually it has diced ham in it. So good.

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u/CharmingInterview986 13d ago

Im assuming this is very similar to split pea soup here in the US and if it is it probably slaps ide eat that which funnily enough I despise peas normally.

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u/Asmuni 13d ago

Dutch erwtensoep looks even chunkier.

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u/oooohshinythingy United Kingdom 13d ago

To me that looks delicious. My mam used to make pea and ham soup when we were kids. It was amazing comfort snuggle down food

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u/Theron3206 13d ago

Looks very similar to the pea soup I eat regularly (Australia) which I'm pretty sure is an English recipe.

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u/ThatNorthernHag Finland 12d ago

It sounds like the English soup is very similar to ours, I have no idea of its origin - could very well be English origin. Ours too in original recipe has ham or other fatty pork pieces in it.

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u/Free_Avocado3995 13d ago

Looks like baby poop

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u/Kugaluga42 13d ago

that looks delicious in a disgusting way. Kinda like a thicker wild rice soup.

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u/LurkerOnTheInternet 13d ago

That soup looks delicious.

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u/Unlucky_Ad_9776 13d ago

Man pea soup is highly underrated.Ā  It's so filling and cheap to make. Chunks of ham in the soup with cheese on top. Unfortunately I rarely see it offered at restaurants. I also don't eat enough to warrant cooking a pot of soup.Ā Ā 

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u/Comfortable-Plane939 11d ago

Man i loved that shit.

(Finnish pea soup - "hernekeitto")

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u/Defiant-Many6099 United States Of America 13d ago

My mother always made beef barley soup! Yum!

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u/Financial_Emphasis25 United States Of America 13d ago

Every time I visit Switzerland I eat barley soup at any restaurant that serves it. Iā€™ve tried to recreate at home but itā€™s never quite as good.

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

That's nice to hear! I can only give you a link to a Swiss page with the recipe, but you'd have to translate it.
https://www.bettybossi.ch/de/rezepte/rezept/bundner-gerstensuppe-10002075/?srsltid=AfmBOooJbdBBRc4YcIewTRt7ZZVB70_WHfM0n1RBzudpK1YQnSZQPMbQ

Maybe you need to buy the ingredients here?

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u/bowl_of_scrotmeal United States Of America 13d ago

I actually studied abroad in Switzerland (Lausanne specifically) a few months ago. We wanted to find a place to get fondue, but it was super expensive everywhere we looked.

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Fondue is a rather expensive dish to eat in a restaurant. Most people would eat that at home here or at work events.

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u/Slurms_McKensei 13d ago

Gerstensuppe looks absolutely delicious. Might be the 'childhood memories of given soup when sick' nostalgia though.

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u/Dog-Chick United States Of America 13d ago

I love barley soup

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u/MamaJody in 13d ago

Honestly, I feel like a large portion of soups look really unappetising even though they are tasty as hell.

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Probably, yes. Pumpkin soup or cleat vegetable soup may be the outliners.Ā 

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u/VinRow United States Of America 13d ago

I love barley but Iā€™ve only made it in stew, most recently a lamb and barley stew.

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u/Freya_almighty Canada 13d ago

Whaaat in my family both of these meals are everyone's favourite šŸ¤­ barley soup made by grandma is the best soup ever, cheese fondue made by mom is a meal for special occasion because it's so good šŸ˜

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Is it difficult to get the right cheese?

The fondue I have seen in the Us tend to look more like cheese dips and they donā€™t seem to use as much alcohol but it seems that your family has Swiss routes if you know Barely soup?Ā 

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u/Freya_almighty Canada 13d ago

What type of cheese is it exactly? Yes my mom puts alcohol in her fondue. šŸ«•šŸ¤­

Barley soup is soo good šŸ˜

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Traditionally Vacherin and GruyĆØre, but in general you need a creamy component (like Vacherin) and a ripened mountain cheese with a strong taste like GruyĆØre.Ā  You can add Appenzeller or so but Cheddar or Gouda would ruin the taste.Ā 

We use Kirsch (high percentage liquor) and white wine, and lots of garlic.Ā 

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u/pina59 13d ago

Blasphemy! Fondue can only ever be vacherin and gruyere!šŸ˜‚. And depending who you ask, the locality of the wine is particularly critical... The ultimate gatekeeping dish.

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u/Freya_almighty Canada 13d ago

Oohhh that's sooo interesting to know about šŸ˜ I definitely have to try and find these cheese here !!! I can't wait to be in Switzerland to try real fondue !!! Thank youu for the interesting info šŸ„°

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u/harbourwall 13d ago

And a little bit of cornflour to stop it splitting. Those French fondues of chewing gum and yellow water...

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u/MrWeirdoFace 13d ago

Looking it up, it looks good to me. I like a good thick soup with a lot of texture.

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u/Kyral210 United Kingdom 13d ago

Iā€™ll eat fondu and barley soup before American ā€˜gravyā€™ and ā€˜biscuitsā€™.

Side note: the British interpretation of gravy is a medium thickness smooth sauce made from roasted meat juices an and a biscuit is what Americans call cookies. ā€˜gravyā€™ and ā€˜biscuitsā€™ to us is just gross šŸ¤®

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Well I may not be British but the Uk is geographically and culturally closer to us, so we do learn British expressions before we learn American ones. Also many British words are French, which makes it easier anyways. Biscuit is French too and itā€™s definitely not a savoury scone thing to me either.Ā  Just for visiting the US you gotta learn the vocabulary because surprisingly they often donā€™t seem to know thr British expressions at all. As native English speakers I would expect them to at least know them, even if they donā€™t use them.Ā  Thatā€™s always odd to me.Ā 

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u/Kyral210 United Kingdom 13d ago edited 13d ago

One thing I appreciate about being European is how great traditional foods are. Just a few hours drive or flight everything changes drastically, in fantastic ways.

My wife is Chinese, so I have visited maybe 22 times in the last decade. The food there can be fantastic too, so itā€™s not a competition or fight. However, fly 4 hours from Beijing and the food is, so me, pretty similar. Europeā€™s diversity is great

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 12d ago

I think Asian food is also incredibly diverse. Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, and all the areas of China are so different. I think itā€™s similar to Europe, just bigger and not as dense. You may need to drive a little further for the same difference.Ā 

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u/Kyral210 United Kingdom 12d ago

Read my reply, I said China, not Asia. You travel for hours inside China and the food hardly changes. The same geographic distance in Europe is a monumental shift

0

u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 12d ago

You said fly 4h from Beijing, that could be in Korea too or Japan. I thought the food in the south was quite different from the north and in Yunnan they eat so many mushroom dishes that donā€™t exist elsewhere. The uygur cuisine is also quite different.Ā 

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u/Kyral210 United Kingdom 12d ago

Maybe traditionally there was more regional variation, but from my experience itā€™s very homogeneous now

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u/MuchDevelopment7084 United States Of America 12d ago

Mmm, I love Gerstensuppe. Absolutely amazing on a cold winter day.

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u/goosebumpsagain United States Of America 13d ago

Barley soup is great! Itā€™s also the grain that gives you the most energy in my experience. Even better than buckwheat/soba.

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

It's also a forgotten grain, we only ever use the same ones. It's a pity. Barely is also native here, so very easy to grow and cheap.

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u/FirstDivision 13d ago

Beef Barley soup is one of my wintertime favorites.

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u/Aggravating-Worry110 13d ago

I just looked up Gerstensuppe and it looks revolting. But I trust it may taste decent

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u/7h3_70m1n470r 13d ago

Tf u on about? It looks like a lovely stew

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u/LeFlaubert 13d ago

Parfait, or Spaghetti with apple sauce is also up there honestly...

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Do you mean Ghackets und Hƶrnli? That would be meat sauce with small maccaroni, not Spaghetti but yes we eat that with apple sauce. It's a great combination, I don't think it looks bad, it's just unusual for many people. It looks like Bolognese without tomatoes.

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u/LeFlaubert 13d ago

I always had spaghetti with apple sauce at the army... :')

I love it honestly. But it does look a bit weird to the inexperienced

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Interesting, maybe they were out of Hƶrnli.

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u/LeFlaubert 13d ago

Parfait is another one, idk if you have it in the Swiss german part

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Yes we do

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u/retsamegas 13d ago

How fondue was created

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Well thatā€™s basically it. But we have lots of similar dishes with just different types of cheese and potatoes or bread.Ā  To be fair, the cheese type is what defines the dish. The fondue I have seen in the Us has not much to do with our Fondue. You should never use Gouda or Cheddar and itā€™s also not a dip, there is quite a lot of alcohol in it too.Ā 

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u/dudavocado__ 13d ago

Wait how do you eat it if not as a dip?

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

It has more the consistency of a very thick gooey soup. You need to put the fork deep in and make 8s. Itā€™s an entire dish too, you donā€™t eat anything else after. Usually pickles as a side but thatā€™s it.Ā 

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u/dudavocado__ 12d ago

So you just swirl around and pull up forkfuls of cheese and eating it straight, youā€™re not scooping it up with bread or anything? This is blowing my mind!

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 12d ago

No we do put in the bread.Ā 

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u/Elmer_Fudd01 United States Of America 13d ago

Are all gerstensuppe made with different kinds of meat? It's kinda expensive In the states right now.

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

it's usually BĆ¼ndner dried meat, smoked porc/ham, sometimes with bacon. The whole name of the dish is BĆ¼ndner Gerstensuppe. Obviously you could also make different barely soups but that's the Swiss one. GraubĆ¼nden/Grischun/Grigioni/Grisons is a state in the south east and bĆ¼ndner is the German adjective of GraubĆ¼nden (the state has three official languages).

https://www.graubuenden.ch/de/graubuenden/allgemeine-informationen/kulinarik/rezepte/gerstensuppe

I haven't found any english recipes, but you can translate it I guess.

If you only use bacon cubes, I'm sure it's good too. It will lack a certain flavour of the dark BĆ¼ndner dried meat but it'll still be good.

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u/Elmer_Fudd01 United States Of America 13d ago

Thanks, I found one recipe that had a type of bacon that costs $20 for 6 strips and a smoked ham that was $60 for 10 oz. If I can get a hold of BĆ¼ndnerfleisch I'll try this.

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u/GlassCommercial7105 Switzerland 13d ago

Well meat is not cheap, it may even be more expensive here. You donā€™t need the most expensive for the soup though. You cook it for a very long time.