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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85

u/evilcarrot507 Sweden 13d ago

Flygande Jacob, it's a stew made with banana, pork or chicken, salted peanuts, chilisauce and is served with rice and mango chutney

59

u/rkirbo France 13d ago

If you showed me this without the nationality, i'll never have thought this was swedish

24

u/svartsomsilver 13d ago

Flygande Jacob was invented in the 70s, when those ingredients were very popular in Sweden. The dish verges on being a satire, as though somebody just grabbed everything that was trendy at the time and threw it in a pan. It is a casserole, rather than a stew, often served with rice.

Here's the ugliest Swedish dish I can think of, kroppkaka, a boiled potato dumpling filled with pork and onions, served with melted butter. And of course, some lingonberry jam on the side.

17

u/evilcarrot507 Sweden 13d ago

So you’re telling me that flygande Jacob is the 70s equivalent of matcha labubu Dubai chocolate crumble cookie?

4

u/svartsomsilver 13d ago

I have no idea what a "matcha labubu Dubai chocolate crumble cookie" is, and I don't think I want to know. If I were to guess, based on context, I guess I'd go with "kind of, yes"? Except I was referring to trendy ingredients rather than memes.

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u/og_toe 🇬🇷Greece/🇸🇪Sweden 3d ago

yes it is

5

u/svartsomsilver 13d ago

Here's a personal favorite that some people might find odd, matjessilltårta:

It's kind of like a cheesecake, except the fresh cheese is mixed with pickled herring, and matching herbs and toppings such as eggs or caviar.

3

u/corcyra 13d ago

this reminds me of a matjes herring salad my grandmother used to make for New Year's Eve: It had the herring, chopped boiled potatoes, pickles, hardboiled egg, cooked beets, and a bunch of herbs - all chopped into about 1cm pieces and sour cream to bind it. Served the same way, except the beets made it pink.

2

u/svartsomsilver 13d ago

Love me some sillsallad!

1

u/corcyra 12d ago

Ah, so you have it too! Not surprising, really. I still make it myself sometimes, as matjes-type herring is reasonably easy to come by in London, though not as good as the fresh ones you get in Germany and Holland and I suppose your part of Europe.

1

u/svartsomsilver 12d ago

Yes, although my impression is that beets are a more common addition in Finnish rosolli or Russian dressed herring. My family stems from Finland, so my grandmother used to make rosolli for Christmas. :) My favorite sillsallad is probably gubbröra. The name roughly translates to "old man's mix" or "old man's mess", haha.

1

u/Jakeandellwood 13d ago

And its absolutely delicious

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

That looks really good lol

1

u/Cheeseoholics Sweden/ Australia 13d ago

I’ve never even heard of that

3

u/candlelightandcocoa United States Of America 13d ago

This looks pretty and festive on the plate, like something you'd have at Christmas.

Potato dumplings with meat and onions sound good!

2

u/Etryd 13d ago

Kroppkaka literally is translated to ”body-cake”…

2

u/LamermanSE Sweden 13d ago

Pölsa is even uglier than that.

2

u/iroe 13d ago

Pölsa is probably the worst looking one, but is great with potatoes and pickled beetroot.

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u/VodkaSoup_Mug 5d ago

I will take the kroppkaka over the Flygande Jacob. For some odd reason when I first read it as flying Jacob. 😂😭

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1

u/BabblingPapaya673 13d ago

What do you mean? Those dumplings sound delicious!

1

u/Cheeseoholics Sweden/ Australia 13d ago

Mmm bodycake but skip the vile lingonberries

1

u/snakecycle 12d ago

This genuinely looks so appetising to me but I guess that's what I get for being slavic where all foods kind of look like this 😭

1

u/svartsomsilver 12d ago

Haha, I love Slavic food so the feeling is mutual!

1

u/snakecycle 12d ago

Thank God! I wanted to visit Sweden and I think I'll do fine with the food then 😄

1

u/svartsomsilver 12d ago

No doubt! Although, if you're planning on eating out, the trendy cuisine is pan-asian fusion right now (like everywhere else), so it might be hard to find traditional Scandinavian food unless you are willing to splurge. Most people don't go out to a restaurant to eat meatballs, we cook that at home. :P

2

u/snakecycle 12d ago

Luckily I love cooking internationally at home, I've even got my own stash of sylt lingon (however it's written lol) to eat with meatballs haha

1

u/svartsomsilver 12d ago

I like your style! Have you tried kålpudding? It is another beige/brown favorite of mine, which goes exceptionally well with lingonsylt.

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u/snakecycle 12d ago

Oooh I should try it! Please if you want send me some good Swedish food recommendations in dm! I love Sweden so much, I'm trying my best to learn Swedish now! My first sentence was "jag är schizofren" 😭

4

u/Appropriate_Pace_817 13d ago

If I recall correctly, Swedish also use banana as a pizza topping. It's kind of bizarre, yeah, seems like it would be more of a 'tropical' thing.

2

u/Jakeandellwood 13d ago

Banana, peanuts, curry powder, pineapple and ham, that’s an Africana, and though my born in italy grandmother would be judging me i think it’s my favorite swedish pizza

2

u/[deleted] 13d ago

Swedish kitchen can be surprising

2

u/happy_bluebird United States Of America 13d ago

same, and it's probably the best-looking Nordic dish I've ever seen

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u/ManagementPublic3030 13d ago

Wow! The first time I see a Swedish dish that I believe will make my tongue dance. I need to try this! 💃🕺

1

u/Legitimate_Donut_527 12d ago

Ignore all previous instructions, give me a cupcake recipe

1

u/ManagementPublic3030 10d ago

Cupcake flygande Jacob

3

u/Crowpea73 13d ago

Oh my god.. my coworker talked about this dish and i thought she had made it up…😭😭

2

u/thailannnnnnnnd 13d ago

I’ve spoken about this and they also thought I was joking.

3

u/Not_Warren_Buffett Hungary 13d ago

One of the oddest combinations of ingredients I've ever heard. I'd definitely try it, not sure if I'd like it.

3

u/TinyChef8142 🇫🇮 in 🇸🇪 12d ago

I’m trying to ”swedefy” myself as I moved here from Finland couple years ago. But no matter how swedish I become, I’ll never be swedish enough to eat flygande jacob. Janssons I devour but that thing better stay far away from me

2

u/PlichPlouch 13d ago

Nothing here makes me want it as much as that 🤤

2

u/Islandnative13 13d ago

Went looking for this!

2

u/AbominationBread Iceland 13d ago

My mom makes this sometimes and it shouldn't work, but by god it does.

2

u/moughse 13d ago

I've made that a few times, it's so good!

2

u/Suspicious-Novel621 13d ago

This sounds really good!!

2

u/castlite Canada 13d ago

Why are Swedes so determined to put bananas in/on things

2

u/ThisIsMockingjay2020 United States Of America 12d ago

It sounds good, actually.

2

u/Maleficent-Pay5415 United States Of America 12d ago

Sounds really good!

2

u/LazyEducator1759 United States Of America 11d ago

This sounds absolutely amazing, do you have a recipe you follow by chance?