Best dish you've eaten from an 'unusual' country?

[Pyroleus]

Unusual is not the right word! But I mean that we're all familiar with lots of dishes from Italy, India, Mexico, and so on. But what about Bangladesh? Tuvalu? Trinidad and Tobago?

Hit me with the tastiest dish that the average British person won't have heard of! Extra points for a link to a reliable recipe. Preferably without a vital ingredient which is only grown in southern Patagonia and definitely not available in Tesco.

Proper South Indian food - dosa and sambar 😋

Lithuanian 'peasant bowls' which are bread bowls filled with a cheesy garlicky bacon mixture

Proper Austrian sachetorte

Tanzania Chapatis with chicken stew 🤤

No, I think she was describing brik a loeuf scuse the spelling. That's the egg in pastry one.https://cultureatz.com/tunisian-brick/

Well this is Indian but not what you'd get in your average UK Indian restaurant!

www.honeywhatscooking.com/gajar-ka-halwa-indian-carrot-pudding/

A desert made from carrots, served pretty much everywhere we went in Rajasthan and we all loved it. We also had a dish of chapati dough made into balls (they're very firm) then you pour Dahl over them to soften. It was a speciality of a villager stayed in and was a lovely simple lunch.

I once had an amazing dish on the banks of the Amazon in Santarem but I've never found a recipe remotely similar. It was grilled white fish served with rice and vegetables but had a crumble / sprinkle on the side. It was a deeply savoury crumb with coconut and chilli - absolutely delicious 😋

Can I say the entire menu at The Armenian Taverna in Manchester? I have never eaten anything there that hasn't been delicious. I've never attempted to cook any of it myself though.
www.armeniantaverna.co.uk/menu-grid/

Carrot rice pudding is amazing. Thanks for the reminder.

There's a fantastic Georgian restaurant near where I live. Everything is delicious but especially a cheese-filled bread called Khachapuri. Word of warning, it wouldn't be good if you're on a diet!

Senegalese Chicken Yassa v tasty
https://louskitchencorner.freybors.com/2022/10/30/chicken-yassa/

Agree African dishes are great for trying new things. I try and go to any African restaurants that I can
Definitely planning a visit to Bristol asap (as assuming that would be the best place in the UK for this)

My sister's Nigerian flatmate made us Jollof Rice one night and it was incredible. It's one of my regular dishes even 30 years later.

https://www.immaculateruemu.com/classic-nigerian-jollof-rice-the-tastiest-simplicity/

Khachapuri - a boat of bread filled with melted cheese and an egg. It's a Georgian dish that I ate in Moscow and it was amazing!

Lots of votes for khachapuri!!

My friend’s Ghanian mum used to make this and I love this! Peak London childhood experience!

Ooh the crumb might have been farofa - fried crumbed cassava. It’s brilliant with beans and rice. Although never really been able to re-create it in the UK!

I was going to say another cheese bread - pao de queijo from Brazil. You can buy a packet mix to make them. I imagine they would be very good for a morning sickness diet..

Pierogi (Polish dumplings) potato & cheese is a popular filling, also mushrooms. For a sweet version try blueberries or blackberries. They make a real comfort food!

Love pão de queijo. A place I used to pass on the way home from work sold them freshly baked and spread with Dulce de leche. Every day I would tell myself I wouldn't buy one and then I'd catch the smell wafting out of the door and my feet would turn in of their own accord.

I've just googled Farofa and it looks similar. The one I had was a more vibrant yellow but could be because of added spices. I'm going to try to make it to see - thank you!

Pierogi does not need expensive/obscure ingredients but is a faff. Chatted about them with some Poles who admitted they had only made them once or twice, or just as a family tradition on Christmas Eve - they were quite happy with readymade!

Trinidad- brown stew chicken, doubles, macaroni pie, pone, sweet bun, black Christmas cake (don't drive after consuming you will be over the limit) rum punch, curried crab, slow pit roast kid (baby goat, just in case) coconut cake with cream

Mexico - fish Tacos and plain quesadilla, hot chocolate

Quebec - poutine with fresh cheese curds

British Colombia- Nanaimo bars

Ontario - butter tarts, beaver tails (it's a dessert/fun fair food), ice wine from Niagra, summer sausage from St. Jacobs

Creole American food and bbq from lousiana- Gumbo, cornnread and grits

Belgium- beef stew

Balkan food- cevapcici, borek, shopska salad, cabbage salad, rakija. There is an amazing Bulgarian dish that is courgettes marinated in lemon and herbs with yoghurt on top. And in Montenegro had the most amazing clams and mussels steamed with a side of marinated grilled vegetables.

Not an unusual or far flung country but one that Brits don't really seem to have adopted the dishes of, Portugal or more specifically Madeira.

Sorry, it's one of those food blogs with 500 words about how they came across the dish before you actually get to the recipe, but I love Beef Picadinho. The recipe suggests serving with rice but the Portuguese restaurants and takeaways around us usually offer a choice of chips, rice, milho or all three. My preference is milho (a kind of corn bread).

mariascookbook.com/portuguese-beef-picadinho/

Om Ali/Umm Ali. Like an Egyptian bread and butter pudding. https://www.nigella.com/recipes/om-ali

Tahdig, a crispy, Persian rice. https://www.themediterraneandish.com/tahdig-recipe-crispy-persian-rice/

Thai Som tam- a spicy (or mild if you use less chilli), green papaya salad https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/papaya-salad-v3/

A tasty, Sth African dish made with mince. https://tasteoftheplace.com/bobotie/

Sicily is a melting pot with the cuisine taking influence from Africa/Italy/Europe etc. This recipe sounds a mis-match of fish, sultanas, fennel, but it does all work well and doesn't come out fishy or overly sweet and the fennel mellows, so its not an aniseedy flavour once cooked. I use 2 tins of sardines in a tomato sauce. When I didn't have sultanas, I used prunes- which worked well too. https://memoriediangelina.com/2022/01/22/pasta-con-le-sarde/

I ate an amazing meal cooking in a Hangi on the Yasawa Islands in the Pacific. No specific recipe, but here is the wiki link to explain the cooking method: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C4%81ng%C4%AB

Karides Guvec or Turkish cheesy prawns. My favourite comfort dish with tomato, mushrooms, red peppers with garlic and of course some lovely big juicy prawns baked under the grill in an earthenware dish with lashings of feta cheese. It sounds weird but I assure you it is delish!

https://ozlemsturkishtable.com/2013/11/simply-irresistible-baked-prawns-with-vegetables-and-cheese-karides-guvec/

Not exactly a ‘dish’ but Turkish simit are absolutely delicious. You can use treacle or honey instead of grape molasses- made both these recipes successfully
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/guests/simit---sesame-encrusted-turkish-bread-rings
https://www.unicornsinthekitchen.com/turkish-simit-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-9587

ful Medames - Egyptian
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/nov/22/how-to-make-the-perfect-ful-medames-recipe-felicity-cloake

Pinnekjøtt and Fårikål (I've copied and pasted as I don't have the right letters on my keyboard) .
The former is dried, smoked lamb ribs which are rehydrated by soaking and then steamed over birch twigs, giving it a distinctive unusual flavour.
The latter is a layered dish of bone-in lamb and wedges of cabbage, peppercorns, flour and water, slowly cooked to extract maximum flavour.
Both of them don't taste how they look ( with British expectation) , especially when served with white cabbage, braised with white vinegar and caraway seeds.

Whoever said pao de queijo! Yes! My partner managed to get the right tapioca flour and made so many big jumbo ones it put me off for a long time. But they’re absolutely relish and moreish

Korean tteokbokki, loved it!