Ackee and guinea pigs and cachupa and oil down and...
March 2, 2009 12:17 PM Subscribe
Though not usually made official (well, except for Texas*,
which designated chili as its official dish in 1977), most countries have a generally acknowledged national dish that represents its history, culture, flora and fauna.**
For Aruba and Curacao:
Keshi yena, a
stuffed cheese.
Barbados:
Cou cou and
flying fish.
Bhutan:
Ema datsi, a
concoction of
chiles and cheese.
Brazil:
Feijoada, a
stew made from
black beans and
pig parts.
Cape Verde:
Cachupa, a
stew made from
beans and/or corn and
meat.
Ecuador:
Cuy, aka
guinea pig. (
Recipe.)
Grenada:
Oil down, a
stew of
salt meat, breadfruit and
callaloo.
Jamaica:
Ackee and saltfish,
ackee fruit cooked with
salt cod.
Liberia:
Dumboy (according to a 1912 issue of National Geographic).
Myanmar/Burma:
Mohinga,
fish broth with
noodles and
spices/
aromatics.
Poland:
Bigos, a
sauerkraut and
meat stew. (
Recipe and poem.)
Portugal:
Bacalhau (
salt cod).
Senegal:
Ceebu jen, stuffed fish with vegetables.
Sudan and Egypt:
Ful medames, a
fava bean stew served with pita bread.
Vanuatu:
Laplap, a
cake made out of
pounded taro or
yam.
Venezuela:
Pabellon Criollo.
* Yes, I know it's not a country. Happy Texas Independence Day.
** The national-dish status of some dishes will undoubtedly be disputed. 
posted by Mister_A at 12:20 PM on March 2, 2009 [1 favorite]