I’m listing countries where I’ve lived and split into Savoury, sweet and drinks categories, some countries have less items because I couldn’t think of other examples. On most places and categories I tried to limit myself to 3 entries.
Argentina
Savoury
Churrasco - Argentinian bbq, it’s just meat with salt and possibly chimichurri (a “sauce” made with some herbs, restaurants around the world seem to call any dressing chimichurri but the traditional one is the best and only one for me)
Fugazzeta - Essentially a thick dough onion and cheese pizza
Empanadas - Similar to a calzone but with more fillings, it can be made in the oven, fried or grilled in charcoal. Traditional filling is meat but also very popular are Humita (corn with bechamel sauce, one of my favorites)
Sweet
Alfajor - two biscuits with dulce de leche in between, usually covered with chocolate.
Postre Balcarce - One of my favorites desserts, it’s a sort of cake with peaches, almond, merengue and other stuff, look it up.
Media Lunas - Sweet croissant.
Drinks
Mate - A sort of tea, drunk in a special cup with a special straw.
Paso de Los toros pomelo - Grapefruit flavoured tonic water.
Fernet con coca - An alcoholic drink made by mixing Fernet (a bitter liquor) with a can of coke.
Brazil
Savoury (northeast)
Acarajé - A Bean paste fried in dendê oil, filled with shrimp, Vatapá (a paste made of shrimp, coconut milk, peanuts, etc) and Caruru (a paste made with okra, personally I don’t like it)
Moqueca - A stew made with fish, shrimp, tomatoes , onion and dendê oil
Beiju - A tortilla made with cassava flour, filled with a variety of fillings.
Savoury (general)
Coxinha - A fried potato dough filled with chicken and usually requeijão/catupiry (a special creamy cheese)
Pastel - Similar to Argentinian empanadas, but the dough is lighter and it’s only served fried.
Feijoada - A stew made with black beans and some meats (sometimes eaten with orange)
Sweet
Brigadeiro/Beijinho - Cooked condensed milk with chocolate powder or coconut.
Pudim - Cooked condensed milk (Yes, Brazilians love condensed milk) with eggs and a caramel sauce.
Paçoca - Sweet peanut crumbly cylinder.
Drinks
Guarana - A soda made from a fruit found in Brazil.
Caipirinha - An alcoholic drink made with lime and cachaça (a typically Brazilian alcoholic drink). Cachaça is not vodka, and a caipirinha made with vodka instead of cachaça is called a caipiroska.
Italy
Italian food is very well known, so I’ll list less known dishes, some of them are still known but not to the same level of Lasagna and Tiramisu.
Savoury
Parmegiana - A lasagna made with eggplant instead of dough and LOTS of parmesan cheese
Panzerotti - Similar to a calzone, but lots more filling and a thinner dough
Putsnesca - garlic, anchovies, capers and black olives tomato sauce, usually eaten with Penne
Sweet
Panettone - A sweet bread with caramelized fruits and raisins
Panna Cotta - Cooked cream topped with some sauce
Pastafrola/Pasta frolla - Sweet tart filled with jams
Drinks
Lemoncello - Lemon liquor.
Aranciatta - Similar to Fanta but I think it’s made with tonic water because it has a bitter taste to it.
Soda - A traditionally made soda with syrup and sparkling water, they have several flavors.
Ireland
Savoury
Guiness stew - A stew made with meat, potatoes, onion, carrots and Guiness.
Drinks
Guiness
Spain
Savoury
Tortilla de patatas - A sort of tall omelette made with fried potatoes and usually onion.
Paella - Seafood and veggies with rice and saffron.
Patatas bravas - Fried potatoes with a spicy sauce.
Sweet
Crema catalana - Custard topped with caramelized sugar.
Churros/Xurros - Fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon, made to be eaten by dipping in chocolate or dulce de leche.
Turrón - A sort of nougat.
Drinks
I’ve only recently moved to Spain, haven’t had any traditional drinks here, if someone has some recommendations let me know.
I’m listing countries where I’ve lived and split into Savoury, sweet and drinks categories, some countries have less items because I couldn’t think of other examples. On most places and categories I tried to limit myself to 3 entries.
Argentina
Savoury
Sweet
Drinks
Brazil
Savoury (northeast)
Savoury (general)
Sweet
Drinks
Italy
Italian food is very well known, so I’ll list less known dishes, some of them are still known but not to the same level of Lasagna and Tiramisu.
Savoury
Sweet
Drinks
Ireland
Savoury
Drinks
Spain
Savoury
Sweet
Drinks
I’ve only recently moved to Spain, haven’t had any traditional drinks here, if someone has some recommendations let me know.