[English]
What country has
the best food?
San Marino.
No.
Lichtenstein, no
Gibraltar, no.
Vatican City.
This is A Hot Dog
Is a Sandwich.
Ketchup is a smoothie.
Yeah.
I put ice in my cereal.
So what?
That makes no sense.
A hot dog is a sandwich.
A hot dog is a sandwich.
What?
Welcome to our podcast.
A Hot Dog Is
a Sandwich.
The show where we break
down the world's biggest
food debates.
I'm your host, Josh Scherer.
And I'm your host,
Nicole Enayati.
And today we are
breaking down
the biggest question of
them all when it comes to
food in the world, right?
It is a simple question.
It is.
What country has
the best food?
Yes.
It is a simple question, but
it is a fully loaded question.
I don't think so, Nicole.
I think it's gonna be super,
super easy to figure out.
I don't think we're
gonna figure it out.
And how, how long is
this podcast typically?
45 minutes.
45 minutes.
I think we can really,
really break it down because
so many other people, uh,
have, there are a lot of
places that have said.
We have found the
world's best food.
Yes.
And, and people I have
learned are taking that
as gospel, which is what
inspired this podcast.
Yes, yes, yes.
I know.
I, people have said that,
uh, Anthony Bourdain says,
send Sebastian is the
greatest food city in the
world, and people like that.
But I don't know, man.
I'm really curious to
find out what we think.
Yeah.
Is the best food in the wor
the best food country in
the, is it food country?
It's cuisine.
What do you, what is cuisine?
What is cuisine is is like
Latin for cooking and food.
I don't know.
None of this means,
it's so weird.
None of this means anything.
It's all so, so, so stupid.
Because for me it's
like, it's like you
can't rank these things.
You can't, because for
me it's like Kurdish food
and Persian food, and then
there's Uzbek food and
then there's like, and the
Kurds don't have a country.
Exactly.
And it's like Persian
food is different than.
INE food, Mediterranean food
or even the food of like the
body politic of, is it called
the Islamic Republic of Iran?
It is the iron, you know,
like Persian food is different
than the Islamic Republic
of Iran food because Persia
dates back thousands of years.
Right, right, right.
And the current sovereign
country of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, yes,
is, is different than
worldwide Persian culture.
But yeah, most people from
around that I've met culture
call themselves Persian.
You know, it's, yeah,
that's, there's a lot
of factors here, but no.
Websites with.com.
At the end of them, say,
we ranked the number one
world's best food country.
Please like us.
Please share.
Please share this.
Uh, this was all inspired
because I was talking to a
very smart person, a person
who were remain nameless
and they were from, can
you tell who they were?
Were Morocco, I'll
tell you after.
Okay, fine.
Um, and I hope they
listened to this, uh,
but they're from Morocco.
They work a big corporate
job, and we were casually
chatting and they said, well.
You know, Moroccan
food was recently named
the best in the world.
Hmm.
And I was like, by who?
By who?
And he goes, I don't know.
Oh no, it was Gordon Ramsey.
Oh.
I was like, what do you mean?
Gordon Ramsey took all like
206 sovereign nations or
whatever there are now,
I guess, and, and ranked
them all according to what?
He goes, well, no, he said
it was the best, but it was
like based off of real data.
I was like, real data.
Where?
What data?
What data?
What are you talking about?
Data or data?
I say data.
I don't know why.
Okay.
I say data, but I
like to say datum.
Oops.
I like to say datu.
'cause data is plural.
Well, data is just
several datums.
Well, you say
tomato, I say tomato.
Let's call the
whole thing off.
But anyways, like, what,
how do you rank this?
Do you, uh, put a microphone
next to every person's
mouth as they're eating
this country and rank
how many times they went?
Hmm.
Do you take like actual
hard data of like how much.
Fresh produce.
Do people have access
Right to right.
Or how many people say
they know how to cook?
What are you actually doing?
And I found out the
thing he was talking
about with Moroccan food.
Mm-hmm.
That Gordon Ramsey said,
Gordon Ramsey did not
conduct whatever methodology.
It was something, is it.
Puberty or puberty.
I call it puberty.
I call it puberty too.
Surely.
It can't be puberty.
No, it must be puberty.
Puberty.
Puberty is, it's always
called it puberty.
It's like a British
media company, and they
have just millions upon
millions of followers.
They just did like an
Instagram poll where
they asked people,
what do you think is
the best food country?
And it was like
a bracket style.
How many country?
Well, how many did they do?
All 206 Sovereign nations?
I, no, they certainly did not.
And I don't know how
exactly they did it.
Hmm.
Then in the finals you ended
up with Morocco versus Mexico.
Ooh.
And Morocco won
both M countries.
Both M countries also.
Check this out.
Both got delicious food.
Really?
D I'm a fan of both.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They both deserve to
be there in the finals.
I agree.
I agree.
Morocco won 60 to 40.
Oh.
And then somehow Gordon
Ramsey got involved.
They must have paid him.
To like give this big
announcement reveal.
I've seen the video.
Yeah.
Where he was just like,
congratulations to the
country of Morocco and
then, and then Sonny from
Best Food Review Show ever
best ever food review show.
Okay.
You ever watch his videos?
He travels the world.
He have a bandana.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Iconic.
Love him.
Love him, love Sonny.
He made a video that was like.
Number one food
country in the world.
Is it legit?
And then he went to Morocco
and said, Morocco was
recently, man, the number one
food country by Gordon Ramsey.
Um, by way of puberty,
by way of puberty, by
way of an Instagram poll.
And so all of these things
are very, very silly.
Also, Sonny's video
in Morocco was great.
And he was just using that
as like a way in, right?
Yeah, of course.
And, and it probably
gets you more clicks,
of course, the mail.
To get you, you know, more
people watching What is
ultimately a great video
about food and culture?
I will never knock
Sonny's Hustle.
I love absolutely that.
I love all the content
that he produces.
But Josh, I think we need
to see if you know what
the Taste Atlas's top 10
cuisines are in the world.
Okay, I'm ready.
Are you ready?
This is the top 10 cuisines
according to Taste atlas.com.
Taste a completely
random website.
Um, yeah, random
as hell, I'd say.
Yeah.
Great.
Okay.
You wanna start?
Yeah, go for it.
I'm familiar with Taste.
Atlas's Game, Italy.
Okay.
Italy is number two.
Spain.
Spain is number four.
France is gonna be in there.
France is number eight.
Uh, let's say Mexico
Mexico's three.
You're doing really good.
You're on fire.
There's gonna be something
dumb in there like Greece.
Greece is number one.
Greece is number.
What do you mean?
Greece is number
one as of now.
As of right now, according
to their document
and their website.
It's number one.
Japan is gonna be in there.
Oh yeah.
Duh.
That's number nine.
How many am I
missing right now?
1, 2, 3, 4, 4. I didn't
mean to call grease dump.
Greece has like
wonderful food, but to,
you know what I mean?
I'm missing four.
I need four more.
Yes.
Um, God is Korea.
Korea, South Korea.
Korea is not on there.
Okay.
Uh, people's
Republic of Korea.
No, nothing about Korea.
The Korea.
Top 10, North
Korea, democratic.
Okay.
Top 10 food countries.
Um, I want you to think, I
want you to think of a country
that you said, but it's
like a neighboring country.
I. To one of the
countries said Portugal.
Yes.
Portugal is number five.
No.
Do what?
Spain is number four and
Portugal's number five.
How do they Oh, USA
is probably cracked.
The top 10.
No, the top.
The United States of America
did not crack the top 10.
I believe it's 12 or 13.
Yeah.
That's ridiculous.
Uh uh, give, gimme some
hints about what, okay.
Um, this place.
So we like India.
No.
One point, no, no, no.
7 billion people.
They couldn't make food
better than Portugal.
So this is a country that has
almost the same, if not more
people than India, China.
There we go.
China's number 10.
Incredible.
And then you have two more.
Thailand.
You're so close.
What do you mean?
I'm so close?
You're close.
Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar.
We keep going.
Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia's.
Where?
Number seven.
Pakistan.
Bangladesh.
No, no, no.
Okay.
Okay.
And now, now you,
Bhutan, I really need
you to get this one.
I need you to go Egypt into
the recesses of your mind.
And I need you to think
of a, I was gonna say
a song that I like.
I need you to think about food
that we both really like, but
we don't really have in this
part of, um, Los Angeles.
Too much.
Dominican Republic.
Oh man, that is such a good
guess, but you're so far off.
Cuba, so far off.
Nigeria?
No.
What do you mean for gimme?
It's a, it's in a song.
No, I just like the
music from this place a
lot from this country.
Sorry.
My ear bitch.
So much fun.
You like the music
from this country?
You like a lot of music?
I do, I do.
Puerto Rico is
making the best.
They're not No, no, no.
Sovereign state.
I you to go, I need you to
go more towards the, the
middle of of the, the east.
The middle of, oh,
the Middle East.
Yeah.
Uh, but it's not always
known as like a Middle
Eastern country, Georgia,
Republic of Georgia.
No, no, no, no.
I don't know.
They got good food.
Armenia, you're so close.
Azerbaijan, you're
so close to Armenia.
Uh, what do some
people dispute this
country sovereignty.
Think about we are in
an area that has a lot
of Armenian people.
Yeah.
So what is the Iran?
No, what is the like, not
the inverse, but what is
the inverse of Armenia?
I would say Azerbaijan,
they're sort of
diametrically opposite.
Go back, go back, go back.
Go back in time.
Yeah.
I mean they were
a Soviet republic.
Go.
Keep going back.
The Ottoman, Turkey.
Oh my God.
The Ottoman Turks,
that's Turkey.
You're so correct
to say go back.
Turkey is number six.
Turkey.
Okay?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So right now, according
to taste, Alice
Greek is number one.
Italian is number two.
Mexican is three.
Spanish is four.
Portuguese is five.
Turkish is sixth,
Indonesian is seventh.
French is eighth.
Japanese is ninth,
and Chinese is 10th.
What the hell?
I dunno.
This is what the
side says, I think.
I think.
Okay.
How do you think are
the best cuisines in the
world when we are talking
about ranking anything?
Yeah, so, uh, you don't follow
college football very closely.
I don't Shocker, but
let's, let's go back to.
To college football
real quick, because
this is important to me.
Sure.
So now there's a college
football playoff.
They're expanding it, but
it was eight teams and, and
what they did, eight teams.
Eight teams.
There's only eight
college football teams.
No, they, they make the
college football playoff.
Okay.
But it used to be Nicole,
where only the top two
teams in the nation.
Mm-hmm.
By ranking, which is
subjective inherently.
'cause a lot of teams say
five teams were undefeated.
You needed a way to figure
out who the top two were that
would play in the national
championship, which has
millions of dollars interest.
At stake for like,
you know, okay.
Uh, branding and
marketing and whatever.
And so you had to have
a way to figure it out.
They used to do like a poll.
Mm-hmm.
The Associated Press
poll or the coaches poll.
Okay.
They would just pull all
the coaches and go, who
do you think the best is?
Okay.
You know, the coaches, and
they weren't, but they, or
the coaches or the Associated
Press, like there was a, a,
a membership of gatekeepers.
Okay.
That they would ask, but
then it find it's the
Hollywood Foreign Press.
Exactly.
It's similar, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's even Oscars are kind of
weird to rank art, you know?
But anyways, college football.
Then they were like,
there's a kind of bias here.
People seem to be
biased towards the
teams from the south.
Um Oh really?
And so what they did is
they created a computer
program called the BCS, the
Bowl Championship series.
Okay.
And so they had a computer
program that like they
took, this is in like the
early mid two thousands.
Okay.
Right.
Just post.com, boom.
And they're like, we
took all these different.
Factors and this way
is to take the human
element out of it.
Okay.
And it just gave funky results
and everyone hated it, and
nobody knew how it worked.
Mm. And so then they went
back to a poll, and then they
went back to a committee.
So there's like never a
good way to rank something
that is subjective.
Right?
Yeah, I, I agree with that.
The way.
But what I love is when
people take insane obscure
methodologies and go, this
is how we're doing it.
'cause I think that's what
Taste Atlas does well.
They say, go ahead.
They say it's based on
477,287 valid ratings for
15,478 foods in our database.
Correct.
These cuisines have
earned That's nuts.
The highest average scores.
That's nuts.
So what they'll do mm-hmm.
Is they'll be like.
They'll have taste atlas.
We'll just have a a,
a post for like carb,
spaghetti, carbonara.
Right.
And people will rate spaghetti
carbonara out of five.
Yes.
And then we'll have
another one for like.
Pizza Nana or something.
Uhhuh, and they'll
rate that out a five.
And then they combine those
average ratings out of
five for individual dishes.
Mm-hmm.
Which one more people
are gonna know about
spaghetti carbonara.
Or like spanta.
Yeah.
Than they are like Lac.
Yeah.
Lac.
Or like Ada from Brazil.
Absolutely.
Or whatever.
And so it is kind of
a very strange thing.
So if you look at like
United States at eight, okay.
We have a lot of
great carbonara in the
United States, right?
Sure, we do.
We have, we are a
nation of immigrants.
All of the best food in
the United States is here.
States generally came from
somewhere else initially.
Sure.
Yes.
Right.
And so if you're to like,
what do you put there?
Hamburger, hot dog,
because pizza's already
taken up by Italy.
You know what I mean?
Well, so this is a very
strange methodology.
Well, they say that, well,
American cuisine was 13
ranked out of the a hundred
best cuisines in the world.
How did Lithuania beat Taiwan?
I think I don't,
I have no idea.
I have no idea.
But like for example, they say
the must try items in America
whenever you visit America
or wanna eat American cuisine
is American Lobster, Pacific
smoked salmon, wild Alaskan
salmon, south Texas barbecue
and boiled Maine lobster.
So these are all, sorry, what?
Sorry.
So if you say those again.
Sure.
So if you were to look
at this, Tates at is a
hundred Best Cuisines of the
world, Uhhuh, America's 13.
Yeah.
It says the must try
items if you wanna try.
American cuisine are
American Lobster.
Then what was the
last thing you said?
So American Lobster has a 4.8
rating and then a boiled main
lobster has a 4.5 rating.
Yeah.
It's almost like this is
not a good way to conduct
any sort of scientific
research, but, but like, but
my, my thing is, is like.
As far as like, I know the
way that I've always like
quote unquote ranked food like
Italian, Mexican, Japanese,
those three have always been
circulating on my list or what
I see as the most popular.
Yeah.
Well, most, most popular is
like a way that you could
likely rank, but not best.
Of course.
Yeah.
Best food is so, so,
so stupidly impossible.
Yeah.
To say you shouldn't
even go down that route.
I mean, even talking about
the Oscars, like it's very
silly to kind of like rank.
Sure.
Art in a certain way,
and there's politics
behind all this.
Always.
Yeah.
But certainly like
most popular is a thing
that you could track.
Like most restaurants per
capita, would that work?
Like Yeah.
Or even the now delivery
orders on DoorDash.
Right?
Yeah.
Is such an easy way to do it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But like even the politics
behind a lot of that mm-hmm.
Is really interesting.
The reason Thai food.
Is so popular.
Like I don't think
there are that many
tie people in America
comparatively to any other.
Um, like ethnic,
ethnic backgrounds.
Mm-hmm.
Especially from like, you
know, or Southeast Asia.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
Sure.
But the Thai government did an
incredible job of like, they
had a massive PR campaign.
Right, right, right.
Remember you told
me about this Yeah.
To basically like, um, spread
the joy of Thai food and
then use that as a way to
get tourism back to Thailand.
Sure.
So they were basically
like paying people to
open Thai restaurants.
Yeah.
And in LA we see a lot of
'em, like the Thai embassy was
doing this, which is awesome.
So Thai food.
It's one of my favorite
cuisines in the world.
But also I was only
exposed to it because
of this like government
program by Thailand.
Which rules, right?
Yeah.
But we don't, like
for example, like the
countries around Thailand.
You have Cambodia.
You have Laos.
Yeah.
Do I don't see any Cambodian
or Laotian food Very
go to Long Beach baby.
But that's what I'm saying,
like, like if you were
to like pull PanAm pen
noodle Shack, what's up?
Like if you were to pull like
the average American that
lives in like Nebraska Yeah.
They would know Thai food.
Because that would probably
be more popularized
versus like Laotian food.
Oh, a hundred, a
hundred percent.
It'd they'd be like,
what is the difference
between the two?
But whenever I think of
the difference between
Thai food and, and Laotian
food, because we have that
knowledge of, of like food.
'cause we work
with it so often.
Like I experience latian
food as being a little
bit more intensely
spiced, intensely sour.
While Thai food, at least
through the American lens, has
been like, there's like pad cu
and Pat Thai noodles and like
peanuts and stuff like that.
So the, at least according
to recent census data mm-hmm.
They're, damn,
this seems crazy.
This seems low.
253,000 Thai immigrants,
or was that only that
came over this year?
Maybe only this year.
Because that's, maybe,
that was in, in 2023.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So in 2023 anyway, 20 23,
250 3000 from Thailand.
Mm-hmm.
161 from Laos,
150 from Cambodia.
So like more combined Latian
and Cambodian immigrants
than Thai immigrants.
Mm-hmm.
But like the outsized
representation that
Thai food has, you know,
gives people like a
skewed perspective on it.
Right.
Which is it like even
looking at, um, Indonesia
combining like Indonesia
and Malaysia, which they're,
you know, different cultures
and different foods.
Right.
But more similar to each
other than, you know, say.
I don't know, like a, a
Thai and like Chinese.
So we have to start saying, I
wanna try Cambodian food, or
let's go get Cambodian food.
Well, I do, I do that a lot.
But we have that ability.
Good.
But talking do that,
talking about thero.
The royal wee.
The royal wee.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
I wanna ask you about, uh,
French cuisine, because
I know that this is
currently number eight.
Yeah.
In the top 100.
What do they say the best
French foods to try are?
Lemme, lemme pull that up.
Baguette.
Duck out.
Lauren, let me tell.
Let me see because I know
you have a bone to pick.
With French being on
this list at all, I don't
have a bone to pick.
With French being on the list,
I have a bone to pick with the
way that I think culture has.
Lionized French food over
other cuisines, do you
think, for a long, long time.
Do you think it's because
it's been codified in a
very specific way with
like the brigade system?
I think so, yeah.
I mean, and um, like,
uh, what's his name?
Ette.
Like there's a lot of
like famous French chefs
throughout history.
Mm-hmm.
You know, um, and these people
have been written about, so
you look like, um, I believe
Maria Wan Rem was his name.
Mm-hmm.
And then that led into
like August Escal Scalier.
Sure.
And so Escal like wrote
down, you know, the, the
French mother sauces and
all their derivations.
So there's a lot of like
written record in history
that has made it into like
western sort of education.
Sure.
Yeah.
Sure.
And then also, um,
the Michelin Guide,
which has been.
You know the number one
gatekeeper, even more than
Taste Atlas or Gordon Ramsey
via puberty.com pub, right?
The Michelin Guide, yeah.
Has been the number one
world gatekeeper in terms of
naming the best restaurants.
Yeah.
Michelin is a
French tire company.
Right.
And the guide was literally
meant to say, Hey, everybody,
hop in your cars with your
new Michelin tires, travel.
Yeah.
And drive to restaurants.
If it's a three Michelin
star restaurant, that means
it's worth the longest drive
you can take in our tires.
Right, right, right.
And so even like from
that origin mm-hmm.
You know, it was all
based on French food.
Do you like French food?
I do like, I like all,
this is the other thing.
All food is great.
I love all, if not the
majority of foods and if
I'm, I was just in, in
France or the Cannes Lions
Festival and like That's
right, you were in France.
And anywhere I travel I just
try and get the local delight.
Right.
I went what's local to Kahan?
Local to ka?
Yeah.
Is like, um, it's very like
ol food and so a lot of it,
and we're on the seaside.
Mm-hmm.
So like one of my favorite
things I got is called Pan.
Okay.
What is that?
It's just a sandwich.
I was getting it from
like seaside shacks while
like sweaty on the beach.
How fun.
Okay.
And it's just like a like
round, like bull, like a
sourdough kind of round loaf.
Mm-hmm.
And they cut it in half and
they just slap on a bunch of
like fresh like tomato, onion,
greens, some sort of aioli.
Yum.
And then a bunch of
tuna anchovies and
chopped hard-boiled egg.
God and, and it's, and just
all it's soaked in olive
oil and vinegar and it's
just this like just bright.
It's basically a sise
salad, which is in bread.
In bread, yeah.
That you're like eating
on the beach sounds.
And so you know, would
I rather have that or a
carne asada burrito in a
vacuum carne ADA burrito.
It's what I grew up on.
Can I tell you something?
But I'm in France.
I won't eat that.
If you told me any
combination of food, the
fact that you explained
that you were sweating on
the beach and your seaside.
I probably would've
said it was delicious.
A hundred percent.
It's so crazy to me.
I once, when I was at the
Jersey Shore, I was sweating
seaside of the beach,
eating a fried Taylor pork
roll sandwich with white
American cheese and it was
romantic and delicious.
It was the local fair.
Exactly.
And I was on the beach.
Right.
Yeah, like any food is great.
A, a food wouldn't
exist unless it was
delicious, right?
Yeah.
You travel anywhere
in the world.
If you're eating a local
fair, you can find something
delicious according to Taste.
Taste Atlas, who is
our Bible and God.
Now the must try items from
French cuisine are Meal de
Provence, which is just.
Proven salt honey.
They like, they're,
they're ranking.
I did eat honey
in, in Provence.
Delicious.
It's okay.
They have a lot
of lavender honey.
Exactly.
It's lavender honey.
That's great.
But um, but yeah, that's nuts.
That like they're
ranking lavender honey.
A product made by bees.
I know.
Versus like boiled Maine
lobster shot to Brion.
Uh, Saint Fe, which is a
type of, um, soft cheese,
rotan de, which is also
another soft cheese.
And then cru it's bread, and
mushrooms with a cream sauce.
Bizarre.
So anyways, there are
people that are like taking
these rankings 'cause they
will just Google best food
country in world and an
image of this pops up.
Mm-hmm.
And it's all very, very silly.
Um, what do you love
about French food?
I love butter.
If you must know the truth.
I just love, it's a
combination of butter
and salt that is just
so delicious to me.
A lot of countries got butter.
A lot of countries got salt.
You're so right.
You're so right.
Maybe it's just like this
weird fetish fetishization
of like, yeah, French food
is the best food, but I've
had it recently and it hasn't
been, it hasn't like tickled
me the way that it used to.
Yeah, it doesn't, doesn't, it
doesn't do it for me anymore.
The way that it used
to, unfortunately,
and I think it's just.
It's just not fun anymore.
It's not fun food anymore.
Like going to eat
sea snails at a, at a
Vietnamese restaurant.
That's fun.
That's good.
Those are punchy flavors
and delicious meats that
I don't have all the time.
But something like
French food, it's like.
I had duck so much in culinary
school, like, yeah, yeah.
How many times can I eat duck?
How many times can I eat beef?
How many times can I eat an
airline breast of chicken?
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just not
the same anymore.
For me.
It doesn't, it doesn't like
tickle me the way that it used
to, but something like eating
those really intense flavors
from like Vietnam and things
like that, that's something
that excites me thoroughly.
And also I love Persian
food again, which is nice.
Like I think whenever you have
a food repeatedly growing up
with it, you get sick of it.
Yeah.
Which happened to me.
A few years ago, but now
I like call my mom asking
her to make me like the
classics a lot of the
time, which is great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And even when we talk
about French food, it's
somewhat similar to talking
about American food.
Right.
France is not a monolith.
There's so much
influence in France.
Some of the best food I had
when I was there mm-hmm.
Was Lebanese food.
Oh, well of course.
Yeah.
Naturally, you know, it's
Lebanese, it's, it's North
African, and then chefs
are also using like French
technique and French
products using flavors.
From North Africa.
From West Africa, right.
From Southeast Asia.
Right.
Just like chefs are in America
and chefs in Mexico are, are
using, you know, techniques
and ingredients from Korea.
When I, when I went
to, uh, to Cabo mm-hmm.
Like in Baja, California,
west Coast, there was this
like big wave of like Japanese
flavors at like Right.
You know, their
local kind of like.
Fancier, kinda like
hipster taquerias.
Is that called ni Nikkei food?
What is it called?
Nikkei cuisine is a fusion.
Uh, wait, Peru's
not on this list.
Yeah, I was about to say.
There's no Peru on here.
Wait, literally,
where is Peru?
A pers number?
Peru finished 10th in 2022.
Lemme see where
Peru is right now.
Ah, um, Peru, uh, Nique
cuisine is a fusion of
Japanese I Peruvian food.
No, Matsu.
Yeah.
Was the one really
popularized it.
Mm-hmm.
If, if we were to try
and create any sort
of objective ranking.
Okay.
Do you like, do you think
there are any actual criteria
that you could put on a
ranking that would make sense?
No.
You know, even in terms of
like no available produce,
no, because even countries
that don't have available
produce can still make
incredible food out of that.
I think Italian
should be on the list.
That's what you
know is Italian.
Should be top 10,
Italian should be top
10 no matter what.
It can be number one,
it could be number 10.
It just needs to be there.
I, I want to see, here's,
here's data that I wanna
see and I think we could
probably find it is like what?
No, 'cause that'd
be heavily skewed.
I was gonna say, what country
like spends the most amount
of time cooking or eating,
or like who is simply
devoting the most time to
cook time and energy to it?
Right.
That's hard or disposable
income because Americans,
despite the fact that our
food seems very expensive.
We spend like less of
our disposable income
on food than I believe
most developed nations.
That's crazy to me.
You know, and, and again, we
also spend a lot more money
on healthcare, so there's
other offsetting costs.
Um, but like other
countries really do put a
lot of thought into food.
And that is something that
I've always loved right.
About Italian food and
Italian people right.
Is they care so much.
Right.
And I think that
reflects in the food.
Yeah, I agree.
And also like the, the
items that they use, like.
Tomatoes like beautiful,
fresh, gorgeous tomatoes.
Tomatoes invented in Italy.
No, they weren't
native of Italian food.
No, they're not.
But now they're known for,
if you think of Italian food
and tomatoes aren't like in
the top five of the foods
that you associate with.
With Italy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would say that
you're, you're just
being a contrarian.
Yeah, no, I get that.
But like, something like, like
beautiful breads, beautiful
tomatoes, beautiful cheese,
beautiful fresh produce.
Like those things are just
good foods to have at your
disposal and to combine
them all into like a pizza.
I think it's like a winning,
it's, it's a win for me.
But I think you could
say that, you could say
that by any country.
You could say that
about, uh, Vietnam.
Right.
Be beautiful herbs.
Beautifully made noodles.
Yes, you could, you know,
beautiful fermented sauces
like cheese is just.
Fish sauce in Vietnam.
You're correct
in a way, right?
Yes.
It's umami.
Sure.
You know, you could say
that about any single
country, but you could
say that about Senegal.
Right?
Beautiful.
Like, uh, grains with their
steamed millet with beautiful
dried crawfish powder.
Right, right, right.
Every country just
has beautiful food,
which is awesome.
You know what I mean?
So what country do you
think has the best food?
I like.
Like what?
What country should be on a
top 10 list no matter what.
How about that?
I won't tell you
what I won't ask you.
Yeah.
Non-negotiables to
be on a top 10 list.
Non-negotiable,
Mexico for sure.
Okay.
Peru, for sure.
Okay.
I agree with Italy.
I love how I say this is
futile and you can't do it.
And now I'm doing it.
Yeah.
You, I mean, India just
because it, it's such a
massive country and also such
beautiful history of cuisine.
I know.
Um, I would wanna
like spread this out.
Right, right.
I think Japan and
probably Korea too, maybe.
I mean.
To be honest, Tokyo, but I
couldn't leave off Vietnam.
Tokyo is one of the best food
cities I've ever been to.
Vietnam.
Vietnamese food is just
like, has my heart, you
know, there's just every
country I could name
has such delicious food.
To be honest, I think
this is impossible.
South Africa is the
best produce I've ever
had in my really life.
Dude, the, the avocados from
Li Poppo in South Africa,
dude blew me the hell away.
The best.
Turkish donor kebab
I had was in Germany.
You know, I, what
are we gonna do?
What are we supposed to do?
We can't listen Slovenia
put Slovenia on there.
I think we need more
people to cook foods
from more countries.
Yeah.
So that way there's
more availability for us
common folk to eat them.
I would love to eat
more Senegalese food.
I would love to eat
more Latvian food.
I would love to eat
more Iraqi food.
I haven't been to an Iraqi
restaurant ever in my life.
Yo, you go down to like El
Cajon, but see like inland.
Yeah.
This is Okay.
Real quick.
Just gonna stand
for California here.
Go for it.
There's so many like.
Neighborhoods in California
where you're like, right?
Oh, there's like 10
Iraqi restaurants and
a half mile radius.
Yeah.
Little like little blink.
Like little, yeah, yeah.
Like little Bangladesh
or like little Tehran
or stuff like that.
Do like little
India and Artesia.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
There's uh, little Arabia and
Anaheim where it's a bunch
of like Lebanese restaurants.
Sure.
But you go to like, um, east,
like East County San Diego.
Okay.
And there's a ton of
Iraqi restaurants.
They make that big old,
uh, big old grilled fish.
Yum.
What's it called?
Like malu?
I dunno.
I don't know.
See, that's the thing.
I don't know.
Literally Iran and Iraq
are neighbors, and I've
never had Iraqi food.
Yeah.
I, I mean, have you
ever had Canadian food?
I've never had Canadian.
I mean, I've had like,
yeah, actually I have,
there was a, we, me and, and
Julia went to a Canadian,
it's called She Ante.
It's like a French
Canadian food.
It's a French Canadian, yeah.
Yeah.
And so what does Canadian
food actually mean, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But yeah, we had like
kri, which is like a
very Canadian dish.
Based off of a Middle
Eastern dish, based off of
a British dish that is made
with Salt Co in Canada.
It's a whole thing.
Isn't it Indian too?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh no.
Yes.
An Indian dish that made
its way to Britain, that
made its way to Canada,
but has been transformed
all the while, you know?
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, they ate
Canadian food there.
It's just so, it's
just so hard to define.
Yeah.
And I think it's gonna get
harder to define the most, and
we don't need to define it.
Go out there.
The world of food is wide and
wonderful, and not everything
needs to be ranked except,
uh, I love that Bulgaria
finished ahead of England.
In this ranking, go Bulgaria,
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All right, Nicole.
Alright, Josh.
Alright, Nicole.
Alright, John.
Alright.
Alright.
Okay.
Okay.
That's alright then.
Well, we've heard what
you and I have to say.
It's time to find out what
other wack idiots are rattling
out there in the universe.
It's time for a little
segment we call.
Opinions are like cast road.
Put a Judy Garland
stink on there.
You like that?
She lived a tough life.
She sure did.
Judy Garland.
Really a cautionary tale.
Very sad.
Judy.
Not Julie.
Judy, like Liza with a zine.
Not Eli Judy Garland.
They had her on a diet of him.
PHS and chicken broth.
That's right, they did.
She deserved better.
A life of pain
deserved a lot better.
Some would say she
deserved better.
Judy Garland deserved better.
Hey, Josh.
Hey Nicole.
My name's Bill.
I'm from Asheville,
North Carolina area.
Um, you guys were talking
about interesting ways to
eat candy bars the other day.
Uh, Snickers with
the vein, Josh.
Um, but did you know with Kit
Kats, the filling between the
layers is more crushed up?
Kit Kats, I. I
did research it.
Find out, figure yourselves.
That's why it's so good.
Keep it up.
Bye guys.
No, you keep it up.
Wait, you're telling me?
Yeah, you're gonna say it.
They're grinding up whole Kit
Kats to use as the mortar.
I think it in between
the Kit Kat wafer Bricks.
Yeah.
The Morro is old Kit
Kats and the, what is it?
I don't know what it is.
Crane.
What's Morro?
Morro is like on a
Rosh Hashanah Seder.
Yeah.
It's to represent the thing
in between the bricks.
Oh, that's right.
That's what Morro is, right?
I don't know.
So the Morro is more Kit
Kat, the Morro, the ro,
the hair, the, the, yeah.
How do you pronounce it?
Ha what?
Hal Halek In Farsi.
It's Hal I. Any like Hebrew
Jewish bird I grew up
hearing was, was via the
lens of a very Victorian
South African accents fine.
So my grandma was a re
Josh need to eat.
And your sits all like junky?
Ours is smooth and pasty.
No, we would generally
blend it, but I've
had a lot of chunky.
Ro I don't like chunky hairs.
No.
I like it to be a paste,
but, but ro it's like one
of my favorite things.
I like to, I like use
blend like apples, walnuts,
honey, sweet wine, wine dip
it, dip a cracker in it.
My mom goes, DC's the
first energy bar and it's
just matza and hair set.
It's good, but no,
yeah, basically it's,
it's the hair set.
Yeah.
Yum.
I, I did find out.
I think it's the rejects.
I think it's the rejects.
Sorry to interrupt you.
Sorry.
Best friend.
Oh.
It's like the ones that
get messed up do like grind
them up into fish food.
Yeah.
Okay.
Um, I didn't know that
much about Asheville, North
Carolina, but I've been,
uh, I've seen a couple
sketches that go like that.
One couple that
lives in Asheville.
There's a lot of
breweries in Ashe.
That adds up.
They're very, and they're
very like progressive.
I, I don't know, like
Cringingly Progressive Oh.
Is what these sketches
are suggesting.
Oh.
What sketches
are you watching?
Not a lot.
Like the drop,
like from Dropout?
No, it's just a
random, uh, sketch.
What the hell are you talking?
Like a TikTok sketch.
Oh, I see, I see.
I really don't scroll
very much anymore, but I
got one from Asheville.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
I like calling petition
to call people from
Asheville, Ashe assholes.
I think we should.
Okay, deal.
Hey guys, my name's Drew.
I'm from Utah and I was
thinking, shout out.
Shout out.
Drew, Utah.
Is that the major city
of every state in the
United States should have
its own hotdog style.
Much like the Chicago hotdog.
Oh my God.
The Seattle hotdog.
Yes, sir. And that
would really help
add to our countries.
Uh, thing where every state
has like a flower in tree.
Oh my God.
But I think we should
all have a hot dog too.
God bless America.
That's true.
Drew came out swinging.
Drew, you need to get hired by
some sort of cabinet, right?
Uh, yeah.
Like the cabinet of the
United States of America
for being Awesome.
That's a great idea.
Get him out here.
'cause here's the thing, we.
Idea.
We grew up doing like state
reports in California.
Yes, we did.
It was like fifth grade.
You had to choose a state.
I had Maryland.
You had Maryland.
I picked it 'cause it
had the weirdest flag.
It does have a weird flag.
Weird ass flag.
I picked Louisiana
because I had already
started loving Cajun food.
I would've been like
nine, 10 years old.
So I was like funny.
I love beignets and gumbo.
I like weird
shapes and colors.
But, but like I, but
because of that, I know
that the state flower of.
Of Louisiana is the Magnolia.
I know that the Aw, you
mag the state bird is
the pelican, you know?
Aw.
Um, but I don't know
what its state hotdog is.
I've, I've actually eaten.
Oh my God.
I've eaten a crawfish relo
hotdog in New Orleans.
You know what we have to do?
Let's, okay, drew, we're just
going to borrow your idea.
Yeah.
We need to make a
list of 50 hot dogs.
I know there's some
that exist, obviously,
Chicago dog, whatever.
We need to make a list of
all the hot dogs and then
lick, lick the envelope
and send it to somebody
in the White House.
We need yeah, to design
a hot hotdog for every
major, for, for the biggest
city in every state.
Not biggest, but
most important city.
Is the capital.
Okay.
I don't think it should
be capital because then
you're left with like, uh,
I believe Washington's what?
Like Olympia
instead of Seattle.
Oh, okay.
Party.
Did I lie about that or no?
The capital of
Washington, Seattle.
But there's already a Seattle
dog, but like the capital
of New York is Albany.
Oh, there's already
a Seattle dog.
No, the capital of
Washington's Olympia.
Yeah, right.
Like are we gonna make like
there's already a Seattle dog?
That's what I'm saying.
Like we take the major
city and I think it
can be intuitive.
It doesn't have to be biggest
because then you're doing
like, how about most iconic?
That's what I'm saying.
Yeah.
What's the most iconic
city in Nebraska?
Why do I, why am I so
obsessed with Nebraska?
What's going on Lincoln?
We'd make a Lincoln dog.
Make a Lincoln dog.
Oh my God.
Can we, I'm not even kidding.
I know that we would, and
it would be inspired by Aza.
We work together all the time,
but I think this would be such
a good project for us to do.
Pier Pier, South Dakota.
Oh my God.
A dec Uh, a South Dakota dog
can make put chisel on it.
Oh my God.
Or testicles.
Or, or like dandelion greens.
Dandelion greens.
But something.
Oh my God.
Can we please do this
after A fun exercise I got,
I got hired by till Mac
years ago to design grilled
cheeses like the regional
grilled cheeses grill.
Yeah.
And you know, you end
up in Portland, you're
making like pickled
huckleberry jam and stuff.
Yeah.
We talked about this.
It's rad.
I think.
I think we should do that.
We should do a podcast called
the United States of Hotdog.
Okay.
Where we put one minute
on the clock to decide
what each major drew.
You did it and then, and
it's all because of you.
True.
And then we send it to
Condoleezza Rice, who's
still in the White House.
Condoleezza Rice.
Speaking of, she was
one of the people on
the college football
playoff voting committee.
Oh, no way.
Condoleezza Rice.
I loved Condoleezza
Rice growing up.
She was like an icon to me.
I think she was so strong in
beautiful, and it was just
so nice to see her like.
Taken on a lot of stuff.
Yeah, I bet.
A lot of respect for her.
If she did anything
politically monstrous,
which she, oh, I don't
dunno about that.
You don't.
Don't blame me.
I was like, I was like
12 and I just thought
she was so inspiring.
I dunno what she's up to now.
It had something to
do with Stanford.
I don't, but I don't know.
She was iconic to me.
So iconic.
Yeah.
Hello, are you laughing?
Josh Nicole Hotdog Nation.
This is NATA and Nick
calling from Hot Dog
Nation, California and
we are laying in bed.
I tell taking care of business
in the last few minutes can
tell before our daughter
wakes up, which means debating
the important stuff like we
all know you could fright.
An egg on the hood of
a car on a hot day.
But I am wondering if you
could hard boil an egg on the
inside of a car on a hot day.
My husband says,
there's no way.
No way.
But I think, I think
that you could.
So please settle this for us.
Sure.
You have to.
In order to boil an egg,
the temperature of the
water needs to be like.
Boiling is 212.
Yeah.
But like you could still
like warm up an egg at like
one, like 90 or something.
Well, so sovi like sovi eggs,
you get to like 1 70, 1 75.
Yeah.
They, they end up like
kind of cooked in jammy
and whites will start to
coagulate at that point.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Don't think that's sable
unless you put like
a magnifying glass.
I feel like in the water,
I'm trying to think of
like the hottest my car
I think has ever gotten.
'cause I, I'm in
a lot of saunas.
I think one 30 might be the
hottest my car's ever gotten.
I feel like my car's
probably gotten in the
one forties, one fifties.
That's so scary.
Don't leave.
A baby or animals in what?
Who brought a
baby into my car?
It was just, it was,
I'm probably gonna make
a baby into, it was
me and some old cans.
Yeah.
And I wouldn't leave
your baby in the hot car.
You better not.
I'm not, uncle Josh
is not allowed.
But yeah.
So even if your car got up
to like 150 and could warm
the water to that, which
would also take a long time.
'cause water tends to like,
you know, you can't diffuse
heat into it that fast.
Yeah.
Uh, no.
Impossible.
But you could, impossible, you
could warm up a hot dog to a
pleasant temp. You know if,
if you're into that, I like
that they said Hotdog Nation.
That was good.
We should start addressing
the, the Vox populi,
is that the right word?
Yeah.
Great.
Huh?
The Vox Populi
as Hotdog Nation.
Like Britney Broski
has Broski Nation.
Yeah, we can be
station like that.
I think Wiener World better.
Hey Josh, Nicole.
Um.
Here's, here's a hot take.
When I was a kid, I'd do this.
What's up?
I would like to,
sounds ashamed.
Dip my bacon and orange
juice, and kind of like a
pineapple ham situation also,
how do you feel about chi
cheese coming back this year?
What?
Chei.
Oh, I didn't, goodbye.
I didn't know Goodbye.
That was so creepy.
Wait, wait, wait.
Chee Cheese's is coming back.
What's Che's?
Chee Chi's is a, a chain
of like casual Mexican
dining restaurants.
Oh, I think sounds familiar.
God.
Is it from Minnesota?
Sounds familiar.
I think Che Chi's may have
been founded in Minnesota.
I've never been.
We mostly know Chichis
from their jarred salsa.
That's how.
That's why the name
is familiar to me.
Yeah, we didn't
add for them once.
We didn't add for, it's
perfectly fine jarred salsa.
Um, but.
Gosh, apparently physical
restaurant locations
will reopen in 2025.
Uh, the physical products,
um, stayed the same.
I am.
Ha listen, happy for Chichis.
Happy for you if you partake.
I've never been to one
because we don't have them in
California, I don't believe.
Um, bacon and orange juice.
I can see how that would make.
It's like squeezing lemon
on a steak or I like it.
Any cooked meat, that's fine.
That's great.
The thing I worry about,
what's it doing to your juice?
Who cares about the juice?
I I Are you if you are
like taking, you think,
you think they're pouring
it over the bacon?
Well, no.
If he's dipping his bacon
into a glass of orange juice.
And then are you drinking
the orange juice after
it's gonna get warmer or
it's gonna get greasy?
I mean, it's not that
big of a deal, you know?
But I'm not like, I don't
think, I don't think,
I'm not gonna stop day.
I don't.
I don't think it's
that big of a deal.
I think that this is a
good idea and it sounds
pretty damn good to me.
And don't listen to that guy.
He's just trying to be silly.
If you took like a pastry
brush and you dipped it
in orange juice and then
painted that on your
bacon, you know Yeah.
Hear me out.
Marm related a little bit.
Marmalade.
You should be doing it.
You should be dipty doing it
in marmalade, not in juice.
Right.
I had a marmalade recently.
That was way too much.
Too much pth.
Too much pith.
Way too much pith, marmalade.
I do too, but it was
like very bracing.
Was it hor?
Was it hormone?
Was it homemade?
It was in France.
Oh.
That's why they respect
the pith apparently.
We don't resp.
It's like pulp and juice.
Suck my pit.
Do you like pulp in
your, uh, orange juice?
No, I do not.
I love pulp.
I don't, I don't think I've
had a glass of orange juice
in probably three years.
I had one recently
for no reason.
I just like, don't
encounter it.
I had some tropic.
Oh my god.
It was, it's nice.
So good.
Sometimes the human
body just needs.
A swig of orange juice, but
typically I don't, 'cause I
have really bad acid reflux,
like always my whole life.
So I never had orange
juice growing up.
Like at the, at like
the breakfast table?
Yeah.
Oh.
Little fun fact about me.
That's a fun fact.
Hi, Josh and Nicole.
Hi, this is Allison
from Michigan.
Hey Allison.
Uh, my husband and I were just
talking and we feel as though
your next cookbook should
be Recipes from Last Meals.
Ah, specifically these
zucchini Juan from
Terry Cruz's episode.
Oh, love you guys.
Thank you.
That's a great idea, Josh.
I like that idea.
I think it's a good idea.
That's a great idea.
I think it's a good idea.
I think writing
another cookbooks
certainly a good idea.
I think we might might want
to get on that at some point.
Yeah.
But yeah, gotta see.
Gotta wait and see.
You should wink at the camera.
Wink.
Gotta wait and see if there's
gonna be another cookbook.
I'll do it to my own.
Gotta wait and see.
Me too.
Me too.
And then at each
other's cameras.
Oh,
and on that note, thank you
so much for stopping by.
A hot dog is a sandwich.
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and a video version here
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The number again is
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And sorry, my voice
cracked a little.
My voice is torched man.
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