Which country has the best food?

We love to write about food. We love to celebrate the good stuff and lambaste the bad. This is our
take on some of the best food cultures, but of course it's subjective. It's time to find out once and for
all, which cuisine is king.

10. United States

This may be because most of the popular American foods originate in some other country. The pizza
slice is Italian. Fries are Belgium or Dutch. Hamburgers and frankfurters? Likely German. But in the
kitchens of the United States, they have been improved and added to, to become global icons for food
lovers everywhere. Don't neglect the homegrown dishes either. There's the traditional stuff like clam
chowder, key lime pie and Cobb salad, and most importantly the locavore movement of modern
American food started by Alice Waters. This promotion of eco-awareness in food culture is carried
on today by Michelle Obama.

Yum
Cheeseburger -- a perfect example of making good things greater.

Chocolate chip cookie -- the world would be a little less habitable without this Americana classic.

Dumb

All overly processed foods such as Twinkies, Hostess cakes and KFC.

9. Mexico

If you were only allowed to eat one type of food for the rest of your life, it would be smart to make it
Mexican. The cuisine of the Mesoamerican country has a little bit of everything -- you'll never get
bored. Amongst the enchiladas and the tacos and the helados and the quesadillas you'll find the
zestiness of Greek salads and the richness of an Indian curry; the heat of Thai food and the
use-your-hands snackiness of tapas. It is also central station for nutritional superfoods. All that
avocado, tomato, lime and garlic with beans and chocolates and chilies to boot, is rich with
antioxidants and good healthful things. It doesn't taste healthy though. It tastes like a fiesta in your
mouth.

Yum

Mole -- ancient sauce made of chili peppers, spices, chocolate and magic incantations.

Tacos al pastor -- the spit-roast pork taco, a blend of the pre- and post-Colombian.

Tamales -- an ancient Mayan food of masa cooked in a leaf wrapping.

Dumb

Tostadas -- basically the same as a taco or burrito but served in a crispy fried tortilla which breaks
into pieces as soon as you bite into it. Impossible to eat.

8. Thailand
Street eats are a Thai attraction. Flip through a Thai cook book and you'll be hard pressed to find an
ingredient list that doesn't run a page long. The combination of so many herbs and spices in each dish
produces complex flavors that somehow come together like orchestral music. Thais fit spicy, sour,
salty, sweet, chewy, crunchy and slippery into one dish. With influences from China, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Myanmar and a royal culinary tradition, Thai cuisine is the best of many worlds. The best
part about eating Thai food inThailand though is the hospitality. Sun, beach, service with a smile and
a plastic bag full of som tam -- that's the good life.

Yum

Tom yam kung -- a rave party for the mouth. The floral notes of lemongrass, the earthy galangal,
freshness of kaffir lime leaves and the heat of the chilies.

Massaman curry -- a Thai curry with Islamic roots. Topped our list of the world's 50 most delicious
foods.

Som tam -- the popular green papaya salad is sour, extra spicy, sweet and salty. It's the best of Thai
tastes.

Dumb

Pla som -- a fermented fish eaten uncooked is popular in Lawa, Thailand and reported to be
responsible for bile duct cancer.

7. Greece
Traveling and eating in Greece feels like a glossy magazine spread come to life, but without the
Photoshopping. Like the blue seas and white buildings, the kalamata olives, feta cheese, the colorful
salads and roast meats are all postcard perfect by default. The secret? Lashings of glistening olive oil.
Gift of the gods, olive oil is arguably Greece's greatest export, influencing the way people around the
world think about food and nutritional health. Eating in Greece is also a way of consuming history. A
bite of dolma or a slurp of lentil soup gives a small taste of life in ancient Greece, when they were
invented.

Yum

Olive oil -- drizzled on other food, or soaked up by bread, is almost as varied as wine in its flavors.
Spanakopita -- makes spinach palatable with its feta cheese mixture and flaky pastry cover.

Gyros -- late-night drunk eating wouldn't be the same without the pita bread sandwich of roast meat
and tzatziki.

Dumb

Lachanorizo -- basically cabbage and onion cooked to death then mixed with rice. Filling, but
one-dimensional.

6. India
When a cuisine uses spices in such abundance that the meat and vegetables seem like an afterthought,
you know you're dealing with cooks dedicated to flavor. There are no rules for spice usage as long as
it results in something delicious. The same spice can add zest to savory and sweet dishes, or can
sometimes be eaten on its own -- fennel seed is enjoyed as a breath-freshening digestive aid at the
end of meals. And any country that manages to make vegetarian food taste consistently great
certainly deserves some kind of Nobel prize. The regional varieties are vast. There's Goa's seafood,
there's the wazwan of Kashmir and there's the coconutty richness of Kerala.

Yum

Dal -- India has managed to make boiled lentils exciting.

Dosa -- a pancake filled with anything from cheese to spicy vegetables, perfect for lunch or dinner.
Chai -- not everyone likes coffee and not everyone likes plain tea, but it's hard to resist chai.

Dumb

Balti chicken -- an invention for the British palate, should probably have died out with colonialism.

5. Japan

Japanese apply the same precision to their food as they do to their engineering. This is the place that
spawned tyrannical sushi masters and ramen bullies who make their staff and customers tremble with
a glare. You can get a lavish multi-course kaiseki meal that presents the seasons in a spread of visual
and culinary poetry. Or grab a seat at a revolving sushi conveyor for a solo feast. Or pick up
something random and previously unknown in your gastronomic lexicon from the refrigerated
shelves of a convenience store. It's impossible to eat badly in Japan.

Yum

Miso soup -- showcases some of the fundamental flavors of Japanese food, simple and wholesome.

Sushi and sashimi -- who knew that raw fish on rice could become so popular?

Tempura -- the perfection of deep-frying. Never greasy, the batter is thin and light like a crisp tissue.

Dumb

Fugu -- is anything really that delicious that it's worth risking your life to eat? The poisonous
blowfish recently killed diners in Egypt, but is becoming more available in Japan.
4. Spain

Let's eat and drink, then sleep, then work for two hours, then eat and drink. Viva Espana, that country
whose hedonistic food culture we all secretly wish was our own. All that bar-hopping and
tapas-eating, the minimal working, the 9 p.m. dinners, the endless porron challenges -- this is a
culture based on, around and sometimes even inside food. The Spaniards gourmandize the way they
flamenco dance, with unbridled passion. They munch on snacks throughout the day with intervals of
big meals. From the fruits of the Mediterranean Sea to the spoils of the Pyrenees, from the saffron
and cumin notes of the Moors to the insane molecular experiments of Ferran Adria, Spanish food is
timeless yet avant garde.

Yum

Jamon Iberico -- a whole cured ham hock usually carved by clamping it down in a wooden stand like
some medieval ritual.

Churros -- the world's best version of sweet fried dough.

Dumb

Gazpacho -- it's refreshing and all, but it's basically liquid salad.
3. France

If you're one of those people who doesn't like to eat because "there's more to life than food" -- visit
Paris. It's a city notorious for its curmudgeonly denizens, but they all believe in the importance of
good food. Two-hour lunch breaks for three-course meals are de rigeur. Entire two-week vacations
are centered on exploring combinations of wines and cheeses around the country. Down-to-earth
cooking will surprise those who thought of the French as the world's food snobs (it is the birthplace
of the Michelin Guide after all). Cassoulet, pot au feu, steak frites are revelatory when had in the
right bistro.

Yum

Escargot -- credit the French for turning slimey, garden-dwelling pests into a delicacy. Massive
respect for making them taste amazing too.

Macarons -- like unicorn food. In fact anything from a patisserie in France seems to have been
conjured out of sugar, fairy dust and the dinner wishes of little girls.

Baguette -- the first and last thing that you'll want to eat in France. The first bite is transformational;
the last will be full of longing.

Dumb

Foie gras -- it tastes like 10,000 ducks roasted in butter then reduced to a velvet pudding, but some
animal advocates decry the cruelty of force-feeding fowl to fatten their livers.
2. China

The people who greet each other with "Have you eaten yet?" are arguably the most food-obsessed in
the world. Food has been a form of escapism for the Chinese throughout its tumultuous history. The
Chinese entrepreneurial spirit and appreciation for the finer points of frugality -- the folks are cheap,
crafty and food-crazed -- results in one of the bravest tribes of eaters in the world. But the Chinese
don't just cook and sell anything, they also make it taste great. China is the place to go to get food
shock a dozen times a day. "You can eat that?" will become the intrepid food traveler's daily refrain.
China's regional cuisines are so varied it's hard to believe they're from the same nation. It's not a food
culture you can easily summarize, except to say you'll invariably want seconds.

Yum

Sweet and sour pork -- a guilty pleasure that has taken on different forms.

Dim sum -- a grand tradition from Hong Kong to New York.

Roast suckling pig and Peking duck -- wonders of different styles of ovens adopted by Chinese chefs.

Xiaolongbao -- incredible soup-filled surprises. How do they get that dumpling skin to hold all that
hot broth?

Dumb

Shark's fin soup -- rallying for Chinese restaurants to ban the dish has been a pet issue of green
campaigners in recent years.
 1. Italy

Italian food has enslaved tastebuds around the globe for centuries, with its zesty tomato sauces, those
clever things they do with wheat flour and desserts that are basically vehicles for cream. It's all so
simple. Get some noodles, get some olive oil, get some garlic, maybe a tomato or a slice of bacon.
Bam, you have a party on a plate. And it is all so easy to cook and eat. From the cheesy risottos to the
crisp fried meats, Italian cuisine is a compendium of crowd-pleasing comfort food. Many people
have welcomed it into their homes, especially novice cooks. Therein lies the real genius -- Italian
food has become everyman's food.

Yum

Ragu alla bolognese (spaghetti bolognaise) -- the world's go-to "can't decide what to have" food.

Pizza -- mind-bogglingly simple yet satisfying dish. Staple diet of bachelors and college students.

Italian-style salami -- second only to cigarettes as a source of addiction.

Coffee -- cappuccino is for breakfast? Forget it. We want it all day and all night.

Dumb

Buffalo mozzarella -- those balls of spongy, off-white, subtly flavored cheeses of water buffalo milk.
The flavor's so subtle you have to imagine it.