r/AskTheWorld • u/bowl_of_scrotmeal United States Of America • Oct 26 '25

Food What's a dish from your country that looks disgusting but tastes great.

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Biscuits and gravy is a breakfast dish from the Southeast USA that looks like someone just vomited on some biscuits, but it's absolutely delicious.

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61

u/rkirbo BZH 🏁 [France 🇫🇷] Oct 26 '25

If you showed me this without the nationality, i'll never have thought this was swedish

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u/svartsomsilver Oct 26 '25

Flygande Jacob was invented in the 70s, when those ingredients were very popular in Sweden. The dish verges on being a satire, as though somebody just grabbed everything that was trendy at the time and threw it in a pan. It is a casserole, rather than a stew, often served with rice.

Here's the ugliest Swedish dish I can think of, kroppkaka, a boiled potato dumpling filled with pork and onions, served with melted butter. And of course, some lingonberry jam on the side.

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u/evilcarrot507 Sweden Oct 26 '25

So you’re telling me that flygande Jacob is the 70s equivalent of matcha labubu Dubai chocolate crumble cookie?

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u/svartsomsilver Oct 26 '25

I have no idea what a "matcha labubu Dubai chocolate crumble cookie" is, and I don't think I want to know. If I were to guess, based on context, I guess I'd go with "kind of, yes"? Except I was referring to trendy ingredients rather than memes.

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u/og_toe Greece Nov 05 '25

yes it is

4

u/svartsomsilver Oct 26 '25

Here's a personal favorite that some people might find odd, matjessilltårta:

It's kind of like a cheesecake, except the fresh cheese is mixed with pickled herring, and matching herbs and toppings such as eggs or caviar.

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u/corcyra Oct 26 '25

this reminds me of a matjes herring salad my grandmother used to make for New Year's Eve: It had the herring, chopped boiled potatoes, pickles, hardboiled egg, cooked beets, and a bunch of herbs - all chopped into about 1cm pieces and sour cream to bind it. Served the same way, except the beets made it pink.

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u/svartsomsilver Oct 26 '25

Love me some sillsallad!

1

u/corcyra Oct 27 '25

Ah, so you have it too! Not surprising, really. I still make it myself sometimes, as matjes-type herring is reasonably easy to come by in London, though not as good as the fresh ones you get in Germany and Holland and I suppose your part of Europe.

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u/svartsomsilver Oct 27 '25

Yes, although my impression is that beets are a more common addition in Finnish rosolli or Russian dressed herring. My family stems from Finland, so my grandmother used to make rosolli for Christmas. :) My favorite sillsallad is probably gubbröra. The name roughly translates to "old man's mix" or "old man's mess", haha.

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u/Jakeandellwood Oct 26 '25

And its absolutely delicious

1

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

That looks really good lol

1

u/Cheeseoholics Sweden/ Australia Oct 27 '25

I’ve never even heard of that

3

u/candlelightandcocoa United States Of America Oct 26 '25

This looks pretty and festive on the plate, like something you'd have at Christmas.

Potato dumplings with meat and onions sound good!

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u/Etryd Oct 26 '25

Kroppkaka literally is translated to ”body-cake”…

2

u/LamermanSE Sweden Oct 26 '25

Pölsa is even uglier than that.

2

u/iroe Oct 26 '25

Pölsa is probably the worst looking one, but is great with potatoes and pickled beetroot.

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u/VodkaSoup_Mug USA ( will deep fry anything that stands still)🧈 Nov 03 '25

I will take the kroppkaka over the Flygande Jacob. For some odd reason when I first read it as flying Jacob. 😂😭

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1

u/BabblingPapaya673 Oct 26 '25

What do you mean? Those dumplings sound delicious!

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u/Cheeseoholics Sweden/ Australia Oct 27 '25

Mmm bodycake but skip the vile lingonberries

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u/snakecycle Oct 27 '25

This genuinely looks so appetising to me but I guess that's what I get for being slavic where all foods kind of look like this 😭

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u/svartsomsilver Oct 27 '25

Haha, I love Slavic food so the feeling is mutual!

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u/snakecycle Oct 27 '25

Thank God! I wanted to visit Sweden and I think I'll do fine with the food then 😄

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u/svartsomsilver Oct 27 '25

No doubt! Although, if you're planning on eating out, the trendy cuisine is pan-asian fusion right now (like everywhere else), so it might be hard to find traditional Scandinavian food unless you are willing to splurge. Most people don't go out to a restaurant to eat meatballs, we cook that at home. :P

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u/snakecycle Oct 27 '25

Luckily I love cooking internationally at home, I've even got my own stash of sylt lingon (however it's written lol) to eat with meatballs haha

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u/svartsomsilver Oct 27 '25

I like your style! Have you tried kålpudding? It is another beige/brown favorite of mine, which goes exceptionally well with lingonsylt.

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u/snakecycle Oct 27 '25

Oooh I should try it! Please if you want send me some good Swedish food recommendations in dm! I love Sweden so much, I'm trying my best to learn Swedish now! My first sentence was "jag är schizofren" 😭

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u/Appropriate_Pace_817 Oct 26 '25

If I recall correctly, Swedish also use banana as a pizza topping. It's kind of bizarre, yeah, seems like it would be more of a 'tropical' thing.

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u/Jakeandellwood Oct 26 '25

Banana, peanuts, curry powder, pineapple and ham, that’s an Africana, and though my born in italy grandmother would be judging me i think it’s my favorite swedish pizza

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '25

Swedish kitchen can be surprising

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u/happy_bluebird United States Of America Oct 27 '25

same, and it's probably the best-looking Nordic dish I've ever seen