• Hegar@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    I always think of white people as the ones complaining about raisins in food. So many delicious savory dishes with raisins from the Middle East or India provoke strong reactions from western pallets used to food that only does 1 thing, rather than combining multiple flavours.

    • Shapillon@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yeah that’s strange, I always associated raisins in food as something ranging from Morocco to Bangladesh. Not the whitest countries ever.

      Imho in general European food isn’t very keen on sweet and salty mixes. Except for the USA who does it all wrong smh.

      • wieson@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        We have a few potato and apple combinations in the Rhineland.

        Also goose with quince or pear are present in french cuisine.

        I think traditional European cooking has many similarities with south med/ near east cooking. Don’t lob us in with modern American randomness.

        • Shapillon@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I’m not very familiar with German cooking though (if that’s what you meant by Rhineland) so if you got some tips and/or must tries please enlighten me :3

          edit: I removed most of my message since it added nothing to the discussion.

        • Hegar@fedia.io
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          2 months ago

          You can find isolated examples from western cuisines (often rich people food) but mixing savoury and sweet is still an exception. You don’t get things like how palm sugar is used in so many savory staples from SE Asian. Applesauce or quince paste aren’t as ubiquitous in western food as chutney is in Indian.

          I’ve also just met way more westerners who talk about salty/sweet mixes being gross. Raisins in rice, pineapple on pizza and fruit in salad are all things I’ve heard (mostly americans or australians) react strongly to.

          • wieson@feddit.org
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            2 months ago

            I can not agree. As I said, potato and apple meet in half of my regional dishes. And those are farmer’s food, not rich.

            Scandinavian and Alpine dishes love lingonberry sauce on dark meat or schnitzel.

            I think the best way, is to not think of “western cuisine” as a thing that exists uniformly.

            PS: obviously we cook differently than SE Asia, but red cabbage is sweet, carrots are sweet and caramelised onions are sweet. And they are really often used with savory dishes.

            • Loki@discuss.tchncs.de
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              2 months ago

              Lingonberry sauce on meat, ham on melon, apple in coleslaw… Apple sauce on hash browns! I think every cuisine has combinations like that, but the specific ingredients are location specific.

      • moonbunny@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Raisins inside empanadas should be a sin- I don’t like having a sweet surprise in what should be a mouthwatering savoury meal

      • teft@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Raisins in empanadas aren’t universal. Here in colombia they don’t usually include them.

      • kemsat@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I learned how to make empanadas so that I could make them without the raisins my mom would add.

    • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, those are the cuisines I associate with raisins

      I think white people just try to make their food as hot as possible and don’t pay any mind to other flavours

      • disgrunty@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        White person (UK) here. Honestly, you’re overestimating a lot of us.

        My own mother will just add curry powder, veg, and chicken chunks to a pot of chicken stock and call that curry. It is an abomination. I haven’t eaten it in years and it haunts my nightmares still.

    • disgrunty@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I love raisins in my curries because they actually add depth of flavour but when they’re in something like granola, you just know it’s filler. Also it ruins the texture if it’s in something crunchy because of the sudden squidge and I hate how these little fuckers get stuck in my teeth when they’re dry.

      Sorry, I think this post unleashed years of raisin resentment. But yeah I completely agree that people who don’t like them in curries or other savoury dishes are missing out because that slight sweetness is wonderful.

    • Toneswirly@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      its not the flavor that’s the problem, its textural. Raisins are often chewy little rocks getting in the way of an otherwise pleasant texture.

  • fsxylo@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    Pretty sure African food uses it, too.

    Come to think of it, what culture doesn’t use them?

  • pseudo@jlai.lu
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    2 months ago

    Your cultural horizon must be very small if you think it is something specific to white people.

  • JoeTheSane@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Seriously! The only reason oatmeal cookies get a bad rap is because of the fucking raisins!

  • EtherWhack@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Any food where raisins would actually work, dried cranberries or blueberries would be 100x better. This would be things like pastries, bagels, trail mix, etc. Not stuffing, tuna, mac-n-cheese or other savory dishes.

    No one ever needs to question if what they just bit into was a rat turd or a fly.

      • EtherWhack@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        That would be more on the savory side, given that it usually has a lot of garlic in it. Though, if it weren’t, cranberries would work better.

    • seaQueue@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’m convinced that raisins are only popular because they were a luxury food for our grandparents and they only exist in these dishes because that’s what our grandparents thought rich people would do with raisins when they were kids.

  • 0ops@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    Whatever dude, now I can’t stop thinking about Grandma’s cinnamon-raisin bread

  • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Oh my god, that’s disgusting! Naked pics online Raisins in places they don’t belong? Where? Where do they use those?

  • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Rice pudding. Tapioca pudding. Both excellent with raisins.

    I do love stuffing with dried cranberries though! And traditional Christmas fruitcake with myriad dried fruits and nuts!

      • BodePlotHole@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        It’s like “New Chicken Salad! Now with juicy blisters!”

        Best case scenario it doesn’t make it worse, but it defo doesn’t make it any better.

        In my opinion… On the internet…

  • Thorry84@feddit.nl
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    2 months ago

    I love sauerkraut, but when you put raisins in there it’s a whole next level. For me it’s like perfecting perfection, love it!