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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Pretty sure African food uses it, too.
Come to think of it, what culture doesn’t use them?
One of my favorite Chinese desserts uses them: https://kitchenmisadventures.com/sachima
Theres a traditional bread (bun?) in Chinese called Mantou which can come in a lot of varieties, one being whole grain with raisins
Unexpected pastry raisins should be considered a war crime.
Thank you for mentioning unexpected. Oatmeal raisin cookies are good, but when you’re expecting a chocolate chip the raisin surprise is disgusting.
Honestly, biting into a chocolate chip when you are expecting a raisin is also disgusting.
Your cultural horizon must be very small if you think it is something specific to white people.
Oatmeal Raisin > Chocolate Chip.
