***FFA Food Tournament Discussion Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[tom22406]

Gonna put together a March Madness style food tourney for the 4 main regions of foods we eat the most here in the U.S.A.Those groups will be American,Italian,Mexican and Chinese since those are the restaurants that are in the most demand for consumers here.I know that some of the foods may not originate from the country listed but are widely considered a staple from said region.

What this thread is for is to discuss any additions,subtractions and seeding for each region of food and as to if you would rather have a champion from each region be either a combination of all of the foods listed and then seeded 1-64 or let the American(Ital.Mex and Chinese) foods battle it out for a single winner and have each region move forward 1 dish to a final 4.

Here is my initial idea of what the foods by region could be but clearly I will be leaving off some really good dishes and want feedback as to what can be added or deleted.Again,some foods may not originate from said region.These are listed in no particular order and I may just do a random draw to set each seed or just go with my gut as to what should be higher(up to you guys).

American

Cheeseburger

Hot Dog

Turkey w/dressing

Steak w/ potatoes

Philly Cheese Steak

Po' Boy Sandwich

BBQ Spareribs

Pulled Pork BBQ

Buffalo Wings

Fried Chicken

New England Clam Chowder

Meatloaf

Smithfield Ham

Jambalaya

Chili

Pot Roast

These could make the list easily.BLT,PB&J,Beef Brisket,Maryland Crab Cake.

Italian

Meat Lasagna

Spaghetti & meatballs

Pizza

Chicken Scampi

Chicken Marsala

Fettuccini Alfredo

Beef Ravioli

Chicken Parmigiana

Linguine w/clam sauce

Pasta Primavera

Chicken Saltimbocca

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Paglia e Fieno w/Bolognese Sauce

Stromboli

Tortellini Carbonara

Penne Pollo

This is by far the toughest to list so please help me on this one.I ended up choosing the most that I liked but I know many more that are really good.

Mexican

Crunchy Taco

Soft Taco

Chimichanga

Burrito

Enchilada

Gordita

Quesadilla

Tostada

Tamale

Nachos

Chalupa

Chili Verde

Pibil Pollo

Chicken Mole

Chalupa

Taquito

Again, need some help because I'm positive I'm leaving something out here.

Chinese

General Tso Chicken

Orange Chicken

Hunan Beef

Kung Pao Chicken

Fried Rice

Chow Mein

Sweet and Sour Pork

Sesame Chicken

Moo Goo Gai Pan

Chop Suey

Beef with Broccolli

Peking Duck

Crab Rangoon

Szechuan Chicken

Lo Mein

Mu Shu Pork

This clearly is a good list if you enjoy Chinese and I left out a few very good ones.Egg Roll/Spring Roll,Fried Dumplings,Hot and Sour Soup,Beef Fried Noodles come to mind.Again,help is needed so feel free to throw in anything you enjoy and we will see how the reaction is.

Of note:Some dishes are made with different types of meats so I just picked one to make it easier but I want you to pick the dish that is closest to your liking even though the main ingredient may not be listed.

Example-King Pao Chicken but you enjoy Kung Pao Pork more,still pick the original.

Hot Dog could be with chili or whatever you want.Condiments and toppings are free here.

The Five Guys thread got me thinking and I caught a radio show on my drive home yesterday that did something like this but only went a few deep.

What I need is any suggestions for each region,do you want to do it by American,Italian etc(1 winner from each region) or just throw them all into 4,16 teams brackets and let a winner emerge no matter what region it is best known for.We could see an all American final or none at all.Or is 16 too many?I'm open for whatever.

Discuss

 

[Dan Lambskin]

 

[Worm]

Egg/spring roll has to be subbed in I think.

Take out Peking duck imo

 

[tom22406]

Egg/spring roll has to be subbed in I think.

Yeah that was my first thought as well for that region.Just too damn good to leave off even though it is just an appetizer.

What would you take off?

 

[[icon]]

IMO chinese doesn't deserve it's own category.

I'd suggest breaking out into continents...

Instead of Mexican, go with south american and feature some cuisine from PR, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, etc.

Instead of Chinese, go with Asian and add in Maki, sashimi, Pho, Pad Thai, etc.

Instead of Italian, go with European... Add in Bangers & Mash, Shepards Pie, Fish & Chips, French Onion Soup, Boeuf Bourguignon, Paella, Tapas (too general?), etc

 

[Worm]

NA

SA/Carribean

Europe

Asia

?

 

[tom22406]

IMO chinese doesn't deserve it's own category.

I'd suggest breaking out into continents...

Instead of Mexican, go with south american and feature some cuisine from PR, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, etc.

Instead of Chinese, go with Asian and add in Maki, sashimi, Pho, Pad Thai, etc.

Yeah that's another option for sure.Will consider it

 

[[icon]]

IMO chinese doesn't deserve it's own category.

I'd suggest breaking out into continents...

Instead of Mexican, go with south american and feature some cuisine from PR, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, etc.

Instead of Chinese, go with Asian and add in Maki, sashimi, Pho, Pad Thai, etc.

Yeah that's another option for sure.Will consider it

as it stands now you have way too many dishes that are extremely similar and you're not representing a LOT of very popular cuisine.

I suppose this might represent a good sampling or middle America / flyover country that has an "American" place, a mexican place, and an "italian" place... but this only scratches the surface of the range of cuisine available in larger markets... Skipping out on some of the dishes listed would render this thing pretty much invalid.

 

[tom22406]

IMO chinese doesn't deserve it's own category.

I'd suggest breaking out into continents...

Instead of Mexican, go with south american and feature some cuisine from PR, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, etc.

Instead of Chinese, go with Asian and add in Maki, sashimi, Pho, Pad Thai, etc.

Yeah that's another option for sure.Will consider it

as it stands now you have way too many dishes that are extremely similar and you're not representing a LOT of very popular cuisine.

I suppose this might represent a good sampling or middle America / flyover country that has an "American" place, a mexican place, and an "italian" place... but this only scratches the surface of the range of cuisine available in larger markets... Skipping out on some of the dishes listed would render this thing pretty much invalid.

Middle America is exactly what I was shooting for but again I get your point.The world clearly has great foods everywhere,I was just looking to break it down to what the normal American consumes on an average day.In the end I think the most popular foods consumed would rise to the top anyways.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

monkey's brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found in Washington D.C.

 

[fantasycurse42]

Cheeseburger, pizza, burrito, sesame chicken/maybe beef & broccoli.

 

[[icon]]

IMO chinese doesn't deserve it's own category.

I'd suggest breaking out into continents...

Instead of Mexican, go with south american and feature some cuisine from PR, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, etc.

Instead of Chinese, go with Asian and add in Maki, sashimi, Pho, Pad Thai, etc.

Yeah that's another option for sure.Will consider it

as it stands now you have way too many dishes that are extremely similar and you're not representing a LOT of very popular cuisine.

I suppose this might represent a good sampling or middle America / flyover country that has an "American" place, a mexican place, and an "italian" place... but this only scratches the surface of the range of cuisine available in larger markets... Skipping out on some of the dishes listed would render this thing pretty much invalid.

Middle America is exactly what I was shooting for but again I get your point.The world clearly has great foods everywhere,I was just looking to break it down to what the normal American consumes on an average day.In the end I think the most popular foods consumed would rise to the top anyways.

The problem is the majority of the population is on the coasts or in areas that actually have dining options. I live in Memphis, TN.. a small city in middle america, and there are close to a dozen Japanese places, a half dozen great thai places, some solid central and south american cuisine, a few french and spanish places...even a couple ethiopian places.

I think you'd be pretty surprised how some of the foods outside what you listed will fare...

Not to mention that most folks couldn't tell the difference between half of the mexican or chinese dishes you've listed if blindfolded... most of them are remarkably similar. Cut it back to 6-8 of the most popular of those then flesh out with other regional options.

Again, just adding suggestions of you want this to be a legit food draft vs a "What's best at the 6 restaurants in snickerdoodle, oklahoma" draft

 

[Sarnoff]

monkey's brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found in Washington D.C.

Is that what we ate? I'm going to be sick.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Also need to get chicken schwarma on this list

 

[Kenny Powers]

jerk chicken needs to be included, somewhere.

 

[[icon]]

jerk chicken needs to be included, somewhere.

Would be filed under south/central american.

 

[[icon]]

Also need to get chicken schwarma on this list

File under asian.

Chinese/Japanese/Thai/Vietnamese/Korean/Indian/MidEast could produce a very healthy field of 16.

I'd put Turkey/Russia in with England, France, Italy, Spain, etc.