Did the US beat us? Here's where Canada landed on a controversial ranking of the best cuisines in the world
It seems impossible to rank the best cuisines in the world because there are so many delectable international cuisines to choose from.
But that’s exactly what the TasteAtlas Awards try to achieve. Each year, the experiential online travel guide publishes its list of the 100 best cuisines, ranking the most popular foods from around the world and the countries they originated from.
TasteAtlas also publishes several other rankings including the 100 Best Dishes, 100 Best Cheeses, and the Best Food Cities & Regions.
TasteAtlas
According to TasteAtlas, it bases its rankings on user votes.
“The methodology of TasteAtlas is seemingly simple. Visitors vote and we tally the votes and publish the rankings,” noted the publication.
This year’s rankings were based on 395,205 (271,819 valid) dish ratings and 115,660 (80,863 valid) food product ratings. The publication said the countries that made its list had the best average ratings for their respective top 50 highest-rated dishes and food products.
This year, Italy came in first place for the world’s best cuisine and was recognized for its delectable pasta and range of delicious cheeses, including Parmigiano Reggiano, Mozzarella di Bufala, and burrata.
Japanese cuisine came in second, with Wagyu, ramen noodles, and unagi named as some of its best food offerings.
In third place was Greek cuisine, and Portuguese and Chinese cuisines rounded up the top five list.
As for Canadian cuisine, it placed 43rd on the list, with maple syrup, Yukon gold potatoes, Montreal steak seasoning, maple butter, and poutine noted as its stand-out foods and condiments.
While food rankings may seem like a harmless way to get people talking about their favourite foods, TasteAtlas hasn’t gone without its share of controversy.
Last year, it ranked Malaysia 46 out of 50 countries on its list, resulting in many Malaysian nationals questioning why their cuisine was ranked so low, especially since the US came in 13th and European cities dominated the higher-ranked spots.
Some even questioned if TasteAtlas’ rankings were made up of fake or biased reviews.
The online guide disputed these claims, telling Malaysian publication The Vibes that it uses artificial intelligence to validate if ratings sent in are real, and only counts scores if they are determined to be genuine.
The criticism doesn’t end there. In February, one of France’s largest TV channels accused TasteAtlas’ cheese ranking to be rigged, after Italy’s Parmigiano Reggiano was named the world’s best cheese.
TasteAtlas clarified that it also tracks visitor’s behaviour on its site and its system establishes whether or not that visitor is a real person or a bot.
For this year’s 100 Best Cuisines in the World list, many passionate foodies continued to share disappointment with the results, as some felt certain countries and cuisines didn’t get the recognition they deserve.
“Only two African countries? LOL. There are many African cuisines better than the US or Chile 😂 or Sweden! 😂,” wrote one person on X.
Only two African countries?! LOL. There are many African cuisines better than the US or Chile 😂 or Sweden! 😂
— A Győztes (@withoutgenesis) December 12, 2023
“You must have forgotten that Africa exists,” said another.
You must have forgotten that Africa exists
— Chinwe Daria Obioha-Nwangwu, J.D., LLM Taxation (@darialawpllc) December 13, 2023
“Iran and Turkiye would be higher,” wrote one individual.
Iran and Türkiye should be higher!
— 🌛🌹Theresa MartÃnez Flannery 🌹🌜 (@yekdeli) December 13, 2023
Others questioned why the US received a high ranking, placing 16th on the list.
“16?? What is the food culture there? Cheeseburger and pure sugar [in] multiple forms?” said one commenter.
16?? What is the food culture there? Cheese burguer and pure sugar on mutiple forms?
— L. Morningstar🥀 (@morto___) December 14, 2023
Do you agree with TasteAtlas’ ranking? Let us know in the comments.
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