I mean if you've never eaten Pupusas, I don't know what life you're living.

Currywurst. Chopped fried or grilled sausage with ketchup and curry spice sprinkled on top. Often served with fries.

You can get it almost everywhere in Germany, especially at street festivals. Simple, absolutely unhealthy and delicious.

Edit: I would also have said the Döner Kebab. Veil or chicken grilled on a vertical spitroast, sliced into thin strands of meat, loaded into a slightly toasted flatbread along with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onions and depending on the region and restaurant white or red cabbage in vinegar and oil, together with a yogurt sauce.

But you could argue that Döner is Turkish because it was invented by a Turkish immigrant and is usually prepared by Turkish descendants (or those who look Turkish). But then again I heard that restaurants in Turkey started offering German Döner because that's what tourists expected to get.

Pa amb tomàquet, bread with tomato. No, really.

You take some slices of bread, or something like a baguette or ciabatta sliced longitudinally to make a sandwich. Good bread, mind, not that spongy stuff you get in the U.S. Something with some crust, with a bit of a crunch. Slightly toasted (but not burnt) is good, and easier, but not necessary. You can eat this hot or cold, it's good either way.

Anyway, as I was saying you take some bread, and you take some tomatoes. Red, juicy, the tastiest the better. Slice one in half, take half, rub the sliced part on one side of the bread (on the crumb, obviously, not the crust), until the bread has soaked a good amount of the tomato's juice (you could do both sides if you wanted to, but it'd probably be a bit of a mess). It's not a problem if some small bits of the tomato's meat also end up in the bread, but you don't want big chunks (unless you want tomato as a topping, though that'd be a bit redundant). You don't want the bread to get too soft, don't ruin that crunch. If the tomato is juicy enough you can reuse it for the next slice, until it runs out of juice or you're just left with the skin.

Once you've got all your slices done, sprinkle some salt over them. Don't go overboard, you want to be able to taste the bread, and the tomato.

Finally, dribble some good virgin olive oil on them. Again, don't go overboard, don't drown them. Once you're done you can take one of the slices and use it to help spread the oil and salt on the other ones by tapping the crumbs against each other.

You can now eat the slices as they are, toast them if you want, accompany them with cured meats (cured ham is fantastic with this) or cheeses, as a side or as toppings, or as the filling of a sandwich (seriously, unless you're making a hot dog, or a cheese melt, or a hamburger, or something like that this is the way to make a sandwich; once you've tried it you won't be going back to plain or buttered bread).

Experiment, have fun, try different kinds of bread, more or less tomato, oil, or salt, toasted or untoasted, different toppings (anything you'd put in a sandwich will almost certainly work), oil from different types of olives, maybe rub some garlic on the bread before the tomato, if it's hard enough to take it... there are infinite possibilities and combinations, and unless you go overboard with the toppings they're just five minutes away as long as you've got some bread, some tomatoes, some olive oil, and some salt.

(Also, if you've got really good bread and really good oil, but would rather skip the tomatoes, pa amb oli, bread with oil — and a sprinkle of salt — can also be an excellent snack to eat by itself before a meal, though pa amb tomàquet is better if you want to eat it with toppings, or as a sandwich.)

Boston cream pie... more like a cake. Very delicious. If you're ever in Boston, you can visit where it started at the Parker House Hotel (Omni).

on the east coast of Canada, in the French speaking region known as Acadie (not in Quebec), there is a dish known as Poutine Rapée. it is not the delicious "cheese fries and gravy" Poutine, oh no. This is a big fucking potato dumpling with seasoned pork and onion inside it. Making them is an art form. They are super delicious. Eat one of those for lunch and you'll go for hours.

• BBQ, from any/all regions
• Cajun food -- very important one!
• Fried chicken and waffles -- I tried explaining this umami to a handful of people in Japan, and they didn't understand.
• Casseroles of all kinds

New York pizza and hotdogs, Philly cheesesteaks, Vermont cheddar, and San Francisco sourdough clam chowder bowls. I'm sure every state has their specialty, so you'll have to visit every single one to try everything :p

Ok so everybody is always about the stroopwafels, the fries with lots of mayo and the raw herring. And that's all fine unique and dandy.

But the real thing that many food travelers miss is the smoked eel. They are delicious smokey fatty fishes, really unique to dutchland, Japanese unagi doesn't hold a candle to it.

They are horrible looking, hard to peel (yup you peel the eel) but they are the best culinary thing our country has, and I'll die on this hill. Goes with a korenwijn type (Dutch gin)

JÄGERSCHNITZEL. ifykyk.

Bunny Chow! Chicken curry in a bread bowl

Apart from the obvious cheese and chocolate, i‘d reccomend some good ol rösti with a spiegelei

Just some pasta with tomatoes, cut in small pieces, with a bit of olive oil and some basil. It takes 10 minutes just of waiting for the pasta to be ready. As simple and quick as delicious.

Cold smoked raindeer meat.

Just amazing.

The Southwest of Germany has two really regional dishes that are worth a try. The one is Käsespätzle which is a special Swabian type of egg-noodles with cheese. The other is Maultaschen which are Swabian Ravioli.

Poutine, but just the classic kind. Cheese curds and brown gravy over fries. Don't go to a poutinerie for the first time ever and order some stupid shit like buffalo chicken poutine. And don't order your first poutine from McDonald's either.

He he the Swedish kebab & bearnaisesås pizza (no one said it had to be good, and I didn't say surströmming which is something nobody eats after all). Very popular! You might never forget it except if the Italians finds out and declare war on Sweden and everyone dies.

If you come to America, go to a diner. Diners are attempted in other countries but they never get it right.

Fish and chips, the UK's national dish. Curry sauce or mushy peas optional. From a proper local chippy for the real experience.

USA: Real barbeque. I don't mean braised meat slathered in a sticky sauce, either. I mean tough cuts of meat, cooked slow and low over woodsmoke until it is fall-off-the-bone tender. No sauce required.

Much easier to find this in the southern US, with Texas, Missouri, and the Carolinas all being particularly famous BBQ regions. In the northern states, your best bet is gonna be to find someone local with a smoker - not just a grill.

A Bunnings Snag.

If you visit Australia our main hardware store called Bunnings hosts charity bbq to fundraise. For a couple dollaroos you get a barbequed sausage on a piece of bread with your choice of onions and/or condiments.

Tostone. Take a green unripe plantain (similar to a banana). peel it cut into 3 or 4 parts depending on size. Soak in salt water over night. Dry and fry 3 min. Remove from oil and smash it flat. Fry for another 3 min. Salt and serve with crushed garlic in olive oil.

I'm listing countries where I've lived and split into Savoury, sweet and drinks categories, some countries have less items because I couldn't think of other examples. On most places and categories I tried to limit myself to 3 entries.

Argentina

Savoury

• Churrasco - Argentinian bbq, it's just meat with salt and possibly chimichurri (a "sauce" made with some herbs, restaurants around the world seem to call any dressing chimichurri but the traditional one is the best and only one for me)
• Fugazzeta - Essentially a thick dough onion and cheese pizza
• Empanadas - Similar to a calzone but with more fillings, it can be made in the oven, fried or grilled in charcoal. Traditional filling is meat but also very popular are Humita (corn with bechamel sauce, one of my favorites)

Sweet

• Alfajor - two biscuits with dulce de leche in between, usually covered with chocolate.
• Postre Balcarce - One of my favorites desserts, it's a sort of cake with peaches, almond, merengue and other stuff, look it up.
• Media Lunas - Sweet croissant.

Drinks

• Mate - A sort of tea, drunk in a special cup with a special straw.
• Paso de Los toros pomelo - Grapefruit flavoured tonic water.
• Fernet con coca - An alcoholic drink made by mixing Fernet (a bitter liquor) with a can of coke.

Brazil

Savoury (northeast)

• Acarajé - A Bean paste fried in dendê oil, filled with shrimp, Vatapá (a paste made of shrimp, coconut milk, peanuts, etc) and Caruru (a paste made with okra, personally I don't like it)
• Moqueca - A stew made with fish, shrimp, tomatoes , onion and dendê oil
• Beiju - A tortilla made with cassava flour, filled with a variety of fillings.

Savoury (general)

• Coxinha - A fried potato dough filled with chicken and usually requeijão/catupiry (a special creamy cheese)
• Pastel - Similar to Argentinian empanadas, but the dough is lighter and it's only served fried.
• Feijoada - A stew made with black beans and some meats (sometimes eaten with orange)

Sweet

• Brigadeiro/Beijinho - Cooked condensed milk with chocolate powder or coconut.
• Pudim - Cooked condensed milk (Yes, Brazilians love condensed milk) with eggs and a caramel sauce.
• Paçoca - Sweet peanut crumbly cylinder.

Drinks

• Guarana - A soda made from a fruit found in Brazil.
• Caldo de cana - Pressed sugar cane, essentially natural sugary water.
• Caipirinha - An alcoholic drink made with lime and cachaça (a typically Brazilian alcoholic drink). Cachaça is not vodka, and a caipirinha made with vodka instead of cachaça is called a caipiroska.

Italy

Italian food is very well known, so I'll list less known dishes, some of them are still known but not to the same level of Lasagna and Tiramisu.

Savoury

• Parmegiana - A lasagna made with eggplant instead of dough and LOTS of parmesan cheese
• Panzerotti - Similar to a calzone, but lots more filling and a thinner dough
• Putsnesca - garlic, anchovies, capers and black olives tomato sauce, usually eaten with Penne

Sweet

• Panettone - A sweet bread with caramelized fruits and raisins
• Panna Cotta - Cooked cream topped with some sauce
• Pastafrola/Pasta frolla - Sweet tart filled with jams

Drinks

• Lemoncello - Lemon liquor.
• Aranciatta - Similar to Fanta but I think it's made with tonic water because it has a bitter taste to it.
• Soda - A traditionally made soda with syrup and sparkling water, they have several flavors.

Ireland

Savoury

• Guiness stew - A stew made with meat, potatoes, onion, carrots and Guiness.

Drinks

• Guiness

Spain

Savoury

• Tortilla de patatas - A sort of tall omelette made with fried potatoes and usually onion.
• Paella - Seafood and veggies with rice and saffron.
• Patatas bravas - Fried potatoes with a spicy sauce.

Sweet

• Crema catalana - Custard topped with caramelized sugar.
• Churros/Xurros - Fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon, made to be eaten by dipping in chocolate or dulce de leche.
• Turrón - A sort of nougat.

Drinks

I've only recently moved to Spain, haven't had any traditional drinks here, if someone has some recommendations let me know.

Poutine.

Caesar.

A&W burger family.

Belgium: French Fries, yes. Common Tourist Etiquette Mistake: don't put ketchup on it, just don't.

Laos: Laap (of fish preferably) and sticky rice, the dry on eyou make a ball with your fingers, grab a tiny bit of extra-spicy Laap, and let it explode in your mouth. Chew lengthily to allow the rice to restore balance in your innards.

Morocco: Couscous. Not a joke, so good and also kind of mandatory on Friday Noon. I love my Fridays!

Pork and rice, with pickled vegetables and an egg on top.

Okay this is going to be a little less high brow then many other suggestions

Fat Shack - There are a number of locations in USA mostly in Colorado and Texas but there are in about 10 state. I would never call this food good for you. But it may be one of the most American things ever.

The main sandwich they make is called the Fat Shack and is a hoagie roll filled with Cheesesteak, chicken fingers, jalapeño poppers, mozzarella sticks, french fries & honey-jalapeño mustard. And you can get your choice of sauce (I always choose cheese sauce because at this point why not). The smallest size of this sandwich comes in at 1600 calories.

All their food is in the same theme and most locations have a you bring it we fry it thing too. They make no guarantees but will try to fry anything you want to bring in.

If you are visiting an area with one or live near one it is quite the experience to eat one of their meals and really one may be enough for a lifetime.

I'm Ukrainian. We have a very particular way of making salted hearing. It's really good and totally different from more commonly sold salted hearing and I would recommend it to anyone.

We call it селёдка (see-leot-ka)

Tacos, Enchiladas, Papusa’s, Gorditas, Tamales, etc. I’m very spoiled where Im at.

Irish breakfast roll

If you come to Chicago, definitely grab an Italian beef, a Chicago style hot dog, and some deep dish.

If you’re adventurous, try a shot of Malort. I personally like it, but it’s generally hated and used as a joke on tourists.