The Underrated Cuisines Worth Seeking Out Right Now

Every few years the food world "discovers" a cuisine that people from that cuisine's home country have been eating brilliantly for centuries. It happened with Peruvian food in the 2010s, with Japanese food in the 1990s, with Mexican food in the 2000s. The discovery cycle follows a pattern: a few influential chefs or food writers surface it, fine-dining versions appear, then the broader culture follows.

Based on what I've eaten over the past several years, here are the cuisines I think are next, or should be.

Georgian

Georgia — the Caucasus country — has one of the world's most distinctive and underrepresented food traditions. Khachapuri (cheese-filled bread with an egg) is the Instagram entry point, but the depth goes further: chakapuli (spring lamb with tarragon and tkemali plum sauce), lobiani (flatbread stuffed with spiced kidney beans), satsivi (chicken in walnut-herb sauce). The cuisine sits at the intersection of Middle Eastern, European, and Central Asian influences and resembles none of them exactly.

Sri Lankan

Often conflated with Indian food by people who haven't eaten it, Sri Lankan cuisine has a distinct identity: more coconut, more black pepper, more cinnamon (grown there), more acidity from goraka (a dried fruit like tamarind). The signature dish, rice and curry, is not one dish — it's a composed meal of rice with multiple curries and condiments, each cooked separately. The depth achievable in Sri Lankan curry paste is extraordinary.

Levantine

Lebanese, Syrian, Israeli, and Palestinian cuisines are slowly receiving the recognition they deserve, partly through diaspora restaurant culture in London, New York, and Sydney. But the full range — beyond hummus and falafel — is still largely unfamiliar internationally. Kibbeh nayyeh, freekeh dishes, muhamarra, maqluba, and the extraordinary variety of mezze are a culinary tradition that rewards extended exploration.

Basque

The Basque Country has the highest concentration of Michelin stars per capita in the world, but its traditional everyday cooking — pintxos bars in San Sebastián, salt cod preparations, marmitako (tuna and potato stew), txangurro (stuffed crab) — remains largely unknown outside Spain and France. If you go to one food destination in Europe, this is the one.