50 of the Best Foods in the World

The article, in the British newspaper The Guardian this weekend, was actually titled "The 50 best things to eat in the world, and where to eat them." But it's doubtful that writer Killian Fox actually went to every single one of the 50 restaurants he cites. Instead, he relied on a coterie of (mostly English) foodies, and one wonders if even they paid personal visits to the famous shrines they cite.

Now, this is not the same newspaper that placed Seattle's own Molly Wizenburg atop a ranking of the world's top food blogs, so we're inclined to be skeptical. You can't quarrel with Parisian landmark tea-shop Ladurée for macaroons, Katz's Deli in New York for pastrami, or  but it's hard to believe that the world's best pizza is at Frank Pepe's in New Haven, Conn., or that the best roast chicken is to be had at that vastly overrated joint in Paris, l'Ami Louis.

So where's the beef? Well, Paris again (roast beef at Louchebem) or northwest Spain for a steak (would have guessed Argentina, no?). But where, oh where, is there any mention of salmon, surely one of the world top foods? Tomato juice? No problem (in the Ferry Plaza market in San Francisco). Tacos, pork belly, sushi, olive oil, all mentioned. Oysters, too (Ireland), but no salmon, food of the soul for so many.

"The 50 Best," not "50 of the best." So what's number 51? Must be the salmon.