SHAH ALAM - Social media users voiced out their frustrations over Malaysia being ranked 46th spot in World’s Cuisines Ranking out of 50 countries worldwide as posted by @TasteAtlas on Twitter over the weekend.
Based on the tweet, it says the rating is obtained by the users average rating of the 30 best dishes, beverages and food products in that country.
"Countries that are not on the list do not have enough items rated,” TasteAtlast said in the description.
The ranking shows Italy, Greece, Spain, Romania and France were among the top five countries that served appetizing cuisines out of the listed countries while the bottom five were Malaysia, Egypt, Bolivia, Uruguay and Slovenia.
The ranking received backlash not only from Malaysians but also people across the region questioning why Western countries were ranked higher than Southeast Asian countries.
Not only that, some even pointed out the United States, who were popular for their burgers and hotdogs ranked 13th spot, a spot higher Indonesia at 14th place.
"The fact that not even one SEA country is in the top 10 shows how tasteLESS you guys are,” a twitter user @MintyPeach__ said.
Meanwhile, a twitter user @mysticalrauhler questioned the ranking as to why the United States was placed at 15th when they only served ‘cheese’.
"Malaysia is at 46th, Philippines not in top 10, and USA at 13th and ranked higher than Indonesia? Whoever made this ranking either dumb or really have the worst palate among all living things in the world,” @GD1477 replied to the tweet.
The posting even received the attention of Kuching MP Kuching MP Kevi Yii @Kelvinyii88 in which he said ‘This is preposterous! Whoever graded this probably has a long-bout of anosmia & ageusia!’.
A Twitter user @Katsudonee argued that the list was a "complete lie", stating that it was impossible that the United States' cuisine was ranked higher than all the other countries listed.
"Sorry but no. Their good food comes from other cultures and countries so what are they are left with? Ice?
"Imagine placing USA on top of Peru. This is telling me you never had ceviche in your whole life," the user said.
Ceviche is a popular Latin American dish made by macerating raw fish and seafood in an acidic liquid like citrus juice along with ingredients such as chiles, onions, and herbs.
Katsudonee even cited incidents during school where students were ridiculed for bringing traditional food as it had a different smell compared to the typical American dish, stating that many had to "hide their food during lunch time because some kid smelled it".
However, some users came America's defence with one person by the name of @lady_la_rubia stating that the US was big and has a lot of good regional food such as Cajun, BBQ, southwestern, Midwestern comfort food, northeastern seafood and more.
"It's not all burgers and mac'n'cheese," it said.