SINGAPORE — For many, having great food is a matter of national pride. So it can be disappointing and, perhaps, even offensive, when the country's cuisine does not receive the recognition that one thinks it rightfully deserves.

Malaysians recently went online to air their dissatisfaction after their country was ranked 39th in the world's top 50 best cuisines. In the list released last Friday (Dec 23) by Croatia-based food encyclopaedia Taste Atlas, Malaysian cuisine earned 3.99 points, tying with Bosnia and Herzegovina (38th) and Lebanon (40th).

Malaysia’s best-rated dishes included roti canai, curry puff, laksa, char kway teow, bak kut teh, steamboat satay and nasi lemak.

Despite sharing many similar dishes with our neighbour across the Causeway, Singapore did not make it to the top 50, coming in 52nd with 3.49 points. Laksa, char kway teow and bak kut teh were also listed among Singapore’s best-rated foods, alongside black pepper crab, chilli crab and duck rice.

Topping the list was Italy, followed by Greece and Spain in second and third place respectively. India ranked 5th and Indonesia earned 16th spot.

Following the list’s release, the online users were abuzz because many believed that it was not a true representation of how people around the world felt about various international cuisines.

Many were appalled that the United States (8th) outranked countries renowned for their food culture such as France (9th), China (11th) and South Korea (19th).

Replying to Taste Atlas’ list on Twitter, one user wrote: “This is a list you’d come up with if you’d never eaten food.”

Another commented: “USA above Brazil and France? My dude, just eat mac n’ cheese.”

Others questioned how England (29th) could surpass Thailand (30th) on the list.

One person remarked: “I'm English and will readily admit (that) us being above cuisines like Thai and Lebanese is completely insane, and renders the list pretty redundant.”

Social news site Says reported that Malaysians were upset about their food scoring lower than most European countries despite being known as a destination for traditional cuisine that is rich in spices and flavours.

One Facebook user wrote: “The list lost its credibility when it (ranked) Dutch food higher than Malaysian. Even the Dutch make fun of their boring food.”

Another remarked: “These are the people who don't know how to eat spices and spicy food. These are the people making the list?”

Many people urged Taste Atlas to rename itself as “Tasteless”.

One online users also questioned why certain similar cuisines such as Indian and Pakistani, or Greek and Turkish, were ranked so differently.

TASTE ATLAS RESPONDS TO BACKLASH

Following the backlash, Taste Atlas released a statement on Twitter the next day on Christmas Eve explaining its methodology for its food rankings.

The food catalogue revealed that there is much anger directed at it whenever it publishes the list every year, even receiving calls from embassies.

Taste Atlas goes on to explain that it has a database of more than 15,000 local dishes and ingredients that the public can vote on throughout the year. It then calculates the average of the best-rated dishes in each cuisine to create the list at the end of each year.

It emphasised that its list is a “reflection of the valid voices of real people” despite the flak it received.