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This is something that I've been thinking about lately. Why is it that all the great foods seem to come from southern europe, and not northern europe?
Leaving aside the obvious point that 'good' and 'bad' food is a totally subjective judgement, I'm sure climate is a significant factor.
The range of foodstuffs that you can easily grow in northern latitudes is much more limited than what will grow where it's sunnier and warmer. Also, the cooler climate in the north means that the traditional diet was mainly focused on getting enough calories not to die of hypothermia, whereas you don't need to worry about that so much in the south. Obviously, we're not still Vikings sailing through an iceberg strewn fjord or members of a Celtic tribe huddled around an open fire in our wattle and daub hovel while the winter wind howls outside, but food preferences get passed down the generations.
Many people believe that Italian food is great, but after living there for several years, I realised that the food that ordinary Italians eat is pretty damn boring. Sure, it tends to favour fresh ingredients, which is always a good thing, but the palate of flavours is really very limited. I'm a food-is-fuel guy, but I think I would have gone a little nuts if I hadn't been able to import the ingredients to make my own Chinese, Indian and Thai dishes now and then.