Take-Home Foods

Food & Drink, Travels

As someone who’s traveled quite a bit, this article struck a chord with me:

A recent Reddit discussion has highlighted how trips abroad are capable of permanently changing a traveller’s diet, with commenters revealing foreign dishes they had on their travels that they now can’t stop eating. 

The list includes acai from Brazil*, Morocco’s cinnamon-dusted oranges, onigiri (Japanese rice balls), pasteis de nata (milk custard tart) from Portugal, ajvar (a red pepper paste) from the Balkans and even spaghetti carbonara  from Italy — which is quite different from the stuff you’ll get at Olive Garden, trust me.   (There’s other less-salutary stuff like haggis and buffalo wings on their list, but whatever.)

*can someone tell me the difference between acai and blueberries?

One of the foods on the Reddit list struck home for me:  French baguette and butter — which, having sampled it in Paris, made me refuse to eat American shelf bread ever again. Seriously.  Who would have thought that simple bread and butter would be an exquisite meal all by itself?  (Well, anyone who’s ever tasted the real stuff.)  It’s one of the few dishes which I prefer eating with unsalted butter, because the bread becomes unutterably sweeter.

That Portuguese tart (not Sarah Hoyt) is very familiar to me as the Afrikaans melk tert (they’re almost identical, and the Seffricans have even made a cream liqueur based on its taste).  The only difference is that the Porros use puff pastry instead of pie crust pastry.  Hmmmm… now that’s a thought.

I”m going to try the Moroccan oranges this weekend after I’ve done the Friday shopping (no oranges in the house), but with three different sugars as an experiment to see which tastes best.  (Light brown, Demarara or 10x mixed with the cinnamon, in case you’re wondering.)

I’ll also try making ajvar,  which sounds like hummus mixed with ground spicy red peppers, but I’ll use South African Peppadew spicy peppers because they are spectacular.

There are a couple that I’ve encountered on my travels which I wish were staples Over Here.

One of my all-time favorite imported meals happens to be poutines, from Canuckistan, but only one place around here makes them properly (the Holy Grail pub in Plano).  I must have eaten poutines at least twice a day when driving back from Montreal to Detroit, along with Tim Horton’s coffee to wash them down.

Another is Viennese Sachertorte which, having had some in meine schones Wien, would kill me if I could find it here because aaaaargh it’s luvverly.

Over Here, we’d call it “death by chocolate”, because it really is.

There are a few others, but I think they would be best enjoyed in their home countries (e.g. pisco sours in Chile and Welsh rarebit in Britishland).  Of Wadworth 6X and Greggs sausage rolls we will not speak.

And so, Gentle Readers:  tell me about your favorite furrin dishes, in Comments.

33 comments

  1. Korean BBQ. Where they have a hibachi in the middle of the table and they roll out meat by the shovel-full until you have the meat sweats and can’t eat another bite. Also… and this might be nostalgia, but I don’t care, cheese ramyen with yaki mandu, preferably eaten at 0-dark-30 after a night in the ville.

    Lechon from Guavate in Puerto Rico.

  2. Street food, almost anywhere, likewise just plain different food almost anywhere.

    -Mexico: Oaxaca: Tlayudas.
    Mexico, nearly everywhere: street food tacos fried on a fatty griddle , the local labourers were lined up, I had to try them, outstanding.
    -Germany: Zwiebelrostbratten – steak with caramelized onions on top und ze big Steins of ze Bier und auch mit ze Knoedeln und Spaetzli.
    -Holland: Herring: raw, pickled, spiced and God knows what else they did, all good.
    -Croatia: Many kinds of spicy meat, on skewers, so hot they burned my eyeballs, with buttery, herby rice and cold local white wines that soothed the pain.
    Spain: Jamon. Hundreds of varieties of ham, very tasty, often hugely expensive and weird.
    Portugal: More weird stuff. What the hell is tripe and bean soup and why is it so good? Including drink, you must try Ginjinha, the most vile liqueur ever made.
    Austria and Hungary: Pastry. Ever had a savoury onion and garlic strudel with thick Hungarian coffee within a hundred yards of the President Reagan Statue? Wonderful.

    Italy and France were disappointing, maybe because we were mostly in touristy places.

    1. “Ginjinha, the most vile liqueur ever made.”

      Jeppson’s Malört has entered the chat…

      1. Be a sport, drink Malört !!
        Malört .. turning taste buds into taste foes with every sip.
        Malört .. when you need to unfriend someone … in person
        Malört .. weeding out the weak since 1934
        Malört .. it won’t kill the coronavirus, but it should

    1. Vietnamese Banh Mi … the real thing, with paté … even the bread is different here
      Italian bruschetta … if only we could get their tomatoes …
      Italian crusty bread (with olive oil and balsamic)
      New England clam chowder …

      And totally agree about the pisco sours, first “sampled” on Easter Island …

  4. I have never been outside of the states. Always lived and stayed in the USA. Not sure I ever want to leave either.

    That being said I was pleasantly surprised to see Buffalo wings on the list from the USA.
    Buffalo wings are really good. I like BBQ flavor and also garlic parm and teriyaki, and there are many good dry rubs instead of sauces that are available too in many restaurants.

    Now, for foreign food, though I have never been outside of the USA, someone above mentioned Banh Mi.

    Banh Mi Is a really good sandwich. Right here in the good old USA there are Vietnamese restaurants that serve Banh Mi and Pho soup and if you have not yet tried either, you are missing out.

    Question – in the article that is linked in this post – what is the green cake in the picture? Or is that even cake?

    1. Almost forgot to mention there is a Japanese restaurant not far from where I live – and Beef Negimaki is a must try.

  5. Nothing fancy here. When I lived in Germany in the 70’s for 3 years I became addicted to what would be called a “street food” now a days. It was common for a merchant to park a small trailer anywhere and fire up the grills to sell Brotwursts. Simply, a disc os thin cardboard with a small bread roll (brotchen) a dollop of spicy brown mustard and that delightful bratwurst. The brat was about a big in dia as your thumb and about 8-10 inches long. Grill lines all over it and when you bit into it it “snapped” as your incisors released the pressure within. Simple, inexpensive (less than a dollar then) and absolutely addictive. I drove a lot then and it wasn’t uncommon to eat these bratwursts several times a day, washed down with a brown bier of course.

    I’ve searched the US from coast to coast for decades and have yet to find an acceptable authentic German bratwurst. The Johnsonville stuff is downright embarrassing and gross and they should be arrested for plagarizing the word bratwurst.

    I’d sure like to experience an authentic German bratwurst at least once more before I cash that final check.

    1. There are two German meat markets in Frankenmuth, MI that are worth checking out. Also, try Noack’s in Meriden, CT. They have rather good brats. I need to find a good source for nuremberger sausages in the US.

      Also try places with large populations of German ex-pats such as Ohio, Chicago and Texas. Maybe Pennsylvania too. If you want to try international without going to Germany or Austria, try Brazil and Argentina. For some odd reason they have large populations of ex pat Germans and Austrians.

    2. German Street Food: I know, but Donner Kebab from a little Kebab Shop in the Old Town part of Nurnberg, right next to the club “The Green Goose” a G.I. (officially off-limits bar) Bar that we all went to. Also all the ‘real German’ brats of all flavors, except Blutwurst… couldn’t do that one…

      Iraq: ALL the roasted meat…anything on a skewer that was cooked up and seasoned locally. Don’t care if it was lamb/beef/cat/rat or doggo… it was alll delicious. There’s a new local Jordanian family that opened a Restaurant which is great, but the prices are eeeesh! a bit out of budget except for special occasions…

      Britain: Scotch Eggs. I learned how to make my own… GREAT On-The-Go brekkie.

      I probably missed a few, but those are my stand-outs.

  6. Weiswurst and a big soft pretzel, with wheat beer; bangers ‘n’ mash w/ fresh-made onion gravy, and porter; thick strained yoghurt w/ oil-cured olives. And for various values of foreign, Philly cheese steak.
    Oh, and ghostsniper, check out Stiglmeier’s.
    .
    .

  7. Back in 2010 my wife and I visited Italy for her (mumble)th birthday. We flew into Rome, badly jetlagged, and the tour got us settled, we took a short trip to the Vatican Museum, and the tour guide recommended we get something to eat from one of the food trucks, bring it back to the hotel, and take a nap before dinner. We got Flatbread with salami and provolone cheese, pressed paninni style, and it was just wonderful. We were sneaking bites of it on the bus but even though we were asked not to eat on the bus to avoid a mess.

    One of my favorite memories of a memorable trip.

    Mark D

    1. Mark – you mentioned “We were sneaking bites of it on the bus but even though we were asked not to eat on the bus to avoid a mess.

      I have done similar things. Smaller scale I have not been to the movie theatre’s in about 6 or 7 years. About 20 years ago I used to go with friends and we would bring small bottles of soda in and sometimes bags of fast food, under our coats.

      One time some self proclaimed important manager came up giving me and a friend a rash of shit over the soda. I let him finish his rant, and then said “ok, here’s my ticket where is my refund?”

      The manager was shocked and had no idea what do say. After a good pause “please put that under your coat on the way in so no one sees your food and please do not bring outside food in here in the future”
      Freddy VS Jason was a good movie, and the McDonalds Burger tasted even better while I watched a slasher film at the theatre.

  8. As you know, Kim, my wife is from the Philippines and I lived there for several years. Two favorites are Kare Kare and Caldereta.

    Kare Kare can be made with chicken, pork, or even beef, but traditionally it is made with oxtail. It contains Asian eggplant, various types of onions and maybe baby book chow, shrimp paste, and peanut butter. The sauce is a peanut sauce, and it is, perhaps, my favorite Filipino dish. It’s hard to find oxtails but the other varieties are also good.

    Caldereta is a derivation of a Spanish stew, and my father in law (RIP) made a mean goat Caldereta. It contains typical stew ingredients, bell peppers, onions, carrots, and often green olives. Delightful.

    1. JC, you don’t savor balut? I have a couple of compadres from the Manila area .. and they swear by the stuff. The mere thought of balut give me the heebie jeebies. (/shudders) ..

      Give me a pickled tongue sandwich on marble rye with a bit of brown “deli” mustard from Kaufman’s in Skokie, IL .. that’s some good eatin’. And in the summer time, I make my own version of ceviche’ with fresh red snapper. That’s some good shit right there.

      1. I spent ’69-’70 at Clark AFB and never got drunk enough to try the balut. On occasion I did pick up cheap rum ( tanduay ? aneho?) from the sari sari store. If you were already drunk it could keep your drunk going. IIRC it was .25 cents a pint. I also remember street vendors selling some nice rice rolls.

      2. Oh, I did balut! And I was drunk. Future brothers in law took me out and got me drunk enough to try it. As I recall it wasn’t bad, actually.

        Kaufman’s, in Skokie, is perhaps my all-time favorite deli. Now I’m jonesing for a hot corned beef/pastrami combo with a schmear of chicken livers.

  9. Absolutely agree on the Pho.
    Bun Bo from Mr. Lee at “La Patisserie” got me hooked!
    Then he retired and sold the restaurant. I haven’t found the equivalent as yet…

  10. Bahn Mi, Pho, sushi, ramen, souvlaki, full brekky, gyros, bratwurst and others are delicious but I haven’t had enough of them in their natural environments. I have found many here in the states that I enjoy though.

    I tried poutine once in the northeast. It got popular around here for a while. I don’t know what seasonings were used but it tasted like they swept the french fries off of a very dirty floor.

  11. I did the Melbourne to Adelaide (The Great Ocean Road) trek on a motorcycle. Very memorable trip, with lots of great food, but the Australian Meat Pie is the item that I still make on a regular basis. I stopped at a rest station (private home with an liquor license and one kind of gas) just as they were pulling the pies out of the oven. I ordered two, ate one, then ordered 3 more for the road. I had the temerity to ask what was in them and the owner looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said “meat, ya daft cunt.”

    Other culinary highlights of my extended arrangement with the US Navy include:
    Polpette di Neonata from Sicily (egg fritters with baby sardines/anchovies).
    Arancini with Scamorza (also Sicilian–deep fried risotto balls with smoked cheese and guanciale)
    Shrimp Mofongo from Puerto Rico
    Patatas Bravas from Spain (deep fried potatoes with spicy garlic/paprika sauce)
    Halloumi Cheese from Lebanon (fried cheese that squeaks when you eat it)
    Conch Fritters from Key West and various places in the Caribbean)
    Chilean style ceviche (best with Chilean Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon)
    There’s plenty more, but now I’m hungry for a meat pie and I have all the fixin’s so it’s off to the kitchen.

  12. Quite right about baguettes, Kim. I’ve wandered the streets of Paris, alone, while noshing on a baguette (sans beurre) – the way God intended one to see Paris. And on my last trip there I was playing tourist guide to two friends. We left our hotel later than usual one morning and came across a delightful older couple setting up on the street corner. They advertised Crepes Gascogne, and I treated my friends to their first banana & nutella crepes, made while we watched. We were late leaving the hotel a few more mornings, I suspect just so we could indulge in crepes for breakfast.

    Ghostsniper – Never mind the Brat Stop in Wisconsin, just over the Illinois border. Worst brats I ever had. Let us know if you find any in the states worth eating. Chicago brats…nope.

  14. Panamanian-style empanadas. They’re uniformly savory, unlike those in other countries where you might also get fruit or cheese. We used to buy them out of vending machines in school, bite off one end, and squirt ketchup in them (I would never do that today). They’re pretty easy to make, albeit a little bit of a process.

    Arroz con pollo. I’ve been cooking this for years and have finally hit on a really good version. Recipe on request.

    Oh, and I’m with you on bread. Three months working in France ruined Merkin bread for me, forever.

  15. Paraguay, 2004.
    We had a ‘Last Meal’ meal:
    * cold meat-loaf on sourdough (I requested two heels), slathered in a quarter-inch (6mm) of butter so cultured, it was closer to brie.
    A pepper-mill and a sprinkle of crunchy Himalayan pink salt.
    .
    I wept.

  16. Fried Chicken from the South or southern wannabe states like Kentucky.
    Biscuits and gravy from the south, see above.
    Beer cheese and cheese curds from the midwest

  17. Gulaschsuppe from Bavaria (German goulash soup).
    A French croissant.
    Thai Basil chicken with the rice noodles.

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