We’ve just completed one year of non-stop family travel. We made it from Australia, to Asia, to Europe, to Central and North America and back to Europe. We are very into food, my husband is an exec chef, I’m just a big food freak. We’ve tried some amazing new dishes, but what were our food highlights from one year of travel?
In no particular order, here are a few of our favourite new finds from around the globe.
Food Highlights from One Year of Travel
Pupusas, refried beans, huevos and queso in Central America
Central America doesn’t have the most exciting cuisine in the world but to us it was new. We complained at the time about the constant daily intake of eggs, beans and guacamole, it gets repetitive and it’s fairly bland, but it’s a new style of eating and cooking and a lot of the recipes we’ve tried in Central America will make it onto our home-cooking menu.
We’ve been getting cravings for re-fried beans. I’ve got huevos rancheros on the stove right now!
Thailand, All of It!
Thailand has some of the best, healthiest, lightest, most flavour-packed dishes in the world. Sure, there is a lot of bland, junky Thai food turned out for tourists, but find something amazing and it will stay with you forever. I still think of this tom yum gai as one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Check out our guide to Thai food here.
Strange, Bacon-Related Sweet Treats
Bacon chocolates in Charlotte, bacon maple donuts in Lancaster Markets, bacon dipped in chocolate in the Amish town of Intercourse Pennsylvania and bacon praline in New Orleans. The wave of sweet bacony goodness sweeping the USA was incredible. All were good, very, very good. I should mention Marmite fudge from the UK too, similarly salty-sweet and delicious.
Incredible Wild Mushrooms in Laos.
We were in Laos for the mushroom season, to see what would cost hundreds of dollars in the west in the street markets, freshly gathered from the countryside, was pretty amazing. See more of the markets of Luang Prabang here. To eat those mushrooms in all sorts of Laos meals was even better. We found them in everything from curries to baguette pizzas.
Real Southern Style Cooking in the USA
When it’s done well, it’s amazing. We had our fair share of dodgy biscuits and gravy in cheap motel chains, so dodgy we couldn’t eat them, but when we found Mother’s restaurant in New Orleans, we found out how it should be done!
Steamed shrimp and potatoes, baked ham, collard greens and crawfish, it’s all good! Southerners are also masters of hot sauce, heaven !
A New Dish for us, Shakshuka
Laos isn’t particularly famous for its own cuisine, but what we found in Laos was a profusion of dishes gathered from all over the world and done remarkably well.
Shakshuka (we were told) is an Israeli egg and vegetable dish spiked with fresh chili It goes well with those lovely Vang Vieng baguettes and was one of our breakfast favourites. Read more about Global Breakfast here in our most popular post ever.
Great American Junk Food
The US got me eating meat again. I’m as vegetarian as I can be normally, but I crumbled in the face of tasting chili cheese dogs, Philly cheese steaks and sloppy joes. It may surprise American readers to know that we’ve never seen any of those dishes before.
Boy were they good! I can see why the US loves them so much. But now I’ve tasted them, that’s it, no more. I have to try, but it won’t become a cheesy-meat habit.
It’s all part of the crazy Disney theme park experience to try the junk food, you won’t find this mum packing carrot sticks for a day that’s supposed to be all about fun. Food should be fun, all food, not something to stress over.
Poutine and Chips and Gravy
More junk, I’m loving my junk today. Two very similar dishes from two continents. Welsh chips and gravy or Canadian poutine, same with the addition of a squeaky curd cheese. Just yum. Ultimate comfort foods for cold weather, best consumed at snowy Niagara falls or on a windy Wesh seafront.
Sensational Seafood in Catalonia
Chef says the seafood here was the best he’s ever tasted in terms of freshness. I’d agree, the mussels tasted of the sea and the squid was fresh and perfectly cooked. D (9) discovered that he loves Langoustines, they’re more fun than prawns because of the claws, so he says.
South Indian Food in Malaysia
We love Indian food and South Indian is our favourite, it’s lighter, fresher, more vegetarian and just yum. We found it in profusion in Malaysia. See our post on South Indian Food here.
Breakfast in Sri Lanka
Possibly my favourite thing in the world at the moment. We loved smooshing those string hoppers into the dahl, curry and sambol with our finger tips. You can read more about Sri Lankan breakfasts here if you’re new to it.
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I have to agree, C. American food can be quite bland and they don’t vary a lot in ingredients. I love beans but I can’t eat them everyday like them! All the food looks amazing especially the one from Thailand. This is one of my favorite parts of travel, the food! Yum!
Seafood in Catalonia…..definitely going on my wish list!
yum yum yum! I want to do this – my favourite part of travel is food!