Asia, Food, North America, South America

Our 5 Favorite Foods from Around the World

One of the fabulous perks about being on the road is that you get to have new culinary experiences that just are not available at home. Whether it be new ingredients or different standards for health codes, there are always tasty adventures to be had. In light of the many adventures we’ve during our travels, I bring you Shaun and Erica’s favorite foods from around the world!

1. Mexico City, Mexico – Tacos Al Pastor
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Well… duh. If you haven’t heard my freaking out over this delicious taco then you either don’t read my feeds very often or may be on another planet. My answer for favorite food is ALWAYS tacos al pastor. Prepared rotisserie-style like kebabs, this orange, porky goodness melts in your mouth with fresh corn tortillas, pineapple, cilantro, and onion. If they make the fire hot enough you even get a bit of crispies in it that make me swoon.

2. Takayama, Japan – Hida Beef

Hida Beef
Hida Beef by Will Egan, on Flickr

We may still drool a little bit whenever we talk about this meal. Hida Beef is from cows in the Hida Prefecture of Japan. Often neck and neck in the taste-o-meter with Kobe, this marble-y goodness is probably the most delicious beef we’ve had… ever. And we’re from Texas. This melt in your mouth meat was served to us three ways: Sukiyaki style, grilled, and cooked on a magnolia leaf. The Sukiyaki took the cake. Dip, boil, dip in raw egg, consume. YUM.

3. Medellin, Colombia – Straight Up Homestyle Cooking

This very well may be one of Shaun’s favorite meals that we’ve ever had and it was prepared by a 60+ year old cleaning lady of a friend. Beans with plantains, avocado, a fried egg, and chicharrones (pork cracklings). Not only was it a welcome lunch from our Couchsurfing host Cristina, but it was a fabulous way to get us attached to Medellin.

4. Montanita, Ecuador -Black Shell Ceviche

favorite foods from around the world
Photo by Lindsay Jubeck on flickr. (I apparently didn’t take a picture before I devoured it.)

You don’t have to look very hard for the hoards of carts out on the beach selling fresh ceviche. This is one of the many perks to living or visiting the coast – the endless amount of fresh seafood. While I was a little wary of the black meat sliding into my bowl, the taste was fabulous. While octopus (pulpo) is a close second for my favorite ceviche, the black shell ceviche wins and can only be found in Ecuador and Peru.

5. Buenos Aires, Argentina – Steak
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It isn’t a secret that Argentina has some of the best steak in the world. I may have lost my Texan card when I exclaimed that these guys know how to grill up meat even better than the steakhouses at home (BBQ is a different story). Tender, rare, and delicious, La Cabrera ruined our taste buds (order the Ojo de Bife).

I sense a theme of meat here… I’m sure this list will change the more that we travel, and I’m definitely looking forward to that. Eating is one of the biggest perks of travel to us. What makes your top 5 list?

26 thoughts on “Our 5 Favorite Foods from Around the World”

  1. Ohh, I should so not have read this post right now! I’m extremely hungry and these photos are mouth watering. Damn! 😀
    What I really try to focus on, though, is that four out of four of these meals were from Central or South America, which is exactly where we’re headed for the next 8 months, starting on December 9th.
    What a lovely post! 😀

  2. I totally agree with the Hida beef from Japan – it is absolutely amazing! I haven’t tried the others yet but now want to eat them all immediately!!

  3. Ugh, seeing that Takayama beef!!

    Kobe beef is still today, the best thing I’ve ever eaten– and I love being able to freely dip things in raw egg. That would never go down well in the US! 🙂

  4. You just reminded me to email you and pester you with plenty of Montanita questions 🙂 Sadly I won’t be able to enjoy that ceviche as I don’t eat fish but I hope there are plenty of other yummies in store for me!

  5. Oh man I don’t think I could drill down to 5 best dishes, it would be like picking a best child!
    But I love all your choices, except Argentinean steak – what made Argentina so special was its grass fed beef which has now nearly disappeared because of the demand for export.

  6. Hmmm, I have no idea what mine would be! Gyoza and ramen from Japan for sure, roti kip from Suriname, bahn mi from Vietnam, and do chocolate and sweets count? If so, stroopwafels from Holland and a whole lot of other European treats 😉

  7. Hmm… I never really thought about that. It probably doesn’t help that most of our travel experience has been in Latin America! LOL.

    Have a blast. I miss it something fierce.

  8. Hilarious response! I’d never call either of you an A-hole but I will praise your candor. One of my favorite things about this site and you don’t even have to wrap it up with string.

  9. I have to say that, besides the Hida beef, it was one of the best pieces of meat to ever be in my mouth. I DREAM about that steak.

  10. RIGHT? Explaining that process to people freaks them out to no end. It is like, you shouldn’t be scared of the meat, be scared of the processing.

  11. With how much eating experience you’ve had, I can only imagine.

    Although, every time we ate steak in Argentina we would think about your gray poop comment.

  12. I’ve yet to have bahn mi in Vietnam but I know I love it at home!!!!!! I don’t think I would put sweets down because that would open a whole other list.

  13. Totally – whenever we travel we like to try everything… its just that we haven’t done must travel outside Latin America and Europe.

  14. This had me drooling, particularly the Argentine steak. We always talk about a massive world wide death row meal of the best dishes we have ever eaten, but I don’t think we could narrow it down to just give.

  15. I can say that it would have been very tough to choose 5 favorite food across the globe, however, you made it possible here. Thanks for this deliciously awesome post. Keep Writing !!

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