If it’s only food porn you seek, go here. Otherwise, if you enjoy elaborate threads linking travel satisfaction and street eats, read on.
Food and travel, one of life’s great experience intersections. Although we enjoy our share of refined cuisine and elaborate meals at restaurants, it’s often our street food quests — raw on-the-ground journeys that convey authenticity — that yield some of life’s most revealing moments and enlighten us in unexpected ways.
Food generally serves as a natural gateway to a more profound understanding of culture and history, people and place. Street food draws us naturally to explore, to press further afield than we otherwise might, allowing us to make greater personal discoveries not only about the flavor of local foods, but also the essence of the cultures they represent.
To those of you who agree, we preach to the culinary choir. But for others, food might be less a priority, a matter of sustenance. To you, we make the case that the active search for street food and novel street level culinary experiences not only fills the bowl, but also feeds the soul.
Here’s how.
Note: Street food aficionados, we use the term “street food” as shorthand for local, authentic culinary experiences. So bear with us as several of the examples in the 40 experiences below are taken from hole-in-wall restaurants, hawker food courts and fresh markets around the world.
5 Ways Street Food Quests Serve as a Tool for Exploration
1. They take your further
Use the street food dish you seek as the final destination. Many of the world’s most fascinating markets and remarkable street food stalls are found in areas well away from tourist centers and popular neighborhoods. The process of seeking out street food often creates a “mission” that takes you across town to and through neighborhoods you might otherwise not visit.
Whether you walk or use public transport, your quest for the ultimate dumpling, bean soup, taco or curry becomes an adventure in itself, with the meal as the goal, but the journey as the unexpected payoff.
2. They take you deeper
Street food is remarkably democratic, for we all need to eat. One of the best ways to meet and engage with ordinary, local people and land the holy grail of authentic local interaction (i.e., outside of tourism and service professionals) is by sharing a plastic table, communal condiments, and a bit of conversation.
If spoken language isn’t an issue we’ll often begin by asking questions about local food, which can lead to topics such as family, culture, and politics. If there is no common spoken language, we’ll practice our charade skills to inquire as to which condiments to use or how to properly tackle what we’re eating.
In any event, we find that almost everyone enjoys sharing their local cuisine with visitors.
3. They help you explore your boundaries
I may not be as intrepid or adventurous a street food eater as Dan, but the search for street food definitely helps build my culinary courage. If I can’t easily identify the food in front of me (e.g., it has come from a part of an animal I’m not accustomed to eating), I often shy away. But when I find myself in a street food setting where people are excited for visitors to try their food, it’s difficult for me to say no. I often find that my fears about the food were unfounded, and I enjoy it much to my surprise.
4. They help you exercise your language skills
If you are looking to exercise your linguistic chops, there’s no better place than over a shared meal with random strangers. And if you’re accompanying your meal with a cold beer, language inhibitions seem to fall away even quicker.
5. They teach you how simple it is to cook
Since you are so close to the action, street food lays it all bare. Street food chefs offer the opportunity — language skills permitting — for you to get a firsthand sense of the flow and preparation of your favorite local dishes as you admire the culinary magic up close. After you witness a beautiful dish emerge from a tiny gas stove and a kitchen equipped with only basic tools, you begin to understand the great lessons in limitation.
40 Favorite Street Food Eats from Around the World
The following is only the tip of the street food iceberg of possibilities, in alphabetical order so we don’t get into arguments as to whose is better. We include some traditional dishes as well as a few unusual suspects.
If you’re concerned about eating street food for fear of getting sick, read our tips for eating local and staying healthy: How to Travel Without Hugging the Bowl
SEE ALSO: The 25 best cities for foodies around the world
Argentina
Although empanadas (stuffed pastries, usually savory) can be found throughout Argentina, the best ones are from the Salta region in the northwestern part of the country. It is also the only region where hot sauce is common. Hurrah!!
More on Argentine food.
Armenia
Although kebabs — grilled ground or chunked meat on a skewer — are not unique to Armenia, we did find that when we wanted a quick and easy snack, a kebab wrapped in lavash (flat bread) was the street food of choice.
More on Armenian food.
Bangladesh
Singara are spiced potato and vegetable mixture pockets wrapped in a thin dough and fried. What distinguishes a good singara is how flaky the texture is. Some are so flaky, as if they’re made with savory pie crust. Singara are ubiquitous and inexpensive (as cheap as 24 for $1).
More on Bangladeshi food.
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