It has been over a year since I put together “The Yummiest Blog Post of the Year“.
As a fan of food (or food porn whenever actual food is not around), I like looking at photos of delicious meals from around the world. Ethnic food, weird eats, indulgent sweets and snacks that allow me an insight on a certain culture or, sometimes, simply make my taste buds day dream.
This year hasn’t been any less yummy than the previous one – maybe on the contrary, as we’ve been traveling in quite far apart regions of the world. So, because I know you love world foods and food porn too, let’s visually indulge on some of the things we have eaten on the past months…
India
We started 2013 in India and this is the country that we have been spending most time in lately. For foodies, things never get boring around Incredible India, because there is such a variety of cuisines within the sub-continent. Apart from enjoying home-made food made with love by Ashray’s Mom, being in the capital, New Delhi, there is also easy access to pretty much all the regional cuisines including preparations such as:
छोले भटूरे Chole Bhature: spicy chickpeas and fried dough, typically from the Indian state of Punjab
Masala Dosa: a South India speciality, somehow similar to a crepe but made with fermented rice and black lentils batter. Curried potatoes and peas hide on the inside and tastes better dipped in chutneys and sambar, a spicy stewy preparation.
Breakfast dosa with sambar and chutneys in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Another typical breakfast: idli, a savory cake made with fermented rice batter. Doesn't taste like much until you add chutneys, like mint, tomato and the ultra popular coconut.
Kati Roll, originally from Calcutta: kebab rolled inside a paratha, garnished with plenty of sliced onions, chili and lime for a squeeze of even more flavor!
Crispy dough with a spicy filling of potatoes and green peas… give it up for SAMOSAS!
If you don’t know what to order when you’re in India, choose a Thali. This is a platter with a selection of dishes and can be veg or non-veg. Thalis vary depending on the region but they would normally contain a couple of subji (vegetables), daal (lentils), a type of chicken curry (for the non-veg option), pickles & chutneys, curd (plain yogurt) or raita (yogurt with chopped veggies and spices) and one or two forms of carbs – most commonly rice and/or roti (flat bread cooked in a clay oven).
Vegetarian Tali for less than $1 in Rishikesh – AMAZING!
Incredibly complete South Indian Tali: with different vegetable preparations, daal (lentils), yogurt, pickles, puri, papadam and sweet dish
One of my favorite places to indulge in food in India is South Goa. Maybe the fact that you eat with your toes dipped into the sand, while the sun is shinning and the air smells like sea salt does help food taste better… Or maybe it’s just that the pace of life allows cooks to make things properly. As proper as this:
Tandoori chicken with saffron rice – as if Goa wasn't HOT enough by itself!
Mushroom Tikka: marinated with yogurt and spices and cooked in the tandoor (traditional Indian clay oven)
मम Nepali Momos (chicken dumplings), at a Nepalese restaurant in Goa.
Lounging by the beach, fresh fruits and drinks are ideal to beat the heat!
Enjoying freshly cut pineapple from a walking vendor in Vagator Beach, Goa
Drinks in Goa: fresh ginger ale, squeezed sugar cane juice, Indian beer and Goan chashew feni with soda
Hong Kong & Macao
We “escaped” Delhi’s smog and pre-wedding stress with a quick visit to Hong Kong this February. For Asian food lovers, Hong Kong is a super hot spot, where you can dig in world class Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian and pretty much any major cuisine from around the world too:
Ashray eating garlic fried eggplant at a night market in Kow Loong
Pan fried leek gyoza: if this is what fas food is all about in HK, them i'm in!
Beef stoup with prawn dumplings and pak choi
Sushi rolls and miso soup: how to eat well and cheap in HK 101
Vinegary egg noodles with pork dumplings and fish balls: probably an acquired state, but you've gotta start somewhere..
Ebi tempura crispy rolls
Passion fruit & raspberry tart. Midnight craving? Call room-service…
We stayed in a fancy hotel some of the days we were in Hong Kong. And here’s how I rate top hotels: at least 50% of the importance goes towards breakfast (and it better be included in the room rate!). In this case, I was not disappointed and indulged in a 4 course breakfast marathon every single morning:
Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and mango with lusciously thick yogurt
Smoked salmon with fresh baguette and a little salad
Crispy bacon, smoked turkey breast, prosciutto, sautéed mushrooms and potato hash-browns. Awesome, but this breakfast still needs a sweet ending…
Waffle with berries, cherries, dark chocolate and whipped cream – and the first meal of the day is officially over!
Eating dim sum soon became my favorite sport in Hong Kong. And the night that we visited one of the most affordable Michelin starred restaurants in the world, One Dim Sum, is one historical indulgent moment for the foodie in me:
Prawns and greens steamed dim sum – one of my favorites at One Dim Sum
Deep fried dumplings with sweet & sour sauce. The waiter called them "Chinese Ravioli" :D
Baked pork buns: sweet dough with a filling of caramelized pork and onions.
燒賣 Siumai: a classic dumpling of minced pork and prawn
Classic spring rolls: crispy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside
蝦餃: steamed dim sum with chopped prawns filling
煎堆: fried sesame balls with sweet black sesame filling
We love Chinese food. But we’re not always in a place where we get to go out and satiate a specific craving. That’s why we took a Chinese Cooking Class, to learn how to be self sufficient! We first went grocery shopping at a wet market and then hit the kitchen:
Some of the fruits being sold at the wet market
Sweet & sour fish with pineapple and assorted bell peppers
Bean curd and celery salad, dressed with sesame oil
Glutinous rice with dark chocolate filling, immersed in sweet ginger tea
Macao was quite surreal for me. Being from Portugal, it felt like I was strolling around Lisbon and somehow ended up in China. The fact that there were egg tarts (some of my favorite treats in Portugal) all over the place helped to make that feeling sweeter.
Macau's take on Portuguese Egg Tarts
U.S.A.
I didn’t have the greatest expectations on the foodie side of things during our travels around the United States. I have written more extensively about it here.
But one thing that I did like in the US was the fact that breakfast is indeed a meal. Not a “grab & go” quickie…
Waffles, scrambled eggs, breakfast meat patty, grapes, OJ and coffee in Flagstaff, Arizona
Farmer's omelette in Groveland, made juicier with tomatoes, onions and a little spinach for a healthier start of the day!
Eggs Benedict on crab cakes at Sonoma County, California – borderline luxurious for breakfast.
This Smoked Salmon Bagel has "this is going to be a GREAT day" written all over it!
A B&B breakfast as it should be: raspberries in yogurt, egg au gratin, prosciutto, smoked salmon, croissant, fresh orange juice and coffee latte. With love, in Seattle.
Assorted berries and red fruits bought straight at the farm in the countryside of California
Traveling in America, one will almost invariably eat a mix of what can be considered “traditional” American food and other dishes from around the world that have become popular as immigrants from all over the place have settled in this country.
God bless America… and its burgers!
If there is something the USA does a lot and well that is BEEF BURGERS!
Turkey burgers also work, to pretend you're keeping it healthy!..
A chunky hot dog with a bowl of chili, fries and pickle – at a typical American diner in San Francisco.
Chicken & Waffles: one of those food combinations that has "USA" written all over it!
Pepperoni and veggies pizza in Spokane. The US rules at pizza making! (Italians, don't go hate on me now..)
Oregon's Clam Chowder at the popular restaurant Mo's. Best when it's raining outside, just like the day we had it in Florence..
Seafood salad at the sea-side town of Bandon, Oregon.
Southern style chicken & mash – our Disneyland lunch!
Wendy's grilled chicken and berries salad: one of the most decent fast food options we had in the USA
Keeping in Vegan in Morro Bay, with salad burritos, grilled tempeh and steamed brown rice.
And Dios bless all the immigrants that brought their hopes and dreams to the US, and thankfully didn’t forget the good taste for food back home.
Awesome Mexican in Phoenix, Arizona: beef barbacoa, refried beans, roasted pimientos, Mexican rice and corn tortillas
Japanese bento box in Santa Cruz, California: prawn tempura, salmon nigiri, maki rolls, steamed rice (a bit redundant with the rolls, true..) and salad
Middle Eastern lunch in San Francisco: Arabic bread, hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, chicken shish tawook and tabbouleh salad. For a meal, I almost felt like I was back in Dubai…
Vietnamese Dinner: fragrant noodle soup and rice with pork. In Seattle, where we didn't see Macklemore, but where we did eat a lot of yummy Asian food!
Chinese in San Diego: chicken and mixed vegetables. So simple, yet so good!
Sushi rolls in San Francisco, with seaweed salad and miso soup: one of my ideal lunch sets!
Ashray's maki roll creation: prawn, avocado, mango and spinach, prepared at How Do You Roll, a fast food restaurant where you create your own sushi
Peruvian mixed seafood ceviche, enjoyed with nostalgia at the Mission District, the part of San Francisco that almost feels like Latin America!..
And of course, life has a sweeter side to it too in the USA…
The biggest portion of carrot cake on earth!
Disney's candy apples: sweets porn!
An European Summer
Portugal & Spain
As my Mom’s house in Portugal is right at the border and we’re half Portuguese and half Spanish, I almost see both countries as one land. At least food wise, thinking about the things I grew up eating, there is no distinction as such.
I had some of my favorites back home this summer, both at home and eating out.
Pimientos de Padron: slightly fried and salted. Best with country-side style bread and red wine from Galicia!
But I also decided to try something new this time! Just because I lived in Portugal most of my life, it doesn’t mean that I’ve tasted it all before. So, with an adventurous spirit pumped by friends one fine evening out in Lisbon, Ashray and I both tried SNAILS for the first time… not as slimy as one would think (I had pictured the texture to be like gummy bears, but it was not).
Caracois: buttery snails cooked with garlic and herbs. In Lisbon!
We also had some of the best sushi ever this summer, in Cascais (Portugal):
Amazingly fresh sushi at Sushi Fashion, Cascais. Enjoyed with red fruits sparkling white wine sangria and a view towards the Atlantic Ocean, this was such a treat!
Summer is the ideal time to get together with friends and share great food outdoors. And that’s what we did with the Faria Family and friends, who were kind enough to invite us for a feast that included one of the finest cuts of meat in Portugal:
Posta Mirandesa: one of the most loved beef cuts in Portugal, prepared by Agent Faria in Lisbon's South Bank. We also got to try his home-made spirits… but as he is a traffic cop himself, we couldn't drive back home and had to take a ride with someone else!
And because we’re citizens of the world now, we cooked an Indian meal using the closest ingredients we could find in Portugal.
Pairing Indian food with Portuguese rose wine… IT WORKS! :D
Some days, after holiday time feasting, we kept it simple and healthy too:
Summer seasonal fruit salad – in Lisbon.
France
One doesn’t come to France and ignore all the foodie possibilities this country offers!
Spending a few days in Paris we spoiled ourselves with fresh pastries and baguettes everyday – hands down, my favorite thing about France!
The Parisian life-style, that involves freshly baked baguette, croque madame & cafe creme… and strolls by the Seine and the Eiffel Tower, best enjoyed with ice-cream!..
Some of the most popular French pastries, including: millefeuille, macaron and fruit tarts.
Food tastes better with friends, that is no secret. And in little French bistros around Paris, that is no exception.
Bistro in Paris: grilled beef steak and Gratin Dauphinois. A tasty oh la la moment with some Indian friends!
Hitting the coast of Normandy (in Etretat), we geared towards seafood.
Moules et Frites, aka, steamed mussels and french fries. With a "compulsory" cup of apple side, because this is Normandy mes amis!
Czech Republic
I knew little about Czech Republic before we visited this July and that meant a food discovery from the very ground level.
It doesn’t take more than a glance at the menu of any restaurant serving local specialities to realize this country LOVES meat. Grilled, stewed, fried.. it doesn’t matter! But pretty much always served with chunky dumplings (made of flour or potatoes) and a lot of pickled cabbage, known as sauerkraut.
Refreshing ginger lemon iced tea in Ostrava
Beer marinated pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. Tasty and oh-so-fullfilling!
Beef Goulash with bread dumplings: one of the best meals I had in Czech Republic!
Meat Pelmeni: Russian dumplings stuffed with pork. In a little Russian restaurant in the city of Brno.
Not a Czech thing as such, but a nevertheless delicious breakfast of spinach, cheese and egg crepe in Prague.
Mixed grill – Czech style!
Trdelnik (also known as Trdlo): thin pastries sprinkled with sugar, roasted after the dough is placed around a stick. Follow the smell in Prague's old town… watch how they do it… and eat up!
Germany
A brief stay in Berlin and an even briefer stop-over in Munich allowed us a quick intro to German cuisine and, of course, a never-ending world of sausages!
I must say that nothing beats a currywurst or a simple proper hot dog out of a road-side vending cart in Berlin in the middle of a night out:
I won't attempt to share the exact name of these sausages because I know Germans are very particular about their sausages and I could mess up. Let's just say these were mighty fine hot dogs! In Berlin.
Sausage platter in Munich: variety of sausages, pork meatballs, creamy mashed potatoes, cabbage and crispy fried onions. Not for those on a weight-loss diet…
In the land of sausages, even croissants are stuffed with wurst!
I was very impressed with the variety of restaurants in Berlin: we had the chance to go out for fusion vegan food, Sudanese falafel, Japanese fast food and Korean traditional dishes – and it’s a shame that we couldn’t eat more, but we literally didn’t have more meals during the 2 days we spent there! Thumbs up for the amazing prices of food in Berlin too! We couldn’t believe we were indeed in Germany….
비빔밥 Bibimbap: a popular Korean dish with rice, vegetables, meats and fried egg. A bowl of delicious comfort food!
Mandoo Soup: Korean vegetable dumplings in broth, topped with seaweed
Gimbap: the Korean take on sushi
Vegan lunch: a much needed break from the meaty days both in Germany and Czech Republic
Netherlands
We were supposed to fly from Germany back to Portugal but decided to instead do so after a few days in Amsterdam. The price of flights from Amsterdam to Lisbon helped us create a great excuse to add a new country to the European itinerary and discover some more food in the process too.
We rented an Airbnb apartment in the same street as the Dappermarkt, one of the most multicultural street markets I have ever visited in my life. There, one can buy things such as Indian samosas, Belgian style fries, Dutch fried fish, Vietnamese steamed buns and Middle Eastern hummus all being sold by people originating from those parts of the world. I love multicultural places and when this influences what people eat too, we can easily observe how food brings us all together!
International lunch bought at Dappermarkt: Dutch fried fish, Indian samosas, Vietnamese dim sum and roasted corn on the cob from a Guianese vendor – served with home-made salad
For breakfast or lunch, smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches with capers are ALWAYS welcome!
There was a lot of cheese involved in our Amsterdam stay too… Hey, we LOVE Gouda!
Cheese shop: Gouda is my favorite drug while in Amsterdam! ;)
South-East Asia
Our most recent travels have brought us to South-East Asia. We’re based in Thailand (Chiang Mai) right now for a few weeks and this is one fine city for those who plan their travels around food too. But before Chiang Mai we were in…
Cambodia
I have read how a lot of the traditional Khmer cuisine has been lost with the devastation that the country has suffered in recent history. The lack of preservation of culinary tradition and the shortage of ingredients didn’t help carrying recipes from generation to generation. But things are changing now.
We even went for a cooking class in Siem Reap that aims to spread the word about Cambodian cuisine with new people, so that the world realizes Cambodia knows a thing or two about food too!
Fresh spring rolls: a healthier alternative than the fried ones, stuffed with grilled chicken, rice vermicelli, shredded carrots and a bunch of herbs. Dipped in sweet sauce with chunky peanuts.
Cambodian chicken curry with sweet potatoes, served with steamed rice
Somlor Machou Kroeung – Cambodian beef soup, served with white rice
Nom Tong Nuyen, a typical desert from Cambodia, resembling a waffle cone, but crispier and made with coconut milk.
The best thirst quencher in Cambodia and South East Asia in general: chilled young coconut – best enjoyed with wonderful views like those at Angkor Wat
Thailand
Thailand is, quite probably, one of the best countries out there to eat on a budget. It’s borderline ridiculous how much good food there is available, the incredible variety, the omnipresence of food stalls.. and the fact that prices are the greatest ever. I mean it: EVER!
Thai breakfast was a new discovery for us. Rice was never a part of my first meal of the day, unless it was in the shape of Rice Krispies, but things have changed around here…
Thai Breakfast: rice congee with pork meatballs and veggies, seasonal fruits and coffee
โจ๊ก Jok: Thai style rice porridge with pork. One of Thailand's most popular breakfast dishes.
If you know anything about eating in Thailand you’ve probably heard praise regarding the street food. Not only you’ll never get hungry around Thailand, you won’t also need to be rich to enjoy wholesome preparations made from scratch in front of you.
Generally clean, safe to eat, cheap and even cute, Thai street food is proof that almost anything can be put on a skewer – well, maybe not little insects, but those taste better by the handful anyway!
Grilled prawns in Phuket – bought from a street vendor by the sea at night
Various satays: marinated meat on skewers, charcoal grilled to tenderness
There's plenty of snacks served on skewers in Thailand: sausages, meat balls and fish balls are amongst the most popular in street markets
Fried worms and assorted creatures: not for the easy impressionable, but definitely a good source of protein!
Curries and rice are to Thailand what burgers are to the US, what pasta is to Italy or what bacalhau (salted cod fish) is to Portugal.
There is no such thing as “Thai curry” because in reality the recipes vary according to the region of the country, but coconut milk seems to be a staple ingredient.
Rice comes as a side for curry (like steamed Jasmine rice) or fried with a little bit of it all.
Tom Kha Goong: curry-like soup with chicken, galanga root and coconut.
แกงมัสมั่น Chicken Massaman curry with potatoes: a dish of muslim origin from Southern Thailand
Fish in black pepper sauce, in Phuket.
Prawn and pineapple fried rice, served with cashew nuts inside a pineapple shell – in the paradisiac island of Ko Phi Phi!
Chicken green curry rice with the almost mandatory fried egg > in Thailand, they love adding a fried egg to most rice meals. In restaurants and food courts, you often have the options of adding an egg to your dish of choice, for about 10 Bhat.
Yet my preferred staple in Thailand are noodles, particularly swimming in broth.
Pad Thai. Stir-fried rice noodle with chopped tofu, sprouts, egg, tamarind and fish sauce. For a $1 or less all over Thailand – gotta love this country!!
ผัดซีอิ๊ว Pad See Ew: stir-fried broad flat rice noodles in soy sauce
Glass noodle soup with chicken and veggies: Thai people sure know how to make a heart-warming soup!
BBQ pork and egg noodle soup, topped with plenty of spring onions
Rice noodles and pork soup – yep, that's a pork artery you're seeing there!.. If you're going to kill an animal for food, you better use all of it!
Rice noodle soup with assorted sea food, in the island of Koh Lanta, for little over $1. PARADISE!
Noodle soup with pork meatballs and slices of processed pork roll. Crispy fried batter on the side, to dip in and enjoy!
The food-courts in Thai cities are great to get acquainted with Thai food too. Apart from offering local dishes, they are some of the most appealing places to try other Asian foods too. As everything is on display, even if you don’t know what the items are or don’t know how to order from a menu in Thai, you can just point your finger and take a pick!
Hainanese chicken with rice, pak choi in soy sauce, a cup of chicken broth and plenty of toppings to season it all
The spiciest thing we have EVER eaten: Schezwan Pork. 20% meat, 80% chillies. FIRE!
Z likes to dim sum… and Bangkok's food courts are a kick-ass place to do so on a budget!
We’ve been spending some solid time in Thailand, which means we’ve been less nomadic than usual and sometimes even have our own kitchen to cook. This has lead to some mild experimentation of European dishes with a few Thai ingredients. It hasn’t actually been half bad, you know?
Gazpacho soup with Thai herbs. 'Cause I like mixin' it up!
Another Euro-Thai experiment: spaghetti in olive oil and soy sauce topped with assorted Asian mushrooms sautéed in garlic
When it comes to dessert in Thailand, I’d rather go for the fruits – exotic, refreshing and abundant!
Seasonal fruit platter in Ko Phi Phi: banana, dragon fruit, watermelon and pineapple
Thanks to the tropical weather, fruit in Thailand is incredibly flavorful
Mango and Sticky Rice Sushi: the popular Thai desert of sliced mangoes served with sticky rice and coconut milk, shaped as a sushi roll with seaweed.
Bua Loi: glutinous colored rice flour balls in coconut milk. Thai desserts often involve coconut milk.
If last year our hearts were stuck in Mexico and Peru, it seems that lately our palates are all over Asia. If there was a “best country for food award” we’d surely give it to Thailand: for variety, richness of flavor, freshness and affordability.
What is your favorite country for food?