Vawn's Blog

Fiesta burgers, pig’s feet and cheese in your hot chocolate

VAWN HIMMELSBACH, Chic Savvy Travels

One of my friends, who just returned from India, was telling me about a woman he met who only wanted to eat “American” food while she was there. During my travels, I’ve met several people who refused to eat the local food — including one girl who spent a month in Thailand and ate nothing but steamed rice because she was afraid of getting sick. (She got sick anyway.)

Whether it’s because of fears about food safety or just an unenthusiastic palate, if you’re missing out on the local food, you’re missing out on experiencing the culture you came to experience.

I’ve been known to travel to countries mainly for the food — I’ve been to Thailand multiple times, and will continue to go back, for the green curry with shrimp and fried big noodles with pork and mango sticky rice. Every time I return to Bangkok, the first thing I do is head over to my favourite spring roll vendor, who has been on the same street corner for well over a decade.

That’s not to say I’m a food snob. I still eat Western food while I’m traveling, and I find I get weird cravings for McDonald’s and KFC, which never happens at home unless I’m extremely hungover.

However, I’ve also become fascinated by the regional menus on offer at McDonald’s: the Samurai Pork Burger in Thailand (a slab of pork between two buns made of sticky rice), or the Fiesta Burger in Guatemala (pretty much the same thing as a Quarter Pounder, but I loved the name), or an entire menu without beef in India, where cows are considered holy. Ever had a Big Mac with chicken before?

Anyway, I digress… To me, experiencing the food is one of the best parts of travel — even if I don’t like it. I ate a hell of a lot of yak meat in Tibet, and I ate donkey meat, pig’s feet and many unidentifiable morsels of food when I lived in China (though, I think in that case, ignorance is bliss). And I once ate the little flap on top of a rooster in a chicken stew in Nepal.

I’ve also had food poisoning three times while traveling — all at high-end restaurants serving “American” food.

So don’t let fear stop you, because it’s all part of the experience. Believe me, I’ve forgotten many of the museums I’ve visited, but I have vivid memories of that donkey meat sandwich I ate in China.

Just a few weeks ago, I was sitting in a café in Bogota, Colombia, where I tried a local specialty: cheese in hot chocolate (you drop a slice of cheese into your hot chocolate, where it gets all melty, then spoon it out). I’m not going to say I loved it, but I did love the experience — laughing with the waitress while I attempted to order in Spanish, warming up with the locals who were escaping the rain outside on the cobblestone streets of La Candelaria in Old Bogota. That I won’t forget.
Vawn

Date Added: April 2, 2011 | Comments (1)