Exotic cuisine worth crossing world for Ceviche with a smile: Peru
Ben Groundwater goes global in his search for the tastiest dishes.
Blame Anthony Bourdain. Or MasterChef, or Luke Nguyen, or Manu Feildel, or Adam Liaw, or any one of the hundreds of travelling chefs and gourmets who have begun bringing the world of food to our televisions, seemingly 24 hours a day.
We’ve become obsessed with finding good food when we travel, thanks in no small part to the saturation of exotic cuisine being beamed into our lounge rooms. And it’s not just the classic destinations, either, like France, Italy and Spain, that we’re into anymore. Rising stars such as Peru, Korea, Morocco, Portugal and Myanmar, among others, have begun catching the attention of the gastronomically and travel obsessed.
‘‘There is no doubting the impact the food and travel media has had in the past 10 years,’’ says Erica Kritikides, the food product manager for Intrepid Travel, which runs global Real Food Adventure tours. ‘‘People are being exposed to so many different cuisines that they’re not familiar with.
If you love to travel, love to eat, and are ready to try something new, then these next frontiers of food should be on your list. It’s strange that there are so few Peruvian restaurants in Australia and New Zealand, because this South American cuisine is taking the world by storm. From the classic ceviche – fish cured in citrus juice – to lesser-known dishes like tiradito (a spicy fusion of ceviche and sashimi), causa (layered potatoes and meat), chicharrones (fried pork belly), and aji de gallina (spicy chicken stew), Peruvian cuisine is as diverse as it is delicious.
‘‘There’s an amazing mix of influences in Peru,’’ Kritikides says.
‘‘You have ancient Incan culinary techniques, you’ve got ‘‘chifa’’ cuisine, which was created when there was an influx of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century, there’s Japanese influence, you’ve got Spanish influence . . . Food is a great way to get a sense of how the country has evolved.’’
It’s also worth noting that three of the world’s top 30 restaurants in the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants are in Lima: Virgilio Martinez’s Central Restaurante (No 4), Mitsuharu Tsumura’s Peruvian-Japanese fusion Maido (No 13), and Gaston Acurio’s finediner Astrid y Gaston (No 30).
Classic dish: Ceviche: seafood cured in citrus juice. Where to eat it: Restaurant Fiesta in the town of Chiclayo does an amazingly good version (restaurantfiestagourmet.com).
Streets ahead: Myanmar
After a long period of turmoil, Myanmar is once again welcoming visitors who are drawn by its historic cities, its temples and stupas, its rivers and lakes, and its cuisine, a blend of Chinese, Thai, Indian and indigenous flavours.
‘‘One of the great things about Myanmar is the uniqueness of its markets,’’ says Jennifer Wilkinson, owner of tour company Epicurious Travel. ‘‘Getting out on a boat in Inle Lake and going to see the floating vegetable gardens is amazing. People haven’t necessarily seen that before.’’
The dining out scene in Myanmar is constantly evolving, and while many tourist-focused restaurants still offer bland versions of Thai cuisine, there’s real value in hitting the streets and finding what the locals eat.
‘‘One of the country’s bestknown dishes is mohinga, which is rice vermicelli noodles in a fishbased broth with onion and garlic,’’ Wilkinson says. That’s a classic breakfast dish. Then they do a lot of barbecued food on the streets, which is more Chinese style. There’s also deep-fried things like samosas, so there’s that Indian influence as well.’’
Classic dish: Mohinga, the fishy noodle soup. Where to eat it: Search the street stalls of Yangon to find the best of this breakfast staple.
Seoul food: South Korea
It’s not easy being overshadowed by your neighbours, but when your neighbours are China and Japan, it’s understandable. Those are two extremely well-known food cultures, which might explain why Korean cuisine has flown largely under the radar.
That is, until now. Word is getting out that there’s some amazingly good food in Korea, and it’s both affordable and approachable.
Want comfort food? Try bibimbap, a dish of rice topped with meat, pickled vegetables, kimchi, chilli paste and egg, cooked in a stone bowl. Or how about tteokbokki, rice cakes cooked in spicy soybean sauce? Or street food: Korean-style fried chicken, or battered vegetables, or Chinese-style dumplings?
The highlight of the country’s cuisine, however, is Korean barbecue. This is social eating at its finest, as groups of family and friends gather around a hot grill and cook meat to their liking, before wrapping it in a lettuce leaf with onions, kimchi and chilli paste and wolfing it down. Pair it with a Hite beer, and you’re doing things right. Classic dish: Bibimbap, the Korean fried rice. Where to eat it: Grandma Yu’s (Bukchang-dong 12-2, Jung-gu, Seoul) is a local favourite.
Tagine dreams: Morocco
There are so many reasons to travel to Morocco, but the reason you’ll want to return will be the cuisine.
‘‘Slow food is not a gimmick in Morocco,’’ Kritikides says. ‘‘It is absolutely their way of life. So many dishes take so long to prepare.’’
And they’re worth the wait. Moroccan cuisine has been influenced over hundreds of years by the settlers who have arrived on the country’s shores. ‘‘You’ve got Moorish influence,’’ Kritikides say. ‘‘But then there’s also Spanish, Berber . . . there’s a really interesting French influence as well.’’
Moroccan food is defined by couscous, the handmade, steamed balls of semolina that are served with almost every meal, but there’s more to the nation’s cuisine than that. This is a place of intense spices, of dishes laced with cumin, cinnamon, turmeric and paprika. It’s the sour hit of preserved lemons, the nutty goodness of olive oil, and the comfort food of the tagine: a cooking vessel and a way of life.
Classic dish: Kefta tagine, a stew of meatballs and tomatoes.
Where to eat it: La Maison Arabe (lamaisonarabe.com) in Marrakech brings fine-dining to traditional Moroccan food.
Taco time: Mexico
If the first words that come to mind when you think of Mexican food are ‘‘Old El Paso’’, hang your head in shame. There’s so much more to this country’s cuisine than dodgy taco kits, and adventurous travellers are discovering the rich mix of flavours and textures that makes up the typical Mexican’s day.
‘‘The best experience you can have, definitely, is ‘tacos al pastor’ on a sidewalk in Mexico City,’’ Kritikides says. ‘‘You find the longest queue, and you know it’s going to be good.’’
Tacos al pastor is a dish that combines Mexican flavours with shawarma-style meat introduced by Lebanese migrants. A huge slab of pork is marinated in chilli and pineapple juice, then grilled, sliced, and served on a tortilla with onions, salsa and coriander.
But don’t stop at tacos. In Mexico you’ll find chilaquiles, a breakfast dish of tortilla chips soaked in salsa and topped with shredded chicken and queso fresco. You’ll find mole poblano, the rich sauce of spices, chillies and chocolate. You’ll find Spanish influence, indigenous influence, and more. Classic dish: Tacos al pastor. Where to eat it: These pork tacos are best sampled at a tiny shop like the 55-year-old El Huequito (Pennsylvania 73, Benito Juarez) in Mexico City.
Hoppers to it: Sri Lanka
You know a nation is passionate about food when it invents a way to be eating pretty much all the time. Welcome to the culture of ‘‘short eats’’, a Sri Lankan term for taking small amounts of food, often just bite-sized pieces, and spreading their consumption over an entire day.
Sri Lankans love to eat. They also love to make other people eat, a sign of a hospitable nation that aims to please. Aside from those short eats – the streetside snacks of pastries, mutton rolls, fish patties, rotis and Chinese-style spring rolls – Sri Lanka is also famous for kottu roti, a stir-fried
dish of shredded bread, egg, meat and spices, and hoppers, sour pancakes filled with sambal, eggs, or curry.
‘‘Sri Lanka is a fantastic place to travel to eat for a lot of reasons, but firstly it’s very manageable in terms of size, so you can do a lot,’’ Kritikides says. ‘‘It’s got quite distinct areas: you’ve got the central region where tea is grown, you’ve got fantastic seafood in the south, great street food in Colombo, and spices growing everywhere.’’
Classic dish: Hoppers, the sour pancakes. Where to eat it: Upali’s (65 CWW Kannangara Mawatha, Colombo) does some of the country’s best.
Food of love: Portugal
‘‘I can wrap up Portuguese culture in two words,’’ says Filipa Valente, a Lisbon local who runs Taste of Lisboa Food Tours. ‘‘What we have is ‘soul food’. We have fantastic ingredients, and people can cook very well, but the secret ingredient for Portuguese food is love. It’s the dedication that people take cooking, baking and then serving.’’
While it would be easy to assume Portuguese food is the same as Spanish, there are differences. Where the Spanish have tapas, the Portuguese have ‘‘petiscos’’: small servings of food that have to be eaten with a fork or spoon, or mopped up with crusty bread. We’re talking meaty broths, or snails fried in olive oil, or octopus barbecued over coals.
Petiscos are an evening tradition. Lunch, meanwhile, is a lengthy feast of soup, meat, vegetables, fruit, and sugary sweets. ‘‘When it comes to serving food, we are never in a hurry,’’ Valente says. ‘‘We want people to feel at home. For Portuguese people, food is our best way to express our feelings.’’
Classic dish: Bacalhau. ‘‘It’s dry, salted codfish and it’s an obsession,’’ Valente says. ‘‘We have at least 365 recipes; one for every day of the year.’’
Where to eat it: Ze da Mouraria (R Joao do Outeiro 24, Lisbon) is a favourite among Lisbon residents. True grits: United States Say what? American food? Burgers and fries? Pizza? Um . . . burgers and fries?
Admittedly, in many parts of the United States it can be hard to steer clear of a food pyramid that resembles more of a golden triangle of fatty, cholesterol-filled goodness: pizza, burgers and fries.
But the American food scene is undergoing a renaissance. From the fusion food trucks of the Pacific north-west to the global restaurant scene of New York, to the creole and charcoal obsession in the south, this is a country with a huge amount to offer lovers of a good meal.
While the adaptations of foreign food in the US are often great – Tex-Mex, Korean-Mex – it’s the original, unique dishes of the nation’s south that should really interest travellers. We’re talking shrimp and grits, biscuits and gravy, collard greens, chicken fried steak, boiled crawfish, and the king of southern cuisine: the barbecue. Happiness truly is a slab of smoked brisket.
Classic dish: Southern-style barbecued meat.
Where to eat it: Every southern state claims to have the best barbecue, but you can’t miss Louie Mueller Barbecue (louiemuellerbarbecue.com) in Taylor, Texas.
Middle Feast: Israel and Palestine
It’s easy to think of this troubled part of the world as a tale of two cultures, but as soon as you see what’s for dinner, that notion will disappear forever.
‘‘You’re eating food that comes from Syrian traditions, from Druze traditions, Jewish traditions, Moroccan traditions, Armenian traditions, eastern European traditions . . . It’s so diverse and interesting,’’ Kritikides says. ‘‘It’s a place where so many people coexist, and you see that through its cuisine.’’
What can you expect to find in Israel and the Palestinian Territories? Try shakshouka, the dish of baked eggs and tomatoes, or kanafeh, the Nablusi dessert of sweet cheese and semolina. And then there’s tahini, hummus, falafel, shawarma, Jerusalem-style bagels, Arabic breads, halva, and pickled vegetables.
The only string that binds all these disparate flavours and cuisines together is their freshness and quality, as well as the love that goes into preparing them.
Classic dish: Mujadara, a mix of rice, lentils and crisp fried onions that’s a staple in the Arab world.
Where to eat it: Azura (Ha-Eshkol St 4, Jerusalem), a small but perennially popular restaurant in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market. – Traveller
Ben Groundwater grew up in a country town in Queensland, where Chinese food meant beef and black beans from the bainmarie and Indian food was considered way too exotic. He has since worked as a cook and travelled the world, however, developing a passion for a diverse range of cultures and cuisines.