Travelling the world for the best cuisine and street food
Credit to Author: Dave Pottinger| Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2020 17:49:50 +0000
Eating is a significant part of any travel experience, and whether it’s enjoying a lamb and pear tajine in Morocco,some spicy jerk chicken in Jamaica or a green chicken curry in Thailand, there’s nothing better than savouring a dish in its country of origin, plus it’s a great way to meet the locals.
MOROCCAN
It is said that in order for a nation to develop a great cuisine, it must have four prerequisites. A rich land from which to draw upon an abundant range of ingredients, a variety of foreign cultural influences, a great civilization and lastly, a refined palace with royal kitchens to inspire the nation’s cooks. Morocco has it all, and is home to some of the most delicious food imaginable.
Food stalls in the Djemaa el-Fna market square in Marrakech.
From robust roasts to rich aromatic stews, spiced or sweetened salads to savoury pastries, fragrant mounds of couscous to bastilla, an exquisite blend of shredded pigeon, a spiced onion sauce with saffron and herbs encased in a flaky, filo-like pastry topped with cinnamon and sugar – an intricate dish that epitomises everything that is grand and extravagant in Moroccan cooking.
One of the most interesting ways to absorb the delights of Moroccan cuisine is to wander through the souks (markets) of the towns and cities, sampling the food on offer. It’s early morning in old Fés and sunlight streams in slanted rays through the woven bamboo shades covering the narrow alleyways, catching the steam rising from the many cookers.
Close to the city gate of Bab Bou Jaloud one stallholder is already busy cooking and selling one of the most common forms of Moroccan breakfasts, square-shaped pancakes called msemen. With deft handwork he pinches small balls of dough and presses them into a paper-thin squares covered with oil. Folded, then folded again he slips them onto a skillet sizzling with oil where they materialise into flaky pancakes waiting to be served to eagerly waiting customers with butter and honey.
Local character on the streets of Fés.
In a nearby fruit and vegetable souk, produce of every kind lines the street – juicy oranges from the sun-drenched groves of Agadir, vine-ripened tomatoes, plump mounds of grapes and preserved fruits and nuts. Entire shops are jam-packed with olives of all types; others display hanging baskets bulging with fresh mint, used to make mint tea that is traditionally served before and after a meal.
At a spice souk, bright red paprika, rich yellow turmeric, dusty sticks of cinnamon, seeds of cumin, aniseed and caraway are heaped in tubs waiting to be measured into twisted envelopes of paper. These are some of the spices that form the soul of Moroccan cooking, transforming simple dishes to exotic heights.
Mint tea is served.
One of Morocco’s most famous dishes is the tajine or tagine. The name refers to the conical-lidded pot in which it is prepared, as well as the intricately spiced stew of meat and vegetables, sometimes with dried fruits and nuts, cooked very slowly over a charcoal fire. Typical tajine combinations include: lamb with pears and chicken with green olives and preserved lemons – simple yet delicious dishes that are often accompanied by thick wedges of crusty Moroccan flat bread, perfect for soaking up the sauce.
THAI
Standing at an important Asian crossroads for centuries, Thailand owes its rich cuisine to the culinary infusions of India, China, Malaysia and Indonesia. It has adapted cooking techniques and ingredients from each of these major influences and blended them with its own. Street food in particular is the lifeline of Thailand helping to feed millions of people daily, and the first wave of travellers in the 70s discovered it was a cheap and delicious way to eat, helping to initiate the process of popularising Thai food as one of the world’s great cuisines.
A Thai woman grills chicken at a roadside stall (Soi Rambutri / Banglamphu district)
Towards the end of one road near Bangkok’s Grand Palace, tantalising aromas drift from sidewalk kitchens serving up sizzling Thai delights. Outside one stall, a street chef wields a wok of prawns and vegetables on his gas burner like an accomplished swordsman, creating a medley of smoke and flickering flames. A few metres away, a wizened old lady bends over a large stone mortar, pounding grated papaya, nuts and chilies to prepare a hot and tangy som tam(papaya salad).
The characteristic flavour of Thai food comes from a blend of four basic tastes – salty, sweet, sour and pungent, and the liberal use of ingredients such as fresh coriander leaf, lemon-grass, lime juice, garlic, chilies, tamarind juice, fish paste, ginger and coconut milk. Thailand’s sidewalk gourmets are masters at combining these ingredients and employing fast cooking techniques that maintain the delicate flavours of the food. Before you can saymoo ping or phat Thai, they will char-grill you some skewers of marinated pork or stir-fry some rice noodles with bean sprouts, peanuts, eggs and chili.
Deep-fried bananas, one of Bangkok’s top street snacks. The vendors won’t be difficult to spot-look for a bubbling vat of oil.
Vendors tend to specialise in one particular dish: noodles, curries, barbecued fish, rice dishes, or fruit juices etc. Some favourites include kai ho bai toei(seasoned fried chicken in leaf wrappers), tomyam(hot and sour soup) and gaeng kiow wan gai(green chicken curry). For something sweet to finish off your street dining, look out for khao niew mamuang (sticky rice with mango) or kruay kaek (banana fritters). Eating at the numerous food stalls and vendor carts can turn a stroll along any of Thailand’s streets into a culinary adventure.
JAMAICAN
From fiery seasoned meat and inventive seafood dishes to oak-aged rums and hearty stouts, Jamaican cuisine is an eclectic mix of African, European and Indian influences – and is surprisingly healthy and varied. Although many restaurants offer excellent dining, you’re just as likely to have a great culinary experience by eating local style – and here that means one thing: Jamaica’s signature dish of jerk chicken or pork.
Cooking jerk chicken.
Jerk chicken is believed to have been conceived when the Maroons introduced African meat-cooking techniques to Jamaica, which were combined with native Jamaican ingredients and seasonings used by the Amerindians. At most places, the recipe for jerk sauce is a closely guarded secret, but it usually contains peppers, onions, pimento, ginger and chili.
Although there are thousands of ‘jerk centres’ – as they are known on Jamaica, one of the best places to go is Scotchies, an unassuming thatched-roofed joint on the outskirts of Montego Bay. It’s late Friday afternoon and a reggae soundtrack combines with delicious aromas that waft on the balmy tropical breeze. Rows of chickens are splayed flat and whole backs of pig sizzle in jerk marinade over a low fire of pimento wood, which introduces a strong distinctive smoky flavour to the meat. A cool mix of locals and visitors rub shoulders at rustic tables opening tin foil parcels of tasty jerk chicken, pork or fish washed down with a Red Stripe beer, the island’s tipple of choice.
In addition to being jerked, chicken is typically fried or curried, while fish can be grilled, steamed with okra and pimento pods, or brown-stewed in a tasty sauce. Rice and peas (rice cooked with coconut, spices and red kidney beans) is the accompaniment to most meals, though you’ll also come across festival(deep-fried cornmeal dumplings), breadfruit, sweet potatoes and yam.
Menu at Scotchies.
Other Jamaican specialties include mouth-watering curried goat, peanut porridge and ackee and salt fish– a classic and addictive breakfast dish. Another popular and widely available foodstuff is the vegetable, chicken or beef patty, with around one million of these Cornish pasty-like snacks being eaten by Jamaicans every day.
When it comes to non-alcoholic beverages, there’s refreshing coconut juice, throat-tingling ginger beers and unusual fresh natural juices such as tamarind, June plum, guava, sorrel and sour sop. Finally, the rich, black volcanic soil of Jamaica’s majestic Blue Mountains produces Jamaican Blue Mountain – a wonderfully balanced brew, full-bodied with a smooth finish.
SPANISH
Spain’s distinctive cuisine brings together unique regional dishes, special ingredients and long standing influences from Moorish and Arab settlers. Among the multitude of recipes from all over Spain, a few can be considered common to all or almost all of the country. Garlic is a Spanish favourite and used in almost everything. Olives are also an integral part of Spanish cuisine, whether used in olive oil (of which Spain produces more than any other country) or marinated and eaten as an aperitif or in cooking.
People outside a bar in Palma/Mallorca on a tapas crawl.
For centuries the pig has been the great benefactor of Spanish gastronomy and supplied cured meat products like sausages and salamis particularly the spicy chorizo, Spain’s best-loved sausage. Suckling pig and lamb also feature on menus and smaller game such as rabbit and partridge provide the ingredients for traditional stews and soups. Ham or jamónis also highly prized and you will often come across different types, but typically it will be jamón serranoor ham from the sierra or mountains.
Seafood such as prawns, shrimps, anchovies and sardines are all widely consumed and monkfish is one of the nation’s favourite fish. All these can make an appearance in the ubiquitous fish soup or paella, which varies from region to region. Gazpacho is another well known Spanish soup, made with tomato, olive oil, garlic, cucumbers and croutons, served chilled. There’s also a wonderful range of cheeses available from the aged manchegovariety from La Mancha, to the soft creamy cheeses such as tetillafrom Galicia and everything in between.
A selection of pinchos in a Logroño bar.
Going on a tapas crawl is an excellent and authentic way to get into Spain’s eating and drinking groove and a great chance to sample a variety of its foods. Tapas are basically a generic name for small portions of anything edible and can vary from simple to gourmet. It could be a bowl of olives or deep-fried squid, tortillaespañola(potato and onion omelette), pimientos de padrón(green peppers grilled with olive oil and salt), angulas(baby eels on toast), anchovies on bread, or more elaborate miniature creations of haute cuisine.
A great place to sample tapas is Logroño (capital of the Rioja region) rapidly gaining a culinary reputation to rival anywhere in Spain, only enhanced by its ‘Gastronomic Capital of Spain’ award. Tapas are known in these parts as pinchosor pintxos, because many of them have a pincho (Spanish for spike), typically a toothpick or skewer holding the food on a slice of bread.
Typical local bar in Logroño.
The place to go to sample pinchos in Logroñois buzzing Calle del Laurel, where gastro-bars and old-world taverns rub shoulders with each other. There are dozens of pinchos bars and hundreds of pinchos to choose from, with some bars offering several varieties, while others are famous for just one. They are usually cheap, and when paired with a glass of local red wine, usually cost around 2.50 euros.
A few places to get you started include La Taberna del Laurel (Calle del Laurel, 7) whose house speciality at is patatas bravas (potatoes in spicy tomato sauce), while La Tasca del Pato (Calle del Laurel, 24) offers white asparagus grilled with a wrap of Rioja cheese. Bar Lorenzo (Calle del Laurel, 4)majors on simply grilled chistorra(chorizo with sweet paprika and garlic) and lamb kebabs, while Bar Soriano (Calledel Laurel, 2) is famed for its delicious mushroom pinchos which have been served for the past forty years – three mushrooms grilled and smothered with a rich and buttery sauce of garlic and olive oil, skewered on a slice of baguette and crowned with a shrimp.
INDIAN
Early morning and the sun begins to slowly rise above a skyline of sloping red-tiled roofs, white-washed churches and a lush hillside of billowing palms in Panaji, the capital of the Indian state of Goa. A woman in an orange sari balancing a wicker basket of vegetables on her head walks past a brilliant blue wall, while in the distance there’s the sound of bicycle horns as bread boys deliver soft-wheat flour rolls to villagers on the outskirts.
Fruit sellers on a colourful Panaji street.
Removed from Goa’s touristy beach resorts, Panaji offers the opportunity of a more authentic culinary experience where you can sample not only local specialties but also feasibly attempt a gastronomic tour of the whole of India, without straying far from your accommodation.
From simple hole-in-the-wall eateries to plush air-conditioned restaurants, Panaji is packed with a good range of places to eat, offering everything from traditional Goan dishes to specialties from other Indian states. Popular local dishes to look out for include sorpotel (a rich spicy meat stew), xacuti (chicken cooked in coconut milk and a variety of spices) andrecheiado(a delicious preparation in which a whole fish is stuffed with a spicy red sauce).
Vegetarians are well catered for at the numerous South Indian-style cafeterias, known as ‘udipi’’ restaurants that have sprung up in recent years. It won’t take you long to discover that you don’t need to spend big to enjoy delicious and authentic food in India. It’s also a truism that some of the best cooking can be found in the least pretentious restaurants, often family-run.
Street-side seller of vegetables covered in spices
The thali is the ubiquitous Indian lunch, which just happens to be one of the whole sub-continent’s best food deals. For a handful of rupee, you get a stainless steel platter with small, fitted bowls usually containing a piece of fried fish, dry and wet vegetable dishes, roti, papadums, rice, pickle, and dahl (lentil curry). Thalis provide a great opportunity to taste many Indian dishes at the one sitting and the chance to explore regional variations.
Like much of India, Goa’s staple dish eaten twice a day by most of the population is fish curry and rice. In Panaji, to eat it where the locals do, head to the Cafe Ritz just round the corner from the Municipal Gardens. This no-frills gem really packs in the lunch crowd where the dining could not offer a starker contrast to its opulent London namesake. Instead of a selection of delicate sandwiches served with fine tea poured from ornate silverware, there’s the click-clack of steel thalis being slapped down on tables along with glasses of steaming sweet milky chai…