6 Delicacies to Try Out Around the World
The best dishes in the world may just be staples in quiet local villages. Here are some foreign foods that are worth sinking your not-so-delicate teeth into.
1. Kimchi
Apparently amazing for your gut health, this often-tangy, fermented vegetable concoction – a little like sauerkraut – is gaining worldwide attention. In South Korea, its birthplace, most of your restaurant meals will come with a little side dish of this happiness in a jar. Try more at Museum Kimchikan (yes, it exists) in the capital.
35-4 Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Kimchikan.com
2. Macarons
With Pierre Hermé named the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2016, there would be something amiss if you were in Paris and didn’t try his macarons, right? Enjoy a few of his sweet mouth-sized morsels and you may well become one of his many fans.
Pierra Hermé 72, rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris.
Pierreherme.com
3. Pho
Whether you pronounce this “fo” or “fur”, it’s a super tasty dish. This cold-soothing combination of long-simmering bone broth, strips of meat (raw beef or chicken are favourites), chilli, lime and fresh, handmade noodles is Vietnam’s staple for breakfast, lunch and, in some areas, dinner. Locals head to Pho Bo Vien Thap Cam, hidden on Nguyen Thai Binh in District 1, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
4. Fresh Ccoconut water
Ah, sitting on a tropical island drinking coconut water straight from the young coconut itself. Believe it or not, getting a drink of this clear and hydrating liquid straight from the coconut can be a rarity in the tropics, however a Saturday morning visit to the lively Punanga Nui market on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands may change that. Take advantage of machete-wielding folk at the market who’ll demonstrate what it’s all about.
Downtown, Avarua, Rotorua, Cook Islands.
Punanganuiculturalmarket.co.ck
5. Rare ham
It takes a lot of work (and a lot of acorns) to get a leg of ham up to world record price (nearly $6000AUD a leg) but hunt down some in southern Spain and you’ll be rewarded with a memorable taste. Eduardo Donato makes the most expensive organic ham out there from the Manchado de Jabugo pig. He and other villagers actually saved the breed of from extinction, as it was once seen as too much hard work and left to die out.
Jabugo, Huelva, Spain.
Dehesamaladua.bio
6. Mussels
Shellfish lovers should stop in Istanbul if they notice crowds gathered around a particular street vendor come dinnertime. You may have stumbled across a seller of midye dolma (stuffed mussels). Inside the shell you’ll find the mussel acting all shell-like with a delicious spice-infused rice, raisin and pine nut concoction.
Istiklal Street alleys, Nevizade, Istanbul, Turkey.