A dream trip for food lovers

Dec 1, 2011 5:14:02 AM

Robert Reid
Lonely Planet Author

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I’ve long considered ‘travel’ - you know, going to see stuff like museums and markets and fancy plazas with mimes - as merely ‘the space between meals.’ Ultimately a trip’s defined by the food you eat. And where you eat it.

There’s no end of sensory surprise in store if you travel the globe with an open mind and ready taste buds. From delicate appetizers to belly-busting feasts, why not let a world map be your menu on your next trip? Here are five destinations where food and place combine in an unforgettable concoction.

(Check out our other dream trips for movie, music, outdoors and art lovers.)

Couscous in Casablanca, Morocco

The minute you arrive in Casablanca, make straight for Blvd de la Corniche down on the waterfront, pick an appealing café or restaurant and order a cup of mint tea and a plate of Morocco’s staple food, couscous. The couscous grain is made from semolina (ground durum wheat) and is ideally prepared by being repeatedly steamed in a special pot called a couscoussier. It’s then topped with a spicy stew containing either vegetables or a mixture of veggies and meat such as chicken, lamb and fish. Eat it again, Sam.

Tapas in Barcelona

Patatas bravas (potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce), calamares fritos (fried squid), croquetas de jamón (ham croquettes), chorizo (pork sausage), berenjenas gratinadas (cheese-baked aubergine) are just a few mouthwatering examples of the fabulous Spanish snacks known as tapas. The vivacious Catalan capital of Barcelona excels in the creation and consumption of tapas, particularly along La Rambla late in the evening when residents and travelers alike slowly graze their way south from Plaça de Catalunya. Become a local by leaving the cutlery on the table and claiming the tapas with a toothpick or your fingers.

Nasi goreng in Penang, Malaysia

Malaysia has been the new Thailand for years – it’s just that the world is slow to to catch up. Visitors to Malaysia, though, know. And inevitably find themselves ordering the ubiquitous, delightfully simple meal called nasi goreng. Literally meaning ‘fried rice’ and also enjoyed across Indonesia and Singapore, this dish is prepared by stir-frying rice with chicken or seafood, vegetables, eggs and a sweetish soy sauce. Nasi goreng is available practically anywhere in Malaysia that serves food but is best sampled within the wonderfully crowded hawker centres that dot the island of Penang. It’s here that the diverse Malay, Chinese, Indian and Baba-Nyonya cooking styles conspire to give an otherwise humble dish some special flavours.

Gumbo in New Orleans

Scooping out a steaming pot of gumbo is as central to New Orleans life as listening to jazz, zydeco or swamp blues, or chomping on the sugary pastries called beignets. This Louisiana favourite is essentially a hearty broth of seafood or smoked meats thickened with okra or a wheat-and-fat mixture called roux before being splashed over a mountain of rice. But New Orleans serves up countless variations of the basic gumbo recipe, from classic Creole to pungent Cajun. The Big Easy hasn’t had it so easy in recent times, but at least it has one of the world’s great comfort foods.

Feijoada in Rio de Janeiro

Taste buds stage their own carnival in honor of Brazil’s national lunch, feijoada, a dark and spicy stew built upon a foundation of black beans and pork. Note that the feijoada prepared for mass consumption in Rio’s restaurants usually just contains pared down pieces of pig flesh, but it may also contain less familiar porcine treats such as ears, tongues and those cute curly tails. Also note that this hearty recipe is a challenge for any stomach to digest, so plan on hitting a couch rather than the waters off Ipanema after eating it.

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Comments

1 December 2011 10:31PM sara_madrid Report this comment
Your obsession for Barcelona is unhealthy. Tapas in Barcelona? It probably has the worst tapas in Spain, and you even recommend La Rambla’s bars! They’re bars just for tourists! Your obsession to promote decadent Barcelona in every single post is running out of reasons and you even have to invent what they don't have. It must be a joke. There are three cities in Spain which have a huge tradition on tapas. First, Madrid is the city where tapas where actually invented (and three of the tapas you talk about in Barcelona's review are tapas staples from Madrid) and it has the biggest and oldest tapas culture in the whole Spain. In Seville, tapas are also big and you may find them with their Andalucian touch: eating jamón with a glass of wine in an outdoor bar in Seville is one of the biggest pleasures of life. And San Sebastián is the home of the pintxos, the tapas from the Basque Country, which are so good that they have spread all over Spain.
3 December 2011 1:14AM utrechtlocal Report this comment
Couldnt agree more with sara_madrid. Come on men, tapas in Barcelona along La Ramblas? You must be kidding me. The only thing to eat at La Ramblas is overexpensive tasteless crap, which doesnt even looks like tapas. The person who wrote this must think that theres nothing else in Spain than Barcelona. As Sara said, Madrid and Andalucia got really good tapas, but if you want to have great tapas, head up to the north to try some Pintxos in San Sebastian (Donostia) or some Pulpo (squid) in Galicia. And while youre at it.. The best Paella in Spain is not in La Rambla in Barca, but in Valencia, and then go as far as you can get from the tourist attractions. The further you get, the better the Paella. Seriously...do some research
3 December 2011 1:28AM utrechtlocal Report this comment
Oh yeah, and if you just wanna have a lot of Tapas for free with every drink, try Granada! Theyre not the best (although better than the Rambla in Barca), but you get a free plate with food with every drink. Seriously, you never have to cook when youre in Granada
5 December 2011 1:41PM pontex Report this comment
Not only do I agree with sara_madrid, but I must protest your choice of nasi goreng in Penang, of all places! There is wonderful Nonya food in Penang, not to mention Indian and Chinese, but nasi and bami goreng are Indonesian staples. And why, why, why, did you ignore that Indo-Dutch colonial masterpiece, the rijstafel?
7 December 2011 4:59AM plupp4ever Report this comment
I can only agree with the above. How much I love Barcelona, recommending the city (and Rambla in particluar) for tapas feels a bit like recommending Los Angeles for deep dish pizza or Berlin for Oktoberfest.
8 December 2011 4:10AM sean_bradley Report this comment
Logrono is the best place in Spain for tapas and great Rioja wine!
Had few great nights there!
8 December 2011 7:44AM fieldgate Report this comment
Agree with sara_madrid and a few other posters. Barcelona and Ramblas? Do you think the average LPTT user is an idiot? In a way I understand if the writer is from down under or other overseas, but still... there are som many Aussies and Americans with much greater knowledge about Europe than the LP writers.
I suspect LP being transformed from a forum for independent travllers towards mass tourism, which is a more lucrative market.
8 December 2011 9:13PM garrufatus Report this comment
I'm a catalan from Barcelona and, despite of this, I fully agree with has been said about tapas culture in Barcelona. Barcelona is no decadent city at all but it's not the place where to go for tapas. My favourite city in Spain for tapas is, as someone has already said, Logroño, capital of Rioja wine country, same quality as in San Sebastian but at cheaper prices. Madrid and Sevilla are good too, as it's paella in Valencia area far far away from the city center. And one last thing, I would never go to Boulevard de la Corniche in Casablanca for a Couscous, the best couscous you can eat in Morocco or in Northern Africa in general is the one offered to you by grand mothers when invited to eat with a family in their home on Friday. It really seems, as fieldgate says, someone wants to focus this website to mass tourism, such a pity :(
21 March 2012 3:05AM txfoodgeek Report this comment
I can't speak to most of the places, but I can definitely attest to Malaysia being a food lover's dream destination. Eating is highly affordable, and due to the mix of cultures, you'll find some of the most unique meals. I would recommend going during late summer and hitting the Ramadan markets, where food is abundant, varied, and shared with that wonderful Malaysian hospitality. The not to miss items include the already mentioned nasi goreng, nasi lemak (the national dish), Bak kut teh (the best chicken noodle soup ever made by the Chinese grandmother you may or may not have had), and the amazing pairing of durian and mangosteen fruits.