How much should we go along with the famous piece of advice that you should try everything at least once? While travelling through foreign lands we are faced by a whole range of unfamiliar challenges: these may range from unfamiliar languages and strange customs and manners to weird music and alien fashion sense.
Perhaps the one area that challenges us directly more than any other is the food that we encounter on our travels. Unless we choose to stick to American fast food chains for our meals we are likely to come face to face with certain foods that will make us uncomfortable at best, and at worst have us losing our appetite quicker than you can say ‘special snake soup’.
So what are the rules to follow for those folks with delicate western digestive systems, who want to experience a bit of local food without spending large parts of their travel time on the wrong side of the bathroom door? Here are a few tips to help you stay safe while eating locally:
1. Freshly deep fried usually means good to eat. Whatever organ or previously living creature you are about to consume, if it’s just been dunked for a few minutes in 200C fat there aren’t too many nasties that will survive this heat.
2. Cooking is best done by hot oil, an open fire or an oven. Relying on the sun to keep your food warm is not a good policy. I speak here with bitter first hand experience. If you’re eating food from an open outdoor buffet pick what has just arrived ahead of the stuff that looks good but may have been out long enough to become a bacterial breeding ground.
3. Local delicacies. If you’re somewhere that claims to be the only place in the world where you can try a particular dish, proceed with caution. There’s usually a good reason why no-one else has adopted their taste for garlic cockroach or chilli-infused camel poo. If something is marinated it can be useful to ask about the ingredients of the marinade (yes China, I’m talking about you and your 100-year old eggs).
4. When people stop what they’re doing and gather round to watch you eat something, you’re probably in trouble. A popular pastime in some countries that enjoy particularly spicy food is to watch the western tourist scream in agony as they eat a dish that to their palette is moderately hot. If you can’t stand the heat and don’t want to be the hottest show in town, make excuses and leave. (A word of advice – the effects of chilli are not dampened by water. A few are quelled miraculously by sugar but in most cases it’s a case of sweating it out… and saying no in future).
5.Beware the weakest link in the chain – you can be as careful as you like in making sure that you eat the right food in the right place. Some things however remain out of your hands; perhaps nothing more so than the hygiene of those who touch your food, plate or cutlery before you eat. And sometimes as this classic Seinfeld clip shows, knowing too much can put you in a very difficult position. Bon appetit!
I like the tip about people gathering round to watch you eat something. When people gather around to watch you do ANYTHING, it’s probably a bad idea.
I just don’t see the point in adventuring in gross foods – try bungee jumping if you need adrenaline, don’t screw your stomach up abroad!
Hilarious post especially number 3. While I was in the Philippines I never tried balut which is basically an embryo in an egg. I kind of regret it, but the only time I came across the dish was coming home from a bar at 3am, and I thought it was not a good time to try something that might not agree with me.
True about the affect water has or does not have on providing relief to a too spicy mouth. In fact, it can make the problem worse by spreading the spiciness around the mouth instead of quelling the fire.
As someone who has traveled and suffered from the effects of food poisoning these tips are well taken. But like you said #5 is one that you have limited control over. I still enjoy sampling street food but I make a point to only try the ones where the most locals are. It’s good to be adventurous but as you point out there is no need to be stupid about it.
Hi Andy — Just came across your wonderful blog and look forward to seeing more of it.
I love this post. A couple of your suggestions — especially 3 and 4 — are very insightful. Thanks!
Think that is why when I was in Thailand and saw the ladies washing the plates in the river that despite how good the food smelled I didn’t order!
Love the post – wise words. If someone tells me ‘this might kill you as you’re not used to it,’ I’m inclined to take their advice.
But on the other hand, regarding spiciness, a guide in Sri Lanka warned that the food he was eating, and which I wanted to try, might be too hot for my western palate to handle. Turned out milder than the average Rusholme curry
Exactly the same experience Jack. Sri Lanka, guide wouldn’t stop to let us buy spicy cashews from street vendor as they were too spicy for us. It was 13 years old and I was too timid back then. Now I would have spoken up!
Number 3 is spot on. The pizza WAS a local delicacy, as were bacon sandwiches and pints of beer. Good stuff doesn’t stay a local delicacy for long.
Also beware anything marked as medicinal food. If you have to advertise that it is good for you then it probably tastes rough.
These are the rules I normally go by too! Eat what’s freshly cooked – go where the locals are going.
Like other posters, I’ve never actually found anything too spicy on my travels yet, I have heard that it is best to drink a hot drink, such as tea too alleviate the effect of a too hot chilli, but have never tried it.
I think the most bizarre foods we’ve seen for sale were at the ‘Night Market’ in Beijing this Easter. There you could buy anything from a deep fried seahorse or start fish to a deep fried spider – there were many live wriggling insects already skewered waiting to be bought which would then be deep fried.
We only saw locals buying these, the few tourists there such as ourselves were just taking photos! Even my husband who will normally try any delicacy declined!
Mmm. Special snake soup. I’m hungry.
I totally disagree!
Here are my rules:
1. ALWAYS try everything (or almost everything) at least once.
2. Don’t back out of a challenge when being watched.
3. The weirder, the better.
And you leave those century eggs alone! They’re my guilty pleasure
Here are a few things I’ve tried – and I’m a girl – who wears heels!
http://www.thesmartgirlstravelguide.com/2011/06/17/weird-foods-from-around-the-world/
Haha, don’t worry Mags you can have those century eggs all to yourself
Your link doesn’t work – if you send it to me again I’ll edit the last comment with the correct one
I’ll try pretty much anything once, but I’m with you. If nobody else eats it, there’s probably a good reason for this…