This is a side topic from the Omelette Norvegienne thread about authenticity.
I often like trying things I can get at home in other places.
Chinese food in Paris. Chinese food in Ireland. Tex Mex in Austria. A burger in Tokyo (ok, I wanted something else, but we were hungry and you know what! That was an excellent burger!)
Which dishes surprised you in a good way while travelling, when you veered away from the French food in France, etc?
The Asian food I’ve had in France has been excellent. Really delicious sushi with better seafood that one can find in Canada where I am based.
Since I am not travelling much, I am seeking out foods here in Canada that I haven’t tried before. Sometimes they’re traditional foods from elsewhere, sometimes they’re new twists or hybrid foods.
I haven’t had a chance to have falafel or Arabic / Middle Eastern/ Israeli food in Paris.
I had really delicious Moroccan food in Avignon. I had a list of places to find brik in Paris, but I haven’t had it yet.
I had one trip to NYC where I was very focused on Brik, Burek and Bourekas, then I got a little brikked out. Most of the places have gone out of business or moved.
I will say I really like Old Tbilisi Garden in Greenwich Village for Georgian food.
For me, it’s the salads or condiments that make a falafel in a pita better in some places than others, once you’re dealing with decently fried falafel. I tend to prefer Israeli-style to Lebanese-style.
That said, I like shawarma, doner, shish tawook and kofte better than falafel , so I don’t try that many different falafels while travelling or getting to know my own city better.
I serve my falafel with a wide variety of diverse salads (with made from scratch tahini), and not that often in pita (not enough room for all the goodies).
They are served differently with different toppings. They also don’t wrap the pita the same way.
Sometimes the Israeli falafel are wrapped in a laffa /lavash instead of pita, which I prefer to pocket pitas. A few Israeli restaurants in Toronto offer a choice of pita or laffa, with a ~$3 upgrade for laffa.
I will post some photos.
Israeli-style falafel in a pita in Toronto
Israeli-style falafel in laffa in Toronto
Upscale/ Modern Israeli-style falafel (not typical) at Parallel Brothers in Toronto
If I am visiting a place for a relatively short period of time I will generally focus on the national/regional offerings available. Or, if the place is super-famous for turning a foreign dish into something special (as happened in Berlin with the döner kebab), I will make an effort to try its best rendition. Of course, one could argue that Berlin’s Turkish food is practically on par with the same food in Turkey, given the large community of Turks residing & cooking there.
I can’t imagine getting anything but Greek food while traveling Greece. Or trying Mexican in Ireland.
That said, if I were staying in one place for a longer time, I would likely branch out into dishes/foods not native to my travel destination. There is no way I’d only be eating German food while in Berlin for three months, especially when there is so much fantastic international food available that I can’t get here in my podunk town
Another thing is opportunity. I’ve had pretty good sushi in NYC (decent in Berlin), but I’ve never been to Japan or Tokyo to compare. I will take a guess that it is much better, but I don’t know if I will ever visit Japan.
I was surprised to see some Indian restaurants and an Indian market on my ancestral Greek island last time I visited. Many Greeks also like trying foods that aren’t Greek.
I will probably try more non Greek foods next time I visit.
I did enjoy Greece’s adaptation of bolones/makkaronia. It’s kinda its own thing - overcooked pasta in cinnamony meat sauce that I would send back in a heartbeat were I served it in Italy.
I’m a language geek. I just looked up ground meat in Albanian. Kime.
Romanians use a Latin word. The kime/ kheema borderlands are probably where Latin-based, Germanic and Slavic languages start.
First I’ve heard of Dirty Macaroni!