BootsnAll Travel Community

So here's a question.... how do you deal with international food?

a. embrace it
b. sample here and there
c. completely shy away from it

I ask this as I just got back from Cuba. The food was obvisouly different, some it was great and some was just plain scary.

I'm kind of ashamed to say that sometimes when I think of my trip to Africa (or Asia in the future)and I think about eating, I get nervous. I wonder what would happen if my body just can't adjust to the food. It's completely silly, but there were a few times in Cuba where the mere smell of food made me sick.

So I'm curious, does anyone else have this prolem?

a - embrace it!

i am blessed with a strong stomach.

although if i ever go to the Phillippines, i will stay far away from those half baked embryo eggs (so sorry i don't know the proper name of this delicacy!)

I have only found one food that was totally horrible, Zebra. Otherwise embrace it.

After eating lamb intestines in Greece, I feel like I can embrace anything. A lot of it is mental, try not to psyche yourself out!

Sample here and there! I like trying new things, and tend to be more willing to try them when I don't know what they are, and my guts are pretty good with new food... just not my brain!! I love to eat, and will eat lots of stuff, but I do have weird food issues. I don't like slimey/squishy food... this rules out most cheese, egg and seafood dishes. (Ok, all seafood, I refuse) So, I hear ya on being nervous about finding food when thinking about an upcoming trip abroad.

On an encouraging note, I've never run into a situation where I couldn't find SOMETHING to eat, even if it was a side dish or an unusual thing for the locals to eat (like eating just the bread or plain rice that came with a meal).

Tracy Ann it's so funny that you said that. I completely lived on bread and plain rice when any other food looked too scary.

quote:

although if i ever go to the Phillippines, i will stay far away from those half baked embryo eggs (so sorry i don't know the proper name of this delicacy!)

Balut.

Yeah you don't need to eat that.

I've discovered I'm a variety person. I don't like the same of anything no matter what it is, so I'm a sampler. It also means that I hit McDonalds and western restauarants when I'm abroad because variety rules. I LOVE choices.

I'm a vegetarian, which obviously brings it's limitations with it. But as long as there's no meat, I'll only eat local food. From street venodrs, restaurants, private cooking. Don't care. Mmmhhh, makes me think of Gujarati Tali. Me want.
The only reason to go to a McD are clean toilets.

I love trying new food, so I embrace it.
Of course, I'm sure that during my year in China I will occassionaly want to eat something other than Chinese though.

Hi

It depends a bit where I go. But food is an important part of the culture so I think it is important to try out local food when traveling. So my general advice is: be adventurous people I try to live by this rule and here is a picture of me trying out cuy (fried guinea pig) in Peru

quote:

Originally posted by quimby:
a - embrace it!

i am blessed with a strong stomach.

although if i ever go to the Phillippines, i will stay far away from those half baked embryo eggs (so sorry i don't know the proper name of this delicacy!)

As Jedi says, no need to ever try those. My mom was 100% Filipina and loved to eat, and she never tried balut in her life.

Definitely embrace it! I don’t like everything, but I’ll try just about anything.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be too adventurous on my last trip; I was a bit sick so my appetite was shot. Now, I’m a little apprehensive about my next trip. I want to try everything, but I don’t want a repeat of last time.
Can’t worry for long though; foreign food is too intriguing. Pass the balut, please.

Living in Tibet, I have no choice but to embrace the food. Everything from raw yak meat in the winter to rancid yak butter in the summer.

Life in Tibet

I'm usually an 'embracer', but there are some things I will draw the line at, like cow's balls, or critters, or rat, or monkey brain. These are quite extreme to me. But otherwise, I try and eat as much local food as I can.

Travel for me is as much a culinary discovery as anything else. I try to sample as much as I can of the local fare, without risking ruining my trip by getting sick.

When traveling through a new area, I tend to sample here and there, to see if there is any connection for me. When there is I embrace it.

Example: living in Indonesia, where we can get almost any type of food, including fast food. Local street food, for example sate (satay) is cheap and tastey. Local warungs sell an enormous variety of dishes containing beef, chicken, fish, squid, shrimp, eggs, potato, tempe, tofu, corn and an array of vegetables.

No need to ignore it, just enjoy it!