The Trip of a Foodie Around the World

The different delicacies. Photo: Shariqa Habib

An around the world trip for some people would mean a visit to the most historical places of a city or country; for some, it is about getting lost and exploring the hidden surprises of a city; for some, it is a trip to all the shopping malls and street shops- but for a foodie, it is an amazing opportunity to experience all of the culinary amazement a city or country has to offer. My dream trip started in January 2013, and I visited 20 cities in 13 countries in the span of 4 months. Gastronomically, all of these cities were unique in their own ways and had a lot to offer, and I exploited them to the fullest.

The trip started and Hilo, Hawaii was the first port. Hilo was the best start of the voyage around the world. In Hilo, I got to experience Hawaiian traditional Loco Moco, Hawaiian home-made ice-cream and Hawaiian chocolate! Hawaiian home-made ice-cream was the best ice-cream I have ever tasted! After Hawaii, we were off to Japan. Japanese cuisine was more than generous to offer me Mint Tea ice-cream, amazing strawberries, Japanese curry-rice, Octopus balls and more! Exploring Japanese cuisine, I realized that Hawaiian food has Japanese influence in it. After Japan, it was the turn of Vietnam to open its own bag of culinary surprises! Before this, I have never had Vietnamese food, and as I wrote in my article on Vietnam- it was love at first bite! I do not even remember all the things I ate in Vietnam, but the highlights were the Vietnamese rice pancake, Vietnamese street-food, sea-food, and on top of the list- Vietnamese coffee. Vietnamese cuisine was a fresh change from the ship food.

Food from around the world. Photo: Shariqa Habib

Next culinary adventure was Myanmar, and it was probably my most favourite part. I had no idea what to expect from Myanmar, when it comes to food. When we arrived at Rangoon, it was scorching hot and not very pleasant to one's appetite. However, I tried to make the best out of my time in Myanmar, which included me exploring the Myanmar cuisine. I was extremely surprised to find the similarities between Bangladeshi and Myanmar food. It was full of flavours and spices. It made me homesick. The rice, curries, chutney, and fish fries- it was just a huge reminder of food from home. India was next in list of my voyage around the world. I just stayed in Kerala and explored South Indian cuisine. Not only South Indian, but also had some incredible North Indian food as well. And as it was my birthday, I had a lovely birthday dinner and left for the next port of call- Mauritius. I did not have much time in Mauritius but I had a wonderful beach barbeque lunch. It was surely a treat.

Food from around the world. Photo: Shariqa Habib

In my voyage around the world, it was time to hit the mainland Africa. South Africa welcomed us with the spectacular view of Table Mountain. The food was a huge mix of influences from different cultures. You can find possibly any kind of food in Cape Town. I was happy to find all the options Cape Town had to offer. However, I did not find anything that was cultural or traditional to Cape Town or South Africa. Next- it was Ghana. Ghanaian cuisine offered something that I really like- chicken! A lot of the Ghanaian dishes have a lot of chicken. And my last stop on this voyage around the world was Morocco. I was excited to have Moroccan food. I indulged myself in traditional Moroccan Tajine, kebabs, street-food and pickled-olives! Morocco was a great place to just walk around, get lost, eat some, getting lost again, having some more food and finally- finding your way!

A voyage around the world was more than dream coming true. All the amazing people I met, all the places I visited, and all the amazing food I ate- it was one of the best experiences of my life. I would suggest that all the foodies and non-foodies take the opportunity to travel and explore all that our world has to offer.