12 Unique Global Foods To Eat During Travel

Unique global foods eaten during travel introduce you to exotic foods that you otherwise would never eat in regular life. If you’re a third culture kid, expat, regular traveller or any other travel category, you probably have your list of adventurous foods to try during travel and are meticulously ticking them off.

Bear in mind that one person’s “unique” food is another person’s regular dish so always approach unique global foods with respect.

Since I fall into two of those travel categories, I collate a few of the unique global foods and adventurous foods I’ve tried during travel over the years, some of which are popular ethnic foods from around the world.

 

RELATED: Travel x Food: Tips on Sustainable Eating During Travel

 

Unique Global Foods & Adventurous Foods to Try During Travel

Unique Global Foods: #Mince horse

During my life in England, I spend summers in France during Uni and my host makes me food with mince meat. Now, as a (then) carnivore, I can tell the difference between beef, goat & lamb by smell and taste alone so this meat is totally different because it is very ferrous and just…off. I think to myself, “it is just the seasoning“, so I say nothing and finish my meal. Only when I take my plate to the kitchen do I see the discarded meat packet with cheval in print. Cue internal screaming and I run to my host to bombard him with questions.

“Antoine! Did I just eat horse?!”

“Eh oui.” He responds.  Aaarghhh! “Horse meat is eaten in France and openly sold in stores.”

“You gotta be kidding me! Seriously!?”

“Mais oui. Horse meat is legal in France, eh, but the practice is dying out, even as some people still eat it.”

He then regales me with the history of how horse meat consumption begins in France during the 1800s where it is served to poor people and starving soldiers during one of the many continental wars at the time. Simultaneously, regular meat is in low supply and horse meat is sold to the population as being less fatty, tender and healthy.

The practice of eating horse meat is known as hippophagy. Click To Tweet

How is that for an interesting travel and food culture history lesson on a unique global food? Horse meat is definitely an adventurous food to try during travel in France, but since the practice is dying out, you have to search for it.

I spent a fun and educational gap year in France as a teen and there are so many activities still undone I need to return for. If you’re heading to Paris, try some of these unmissable activities below to get your feet wet.

 

 

Unique Global Foods: #Octopus

I eat this as a tween living in Lagos, Nigeria, and have no clue of its provenance until it’s too late.

I am at a party with a spread of food on the table and I see this platter of rolled up something on those fancy toothpicks, well seasoned and garnished. It looks very appealing so I dish two for myself and chow down. This interesting food is steamed, with white skin and flakes just like fish…but it isn’t fish.

“Is this a new kind of fish I don’t know of?” I think to myself. “Whatever.” I shrug and cast any querulous thoughts away, still dishing more and munching away…till the chef comes by and laughs at me.

“Kemi, do you know what you’re eating?”

“Is it not fish? I like it oo.” He laughs again and says, “It’s octopus. You know, that animal with eight legs.” He makes a sort of movement with his hands to imitate an octopus, I’m guessing, but I get the message loud and clear. Lol.

“Ehnn!? Octopus, ke?? Are you sure, Mr. Nat?”

“I cooked it so I should know; but don’t you like it?”

Truthfully, it is delicious, but I cannot get the image of octopi out of my mind and that ruins it for me. Fast forward to 2018, when I take a cheap day trip to Roosevelt Island from Brooklyn, and I see grilled octopus on the menu; I jump at the chance to try it again, suckers and all, and I can now add octopus to the list of unique global foods I have experienced.

Octopus is definitely one of the more popular exotic foods to try around the world as many coastal cultures have this as a delicacy.

Unique Global Foods: #Veal

I know this is a controversial one but, in my defense, I was a tween and just ate whatever was put on my plate under that glare Nigerian mothers give you not to disgrace them in public. I am on holiday in France and this platter presents itself at a fancy restaurant in Paris, and as an inquisitive child, glare or not, I am intent on asking questions.

“What animal is this?” I ask our host.

“Baby cow” he responds.

It does not click and I think he’s joking or something.

“Baby cow, indeed.” I internally scoff and carry on munching. It is not until months later while watching a documentary that I discover what veal is and I’ve never eaten it since.

Veal is no doubt a very controversial modern unique global food seen as luxury meat in parts of the world.

 

 

Unique Global Foods: #Bull Penis

This is an interesting one as I lived in England at the time and went on a group A-levels trip to Kuala Lumpur.

One of our friends was Malaysian (with Chinese and ethnic Malay ancestry) and her family owned a Chinese restaurant, so we all were invited to eat there. Off we go with chaperones and quickly discover that the Chinese food we eat in the West is nothing compared to the deliciousness we were shoveling into our faces. Platter after platter of heaped food arrive at our table until we get to the soup which we are ready to tuck into immediately.

“What is this?” a friend asks enthusiastically, already dipping a ladle into the soup.

“Bull penis”, the waiter responds. Everyone stops. Silence. The ladle hangs in the air.

“What?!?” we all chorus. The waiter repeats himself then says, “It’s good aphrodisiac!”

We stare at each other and erupt in loud laughter. Bull penis, aphrodisiac…this is too much to fathom.

Our curiosity is piqued even if our palate is already rebelling. Do we taste it? Is it rude to refuse? We decide to try it ONLY if everyone else is trying it too, so we fork a piece each and gingerly chew.

I honestly cannot tell you what bull penis tastes like only that it is slightly chewy with seasoning from the soup. You know how you eat something between your front teeth only and it doesn’t go to the back of your throat? Yeah. That is me.

We wash the remnants down with copious amounts of water and soda and politely decline more but it is an interesting first try.

Over the years, I learn that many unique global foods around the world include animal genitalia with the belief that it increases the virility of men.

Some phalluses are advised to be consumed only by men as their hormones could negatively affect women but animal genitalia, such as sheep’s testicles and phalluses of animals consumed all over the world are a delicacy in certain food cultures.

Animal genitalia is definitely one of the more adventurous foods to try during travel and there are travellers who actively go out of their way to seek and eat this exotic food all over the world in different stages of preparation.

#Frogs’ legs

I have this delicacy on my first visit to Paris as a 14-year-old (are you seeing a pattern here??) and I have to say that I love it.

How does this happen? My mum tells me that I would not know when I eat frogs’ legs because they resemble small chicken wings. I scoff and insist that I will always recognize chicken no matter how small. Hah! We go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner with friends, things are ordered, platters arrive, steaming and delicious.

“What is this?” I ask.

“Pigeon wings” replies my mum, smiling. In hindsight, that was a smirk because I was got.

“Oh no! Those cute things (False. They are flying rats, but I digress). They’re so delicate, I almost don’t want to eat it.”

Our host explains that “pigeon wings” are steamed in milk and tossed in balsamic and other luxury herbs for flavour. I nod enthusiastically and tear through the “pigeon wings” as I listen to food history. I even ask for take-out, which makes the adults laugh and I’m just glad I don’t get the glare for being greedy. Little do I know that it is a set up! Lol.

How do I find out the truth about my meal?

A full 24 hours later, mum asks how I like my “pigeon wings” and I extol its flavours and ask if we can return. She laughs and tells me that I have eaten cuisses de grenouilles – frogs’ legs. I am in too much shock to respond. I mean, I swore to all the old gods and the new that I know frogs’ legs because they look nothing like chicken and I failed totally. Mum still tells people this story till today.

Frogs’ legs are the most adventurous foods to try during travel to France, even more than horse meat, because they are commonly served in restaurants. It is definitely up there with the most exotic foods to try around the world and I’m happy to have this on my tried foods list.

 

Unique Global Foods: #Bushmeat

This is a delicacy across Africa and seeing as I had my formative years in Nigeria, one would think that I ate this constantly. Wrong. The regular bushmeat eaten in Nigeria is colloquially known as grasscutter (marsh cane rat), is smoked whole, and made into native stews and peppersoup.

Other mammal types are eaten as bushmeat (porcupine, bat, even small monkeys) but herbivores and pork are not referred to as bushmeat.

All my years, I manage to avoid eating grasscutter till I visit a relative in Abuja on one of my sojourns back home and watch the cook prepare bushmeat into peppersoup. My relative persuades me to share a bowl with him and I cautiously oblige as he laughs and teases me with ajebutter, a pidgin English slang for privileged person.

I gingerly tear the flesh and chew slowly, savouring the spicy peppersoup flavours it mixes with and expect the meat to be gamey; but it is quite the opposite. Again, my mind messes with me as I think to myself, “Kemi, you’re eating a rodent! A rat!”

I only discover years later that grasscutter is not a rat – but is a rodent – and belongs to the porcupine family.

Grasscutter is definitely one of the more exotic foods to try during travel to West Africa and in Nigeria, they are prepared and sold in native restaurants, called buka, or dished from steaming roadside pots by mama put – native home cooks (always women) that serve hearty and affordable meals for the working class.

 

#Cow tongue

Another unique global food I eat growing up in Nigeria is cow tongue, which I instantly hate and have never tried again. I come across it rolled and quite tough even though it marinates in gravy.

I have relatives who love this as well as cow intestines, commonly known as roundabout. Cow tongue is not popular like bushmeat but roundabout is a Nigerian delicacy that people love.

DYK that Lagos in Nigeria was named by the Portuguese during … you guessed it…the slave trade. Thus, browse activities to experience in the original Lagos below.

 

 

 

Unique Global Foods: #Foie Gras

I must confess that I loved this delicacy during my carnivore days and regularly had it during visits to France and my gap year there. Again, I learn of the origins of this unique global food from a French host, do the Googles, and just gawk at what I read.

In summary, foie gras is duck or goose liver made fatty from the animal being force-fed twice daily and slaughtered after a few months.

Between foie gras and rillettes de canard, I devour lengths of hot baguettes with these fatty spreads and they are truthfully delicious, if salty. I had a terrific time in France as a teenager and the travel and food culture of the country is one that I always remember with nostalgia.

 

#Shark Fin Soup

My first and only time consuming this is at a Chinese restaurant in Lagos, Nigeria. The soup is very gelatinous and the fins are all bones, with the only taste coming from the soup, which leaves me pondering how I am to enjoy this meal. I am used to soup having some protein – seafood, chicken, meat – so I am perplexed at everything.

Fast forward years later when I learn of the indiscriminate killing of sharks for their fins and the importance of shark fin soup in traditional Chinese medicine, said to boost qi and sexual potency in men.

Shark fin soup is slowly being replaced by imitation shark that mimics the gelatinous nature of real fins as younger generations are aware of the depletion of shark species mostly due to this delicacy. Shark fin soup is definitely an adventurous food to try during travel in Asia even if it’s the imitation version available. It might even taste better.

Unique Global Foods: #Goat Head Peppersoup

This is a very popular dish among the Igbos of Nigeria – even though other ethnicities eat it too –  and is known as isi ewu in Igbo.

It is what it says on the tin – goat head, shredded and marinated into peppersoup – and the first time I see its preparation is during my grandma’s funeral, where goat heads are prepared for the elders per tradition.

I’ve only drunk the peppersoup with meat chunks and not eaten the whole head a la the elders and I must say that it is delicious.

*Trigger Warning*

As with all large events in Nigeria, cooking is done in massive firewood cauldrons and this event is no different as cooking is done in my grandma’s large backyard. The heads are sent from the abattoir and I watch as men wash each head with alum (aluminium or potassium sulphate), place them on open fire to singe off hairs, slice the top of each head, season the brain and everything else, and place them in pots to steam.

The heads are done quickly and are literally falling apart, which pleases the elders to no end. I am truly fascinated by the whole process, especially when I watch them tear and crunch everything to their satisfaction.

This is another adventurous food to try during travel to Nigeria which foreigners love, and for whatever reason, they prefer it the traditional way: roasted head instead of an aesthetically pleasing pepper soup.

 

#Black Pudding

Also known as blood sausage, it is popular in the UK and some parts of continental Europe. My first time consuming black pudding is during A-levels in Cambridge eating a full English in boarding house. I think I’m eating regular sausage till a co-boarder tells me that she doesn’t like it.

“Why not?” I ask.

“It’s made of blood. Ugh!” She responds.

“Wait…what!?!”, I shriek. “Blood…like real blood? Are you serious!?”

“Yes. Boiled pig’s blood mixed with herbs and made into sausage.” She makes a face.

I drop my fork with a clatter and stare in sorrow at my plate as I suddenly lose appetite and try to drown the taste with a gulp of Earl Grey. It’s funny how the mind plays tricks on you because prior to her telling me that, I am chowing down and have no issues with its taste.

That is my first and last time eating black pudding and I can’t say I’ll try again as I am off red meat.

 

Unique Global Foods: #Marmite

This is just … this is an acquired taste and you must have a fortified system to digest this and you can’t tell me otherwise. To those lucky souls clueless about Marmite, it is a yeast extract spread originally made in the UK but Australia has its version known as Vegemite. Whyyy??

Brave souls spread it on toast, crumpets and scones, and I think this is me when I try Marmite toast in an English boarding house. Lord have mercy, the smell alone gets and gags me, but I manage to eat a whole slice. If you scald your mouth with gulps of hot tea to push down the yeast, you really cannot taste or smell anything, which is great. Win-win!

The Marmite catchphrase is:

You either love it or hate it!

Have you had Marmite and if so, which side are you on?

If you’re a bit lost on where to go and what to do in London town, browse the guide below for unique activities covering the spooky and historical to the foodie. Explore!

 

 

You made it to the end! Lol.

I hope you are not *too* grossed out by all these unique global foods that I’ve eaten over the years but I consider these extremely tame considering other exotic foods to try around the world that I refuse to even entertain.

These are exotic foods in parts of Nigeria and Africa that are ethnic delicacies such as dog meat (commonly known as 404 in Nigeria), insects (this is the next global protein source), palm tree maggots (Google this at your peril), bats and even monkeys.

I love travel and food culture and love to try adventurous foods during travel but I have my limit and will live vicariously through Andrew Zimmern and his Bizarre Food experiences. That man has a stomach of steel, God bless him.

Don’t forget to comment and share your food culture experiences and see you on the social streets! xxx

 

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