Around the world in 10 dishes

What are your world top 10 dishes? Here are Dave's.

Dave and Vicky's mission is to take on the world one cuisine at a time. In their blog acoupletravelers.com they feature advice, travel resources, videos and photos for those seeking to see the world. They are particularly fond of food, so Dave shared with us his top 10 world dished.

I've traveled extensively through Asia and Europe, and during that time, I've tasted A LOT of dishes.

So many, that I had to consider some of my 10 favorites.

1. Japan - Sushi

This dish is combination of cooked rice treated with vinegar which is served with seafood or vegetables, and even occasionally with tropical fruits. The rice can be white or brown. Sushi can be served with soy sauce and shredded ginger, or wasabi.

It is by far our favorite dish (in every country, not just Japan). Even the other day in Italy, Vicky shamefully asked me if we could get sushi!

2. France - Croissants

Croissant is an age old delicacy of France, it is buttery affair of flaky pastry, and is renowned for its crescent shape. Keeping true with the Viennoiserie pastry its dough is treated with yeast, layered with butter, and folded several times.

Man oh man, do I love one of these in the morning. Waking up in Paris usually involved grabbing a croissant and then heading out to explore the city.

3. Spain - Tapas: Tortilla, Croquettes

‘Tortilla de patata’ is the most popular dish of Spain, and some equate is as the national dish as well. It is in a form of omelette, and main ingredients include, eggs, potatoes, and onions. ‘Croquetas’ or croquettes are fried fritters of light bread, which are creamy, and smooth.

I feel like you can't have Spain without tapas. It's part of the culture really. Tapas are fun, Spain is fun, it's that simple!

4. Thailand - Pad Thai

It is a delicious street food of Thailand comprising of soaked dried rice noodles, which are mixed and stirred with eggs and chopped tofu. To add flavour you can add garlic, dried shrimp, palm sugar, etc. To add protein you can opt for shrimps, or crabs.

This is one of my go to dishes in Asia because when it's done right, it's fantastic and when it isn't, it's usually still pretty good. Don't go to Thailand and not get this one!

5. Nepal - Dal Bhat

Dal Bhat (rice and lentils), is a traditional staple food which is very popular not only in Nepal, but also in Bangladesh and India. The boiled rice and the lentil soup called dal form the back bone of this dish. You add onion, garlic, chilli, ginger, and tomatoes to add flavour to the dal, along with other spicy ingredients.

I'll be honest, when you're hiking in the Himalayas you NEED this. It's the only thing that is going to keep you going on those long, cold treks.

6. Greece - Pastitsio

This is a classical Greek cuisine served with mixed green salad dressing with wine vinegar and Greek olive oil, and it is great people pleaser. The dish has a bottom layer of tubular pasta, and egg and cheese are used as binders. The middle layer can consist of ground beef with tomato and cinnamon, and it is topped up with another layer of pasta and a sauce layering.

I love Greek. It's one of my go to cuisines no matter where I am. There's something very different about their style - check this dish out!

7. Germany - Bratwurst

This is a sausage stuffed with beef, pork, or veal. Bratwurst translates to German brät, which means minutely chopped meat. Bratwurst is either pan fried, or grilled, and can be cooked with beer or broth. It is estimated that there are 40 varieties of this German cuisine.

Come on now, you can't go to Germany and not get Bratwurst. It's a cardinal sin. It's a meat heavy culture so it's pretty tough to avoid to be honest.

8. Malaysia - Laksa

This spicy noodle soup it is blend of Chinese and Malay, and it comes it two typical types. These noodles can be had with coconut soup, or with sour fish soup, and other ingredients can include fish sticks, shrimps, bean curd puffs, or cookies.

I'm a big fan of Malaysian noodles. I know you can't get enough noodles in Asia, but the Malaysia style is different, usually a bit thicker, I like it better.

9. Burma - Tea Leaf salad

This is a traditional Burmese salad of fermented tea leaves and is very popular snack of the country. The leaves are steamed and buried underground for about 6 months for fermentation. They are then washed, mixed with garlic, and seeped in oil, and are served with nuts, fried beans, sesame seeds, and dried fish, etc.

I love that it's a salad AND it's crunchy. It also costs about 50 cents in Burma. Winning!

10. Switzerland - Rosti

This Swiss dish is all about potatoes, and was popular breakfast of the farmers, but today it has caught on with rest of the population. Today it comes as a side dish which is served with other dishes like ‘Spinat und Spiegelei,’ that is spinach and fried eggs, or cervelas.

Unfortunately everything in Switzerland is so expensive, but if you're going to pay top prices you might as well get top dishes like this one!

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