Have you ever eaten something abroad that you have had a thousand times before back home and thought there is something different about this?
My traveling taste buds have taught me that this is often the case. There are varying examples of this, some with reasons for their differing taste, and others perhaps not. Here are a few of my favourites.
M&M’s
These are one of my favourite chocolates that taste good in the UK, but even better abroad! I am unsure as to what the exact reason for this is; perhaps it may be something to do with the chocolate being made slightly different to enable it to have a higher melting point in countries where this is necessary. However in my opinion when I have eaten chocolates that I know taste different for this reason, for example Dairy Milk in Asia and Australia (where a higher melting point is clearly necessary), it has a negative effect on taste rather than actually improving it. But M&M’s, well I find them just simply mouth-watering overseas! And this was demonstrated through me paying way over the going rate just this morning for my Ghanaian chocolate fix (yes, I am writing this post from Ghana)! Oh and I pay way too many visits to M&M World when visiting the States! 🙂
Tomatos
Tomato’s can be incredibly bland and dull, often used more to add a bit of colour to a meal rather than to add flavour. However they can also be the making of a meal! Tomato’s abroad almost always tickle my taste buds, and the obsession with the red foreign fruit began with a simple cheese and tomato toastie in Greec;, and I have never looked at tomato’s the same since! Perhaps it is the freshness, or the lack of chemicals, or the lack of distance travelled, or even a combination of all three, but one thing I do know is that you have to pay a fair bit of money to buy tomato’s that even taste half as good as they do abroad in the UK!
Argentinian Steak
Everybody knows Argentina does the most amazing steaks, and even though it has been a couple of years since my last authentic Argentian Steak, I am still left in awe at the mouth-wateringly, juicy, tender meat that the country boasts. So why can’t we get good meat like this at home? Even the restaurants claiming to be ‘Argentinian Steakhouses’ don’t have a patch on the real thing! Trust me, you haven’t had great steak until you have been to Argentina…!
Fanta
One of the world’s most well-known drinks, yet the rest of the world has a lot more choice than us! Not only does the traditional Fanta Orange taste so much better, but it also comes in so many more delicious flavours overseas! My first sip of Fanta Uva (Grape) took me to new fizzy drinks heights… If I see Fanta Grape on my travels it really does make my day! Delicious!
Banana’s
I never used to like banana’s. I blame it on the fact that I had never tried, truly fresh, naturally grown, sun ripened bananas! When the backpacker budget lead to the trying of previously disliked foods (because they were free, for example at breakfast), I was shocked at how yummy the Asian miniature banana’s were! It wasn’t long before I was practically picking them from the tree for a snack and opting for banana pancakes at breakfast each morning! Yummy scrummy! (by the way I do now also eat the banana's in England too but they really are not the same at all!)
Pizza, pasta and anything else Italian!
It doesn’t matter how hard we try, Italian food in the UK just doesn’t taste as good as it does in Italy. Perhaps this is psychological because I know I am not in Italy, or perhaps it’s just because they are generally amazing cooks and we are not. But it’s not as good at home-FACT.
These are just some of my favourites, and there are loads more examples I’m sure! In fact, if you have an example of your own please comment below to add to the list and I will endeavour to try it myself! Happy tasting! 🙂
[…] quite funny when the actual dish, when cooked in its country of origin, tastes nothing like the local version yet that local version is used as a yard stick. It’s a bit like Fanta. The Midrand branch is […]
How interesting! Being American, I found the M&M’s to taste different in most of Europe, but in a not so pleasant way. I did find that the beer and sausages were better in Prague, though 🙂