You can have a quick and inexpensive snack, and at the same time get to know the gastronomic preferences of the locals. In some places, street food has become their calling card. We have selected a list of cities and countries where the most delicious food is served on the street.
Türkiye, Istanbul
Street food in Istanbul is already an integral part of Turkish culture. Start your acquaintance with the country’s culinary traditions with the most popular and piquant dish, Kokorech. The main ingredient of this appetizer is lamb intestines, which are fried with chopped offal of suckling lambs over charcoal and served with a bun and pickled vegetables. Less exotic dishes are belyk ekmek (fish in bread) and borek (layer cake with filling). For desserts, try simit, a glazed bagel sprinkled with sesame seeds, as well as traditional Turkish ice cream, dondurma, made from goat’s milk.
Belgium, Brussels
Street food in Belgium is varied – from snails in vegetable broth to the famous waffles topped with Chantilly cream. Every year Brussels hosts traditional gastronomic fairs and food festivals. The most popular street dish, which the Belgians prepare in a special way, is French fries. The secret to cooking is double frying. Frits are served with mayonnaise, cheese and other sauces. You can try Belgian waffles Gaufres for just 1 euro. Waffles are prepared both sweet and savory, but a delicious sweet dessert topped with whipped cream, cream or fruit.
Germany
Germany is famous throughout the world for its sausages, so it is not surprising that the most popular street dish, currywurst, consists of fried sliced sausage, seasoned with curry and spicy ketchup, with French fries or a bun as a side dish. No less popular are sausages made from minced beef or pork – bratwurst. In German fast food you will also try a rather unusual sandwich with herring, pickles and fresh onions in crispy halves of wheat bread.
Mexico, Mexico City
Mexican cuisine is very diverse and has a unique taste. We recommend starting your gastronomic tour through the streets of Mexico City with a tamale – a roll of steamed corn dough with meat, vegetable or sweet filling. No less popular in Mexico City are elote (corn on the cob) and esquite (corn kernels), which are served with hot chili peppers, cheese and mayonnaise sauce.
India
One of the most delicious street food dishes in India is samosas, which are vegan food and look like fried dumplings. Traditionally, samosas are prepared salty with vegetable filling (peas or potatoes) and a lot of spices, but sweet ones with fruit can also be found on sale. To prepare the dish, use flour, water and vegetable oil. Thin flatbreads called rumali roti are also popular in the country. A traditional Indian sweet is jalebi. It is a pretzel fried in melted butter and soaked in syrup.
Singapore
While vacationing in Singapore, be sure to order a dim sum dish at a street stall – stewed or deep-fried dumplings with shrimp and other seafood. Street stalls also sell a variety of salads, including rojak, made from cucumbers, pineapples, tomatoes and fish with chopped peanuts. And for dessert, try Kaya pie with sweet coconut jam.
Any debate about where the best street food is eventually leads to Bangkok. At the beginning of this year, the local street food was named the best in the world by several respected publications that compile ratings, including Forbes and CNN.
But in April, news suddenly surfaced that Thai authorities were planning to remove all these supposedly unsanitary shops from the streets of Bangkok by 2018. Tourists and gourmets were alarmed, but two days later the ban was suddenly lifted. However, who knows, these Thais. What if they decide to fight cheap street food again? So, just in case, here is a list of countries and cities with the best street food in the world.
Street food in Morocco
Perhaps Marrakesh could compete with Bangkok for primacy in the quantity, variety and taste of street food. Freshly baked flatbreads, kebabs made from all types of meat (except pork, of course), spicy sardines, deep-fried eggplants, breaded liver or thick, thick bean soup. Culinary extremes may decide to try fried camel spleen (Morocco generally loves all offal) or a whole baked sheep’s head.
Street food in Germany
Until recently, German street food differed only in the size of the sausages and whether or not they added curry to them. But Berlin, advanced in all sorts of fashionable things, is now becoming almost the street food capital of the world.
Every Thursday from five to ten in the evening at the Markthalle market, anyone can taste street food from all over the world: from Thai tapioca dumplings to Nigerian fufu (don’t think about it, it’s just the name of a dish made from cassava, yams, sweet potatoes or plantains, similar to a very thick porridge or dough). And once every two weeks, vans, trailers and other mobile cafes come to the river bank in the Kreuzberg area, offering cuisine from all countries.
Street food in Cuba
Street food is everywhere in Havana. You can try anything from a freshly cooked corn on the cob to coconut ice cream in a pecan cone. By the way, corn in Cuba is not a corny boiled cob, but fried, sprinkled with cheese and ground chili pepper. Plantains are also fried here, and in two versions: the first is simply caramelized pieces, the second is flat “pancakes” fried to a crisp. Don’t miss the churos – sweet brushwood covered in powdered sugar. But chicharones – crispy pork skin – is more of an acquired taste.
