Travel Bits: July 2018

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Local food.......

Traveling often bring us out of our comfort zone. And this includes food....... what we eat during our travels.

Local food encompasses the cultures and traditions of the place we travel to. Other factors that typically shape the local cuisine are economic development, climate and location.

Lunch set consisting mainly of ox meat, Luang Prabang, Laos (2017)

While I am always game to try out the same food that the locals delight in dining on, there are some "no-go zones" for me. And where does this red line begins? I generally do not eat anything raw; unless it is sashimi or sushi prepared in a clean environment. Health reasons aside, I personally do not delight in putting something that is uncooked into my mouth. Taking this a step further will be eating "live" food. That is another experience which I totally avoid. Besides the cruelty of it all, I am rather squeamish about eating something that is still squirming and moving. So while I am always game to share and indulge in the local cultures and traditions, there is simply some areas for which I do not venture.

Another type of food which I just can't bring myself to eat is insects, whether dead or alive, cooked or uncooked. What about yourself? What is your boldest travel adventure when it comes to food? ;-)

Hummus is a spread that is typically made from chickpeas, olive oil, salt, garlic and other ingredients, Tel Aviv, Israel (2017)

Sashimi (and sushi) are probably the only dishes which contained raw ingredients that I personally take delight in dining on, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (2017)

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