While developing a new report for Croatia this month, I especially enjoyed writing about the local cuisine. One specialty, in particular, I’d like to try making myself: povitica, the sweet walnut bread with beautifully swirled ingredients that looks a bit like babka.
Searching for recipes yielded some with varieties like apricot or apple, but the most common bread has a walnut and cinnamon filling in a tightly rolled dough sheet. Typically made for holidays in Croatia, povitica may be on the table in our house very soon!
Over my many years providing information to our client travelers, I’ve learned of many fascinating local dishes. Here are some I find particularly appealing:
Brazil: the popular dish of feijão, black beans cooked with savory vegetables and herbs.
Germany: simple but delicious spaetzle, egg noodles which I enjoyed years ago on a business trip to Augsburg and Munich.
Luxembourg: Quetschentaart, a classic autumn fruit tart made with damson, a type of plum.
Panama: Ropa Vieja, a regionally popular stew of peppers and beef, translates to “old clothes.” I once made this dish in my slow-cooker and it was delicious.
Vietnam: the deeply flavorful beef bone broth and noodles, Pho.
Aside from specific dishes, just about all of Italy’s cuisine gets the gastric juices flowing. Hong Kong and Singapore, with their different culinary influences and varieties of flavor, also have something for everyone.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of traveling the globe is eating local dishes, tasting the unique ingredients that the people have cooked up and passed down over their nation’s history.
Living Abroad’s International Relocation Center covers Local Cuisine in our destination reports. Acquainting yourself with local favorites and understanding what you’ll find in homes and restaurants can make your travel more palatable.
Written by Ellen Harris, GMS, Product Manager, Content Group
