It’s no secret that trying local food is one of the best parts of travelling; from unlikely animal parts to fruits you’ve never heard of before, you can end up finding your new favourite food… or things you never want to touch again.
One of the best ways of finding authentic local food is by sampling the street food.
General attitude to street food is that it should be avoided at all costs because it will make you ill. This is unfair. Street food may have been known to make people unwell but you can get food poisoning from the very best restaurants too; as long as you are sensible, you do not need to avoid eating at street food vendors.
Here are some things to be aware of when eating street food to avoid getting ill.
Look at the way they are handling the ingredients. The great thing about street food is that you can see where they keep the ingredients, how they handle them and indeed how they cook with them. One thing to consider is whether they’re touching money and then touching the food – that’s probably worth avoiding.
Queues are an obvious tell-tale. If locals are eating there, the chances are it’s going to be good food at good value. Keep an eye out for where children are eating as well; our western stomachs probably can’t handle as much as a seasoned local’s, but we should be able to handle what a child can.
Pay attention to what time you’re eating. If you’re going for lunch at 3pm in a country where they usually take lunch at 11am, you may well be eating food that has been sitting around for a few hours.
If you’re unsure on how sanitary a particular place is, it is perhaps best to avoid meat. This isn’t always easy to communicate so it may also help to have ‘vegetarian’ written down in the local language. If you do choose meat but you are unsure as to whether it’s properly cooked, do not just carry on and hope for the best! Never be afraid to ask for something to be cooked more thoroughly.
Keep an eye on your cutlery. Wood holds bacteria very easily so if your cutlery is wooden and looks like it’s seen a few years, perhaps give them a wipe or even have your own at hand.
You should also be careful with drinks. Ice can carry a lot of bacteria; if you’re in a country where you cannot drink tap water you should generally avoid the ice as well. It is also advisable not to drink straight from a can or bottle so where possible, drink with a straw.
Listen to your body. Our bodies are very perceptive and they can sometimes try to warn us that something will not sit well. This can be an uneasy reaction to a smell or reluctance to take a second bite. In these instances, do what your body is telling you and stop eating.
