Have you ever wondered what curious quirks some countries have on their menu? For curiosity's sake, I ended up having a conversation with a business executive on the subject and he nonetheless told me some very entertaining tidbits and tips to remember if I ever end up traveling.
Been traveling? Are you a foreigner in the U.S. or an American who traveled to another country? Tell us your dining experiences by leaving a comment!
- Do not ask if the food is raw! Make sure you ask if the food is cooked! He had gone to Sweden and had a choice between fish and reindeer. He asked if the fish was raw and his colleagues told him it wasn’t raw. When it came to the table, it was not raw but wasn’t cooked either but pickled.
- If you are ever in Singapore, go to the restaurant with the Wine Fairy. The wine rack is three stories tall. When you order the wine, the Wine Fairy will fly up, wings and all, and get the wine you ordered.
- Don’t order salmon Cheesecake, even if it’s being served in first class. Being served in first class? It can’t be as bad as it sounds! It was…
- If you like Asparagus, you can get it cooked 30 different ways in Antwerp during asparagus season. Because people in Antwerp LOVE their asparagus.
- Never order the eel in Antwerp. By far the worst thing he has ever tasted covered in a strange green sauce. He had to resort to childhood tactics of moving the food around the plate hoping it look like he ate it, even placing some of the eel into napkins. I don’t think it settled well in his stomach even with the little bit he tried.
- If you know how to speak English and Spanish, you can survive in most of the world. During one of his trips to Venezuela, he was trying to order room service and no one could speak English and he unfortunately couldn't speak Spanish. One of the only words he knew was “chicken” in Spanish, “pollo.” So he picked up the hotel phone, repeated “Pollo y coke! Pollo y coke!” and hung up the phone, hoping the food would arrive. Luckily the message got across because he got his chicken.
- Europeans love corn. Be careful about what you order because many food products here in the U.S. that we normally do not associate with corn have corn on them, such as hamburgers and pizza.
Been traveling? Are you a foreigner in the U.S. or an American who traveled to another country? Tell us your dining experiences by leaving a comment!