One of our favorite things to do when traveling to a new destination is eat! From street food and hole-in-the-wall restaurants to Michelin-star spots, meals are the way to our hearts. A country’s traditional food is a way to communicate culture and history without saying a word. Just take Caribbean cuisine, for example. The dishes have strong influences from Africa and India, reminding us of how the Transatlantic Slave Trade forced people to preserve their culture in new lands through food.
TasteAtlas recently released its World’s Best Cuisine list of 2022. To compile the list, 95 major tourist destinations were analyzed based on their food excellency, ingredients, quality of national beverages, and more. The rankings are the result of audience votes.
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Based on TasteAtlas’ list, here are the top 5 foodie destinations to travel to this year:
5. India
India is one of the highest-rated Asian cuisines on the list. Some notable ingredients in Indian food are cumin, Ghee butter, tamarind, and Garam masala (a blend of ground spices like cloves, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom, which is commonly added to food for flavor).
With at least 28 administrative regions in India, the food scene is diverse. The best-rated foods in India are roti, naan, biryani, dal, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, and chutney, to name a few.
4. Japan
Known for its sushi and sashimi (thinly sliced raw fish, shellfish, or meat), Japanese food is popular among Americans. In fact, Japanese food is rated one of the 15 most-ordered takeout foods in the U.S.
The most popular dishes in Japan are sushi, ramen, yakiniku (bite-sized pieces of meat and vegetables cooked on a table grill, sashimi, yakitori (grilled chicken skewers), mochi (tiny cakes made from rice), and onigiri (Japanese rice balls).
3. Spain
This European foodie destination boasts food packed with flavor. The most popular dishes in Spain are paella (rice cooked in one pot with meat, seafood, vegetables, etc.), chorizo (Spanish sausage), churros (deep-fried yeast dough), bocadillos (Spanish sandwiches), cocido (traditional Spanish stew), and croquetas (traditional Spanish fritters).
2. Greece
Tracing back to Ancient Greece and Byzantium, Greek food is also influenced by Turkish, Italian, and South Slavic culture.
The most popular dishes to try when in Greece are gyros (street food with meat in a pita), souvlaki (small cubes of skewered and grilled meat), moussaka (baked casserole with ground lamb and eggplant), Greek salad, and spanakopita (Green spinach pie).
1. Italy
The number one spot goes to this European country known for its pasta, wine, and cheeses. The country is home to world-renowned restaurants like America dal 1934 in Savigno and Trattoria Trippa in Milan.
When in Italy, the most popular dishes to try are pizza, risotto, tagliatelle a ragù all bolognese (traditional Italian dish with tagliatelle pasta and ragù sauce), pasta carbonara (spaghetti with cured pork jowl), ravioli, gnocchi, and tiramisù (Italian dessert).
Top 40 best cuisines in the world:
Here are other countries that made the top 40 cuisines in the world list and are perfect for a foodie vacation.
- Italy
- Greece
- Spain
- Japan
- India
- Mexico
- Turkey
- United States
- France
- Peru
- China
- Brazil
- Portugal
- Poland
- Germany
- Indonesia
- Croatia
- Argentina
- South Korea
- Vietnam
- Hungary
- Romania
- Philippines
- Iran
- Serbia
- Georgia
- Czech Republic
- Bulgaria
- England
- Thailand
- Belgium
- The Netherlands
- Austria
- Algeria
- Denmark
- South Africa
- Syria
- Bosnia
- Malaysia
- Lebanon
To view the full list of the best cuisines in the world, click here.
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