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Eating Vegetarian Abroad

August 25, 2011 By Becka

“No Problem, I’m Cooking Chicken”

While I am at home in States, I don’t struggle to find delicious vegetarian food. Restaurants that cater only to vegetarians are opening across the county, and there are a plethora of veggie friendly cuisines like Thai or Indian, but traveling can be a bit more difficult.

My first adventure outside the U.S. as a vegetarian was to Costa Rica. I hadn’t been a vegetarian for very long, so I was still learning to get creative with vegetarian cuisine, I scraped by on Luna bars I brought from home, mangoes, pineapple, and rice and beans. After a few days of that, lets just say my stomach was not in the best shape, if you catch my drift….it was there and then that I realized that my dream for lifelong travel would be a bit more complicated with my new eating habits.

Over the next few years I experienced a few different reactions when I arrived at a new restaurant or someone’s home and artfully announced in a non-offensive way that I was vegetarian. They ranged from a good hearted, “no problem!”, to utter disgust, to a few people even asking what that means with a face of confusion on why one would not eat meat. My favorite reaction was while visiting a rural home in the Andes. I was greeted with a rather rotund women who responded with a smile and ‘no hay problema, estoy concinando pollo’ (or not a problem, I am making chicken). Clearly vegetarian meant something different to this women, and I had to further explain that chicken too was off the menu. After some reassurance from me that I in fact am healthy and was perfectly okay eating the side items, she warmed up to the idea and we had a good time.

Visiting people’s homes is probably the hardest aspects of traveling as a vegetarian or someone with a special diet. The last thing you want to do is offend someone, and as you explain your restrictions, you need to respect the hosts culture and values. I find that being upfront with people, is usually the best way to conquer the issue. If you are bringing something as a gift, make it something you can eat! You should always stash something in your bag for later, just in case. In some cases you can skip out on trying a potentially revolting main dish, like I did in Laos, by simply being vegetarian. Extra bonus!

I like to think a few years on that I have mastered being vegetarian while traveling, that there is no place I can’t go and find food. While that is true, I’ve learned that the challenges are endless and in some cases that you just need to open your mind, and take a bite — there are new food adventures around every corner.

Read why I became a Vegetarian!

Photo: Giant Doner Kebab

August 24, 2011 By Jillian

A vegetarian might cringe, but there’s something delicious about meat roasting on a spit. Especially when it’s layered with vegetables and sliced off into a fresh warm pita.

This picture is of Turkey’s favorite street food, doner kebab, literally rotating roast. Generally lamb meat, you’ll see every variety and combination of meat, pita and salads walking down the street. The trick is to find the busiest place and get it with all the fixings. It’s very similar to shawarma or gyros.

We took this picture in Istanbul, but you’ll find Doner Kebab (often shortened to Kebab) all over the Middle East and Europe.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: The best Doner Kebab we had was in Turkey, although some Germans tried to tell us it was invented in Germany. You can find it all over Turkey at all hours of the day, but it’s generally eaten around lunch time. Restaurants will put their meat on the burner in the morning slow roasting it until lunch time. If you see a place that has a big hunk of meat left by 4pm, skip it and go somewhere else. Some late night places will begin roasting a kebab in the afternoon for the late night crowd, go with your gut and take a look at the meat if you’re squeamish.

Photo: Nutella on the Coast

August 10, 2011 By Jillian

Sometimes a picture is worth no words and just a stomach grumble. That was my reaction when I found this picture, a stomach grumble. As you can probably guess from the table cloth, this woman was making “pancakes” (crepes) for tourists on blue coast cruises in Turkey. What you can’t see is that she’s sitting in a row boat and her husband was rowing her from yacht to yacht selling these at 10 lira a piece. Delicious. She would roll out the dough on her wooden board, lather it up with your choice of toppings and heat it on a convex pan.

We were of course those touri on the boat and this woman arrived two days into our four day blue coast cruise. You can only imagine the on board excitement when the Italians, Americans and Australians aboard realized she had nutella. Whatever that jar of nutella cost her, I’m sure she made two or three times the amount in profits. If you’ve ever been to SE Asia, her creations were very similar to the pancakes street vendors sell in Vang Vieng, just with a little more atmosphere.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Turkey’s blue coast is stunning and there are various boat trips along the coast. Major cruise lines use Kushadasi as their port, but for backpackers the majority of boat trips leave from Fethiye or Olympos. It’s definitely worth it to take a boat, even if it’s just a kayak for the day, along the coast as the lagoons are beautiful and perfect for swimming. The area is popular with British vacationers and backpackers so don’t be surprised by the plethora of tourist accommodation and restaurants. Buses run regularly throughout Turkey, although you will likely have to transfer to get to Fethiye or Olympos. If you’re flying, check for cheap flights to dalaman or Antalya.

Open your mind and take a bite: Vegetarianism

August 2, 2011 By Becka

A few years ago I got to thinking ‘Just where does all the food I eat come from’. The easy answer was a farm. But then I started to read more about the food industry in the US and in the developed world in general. That’s when I realized that not only is my food grown globally, but it might not be done in the most sustainable way, and actually be in some cases detrimental to the development of some communities.

In fact most meat and produce in the US is either raised on corporate farms or shipped in from farms in developing countries. These farms are not always regulated in terms of environmental sustainability but also in terms of their social impact. Rarely is there fair wage enforcement, even in the US or much thought given to the impact on fragile ecosystems. The more I read the more upset I became with myself and my blind support of this industry. So I decided that I would become vegetarian as meat production has the highest negative environmental impact of the foods I ate (mostly through deforestation and methane production), and for the produce I do buy, try to at least buy from local farms in my area whenever possible.

I decided to go cold turkey and just start being full on veggie, not an easy task for a girl who grew up eating chicken every night for dinner and bacon for Sunday brunch. But after some experimentation and a lot of talking to farmers at the farmers market, I learned which ‘new’ vegetables and fruits would become part of my diet. Four and a half years later I am still vegetarian and still discovering new flavors and yummy recipes to try.

Photo: Dragonfruit

June 9, 2011 By Jillian

What’s pink and green and spotted inside? Dragonfruit.

If you’ve been to Asia you’ve probably seen this fruit, but did you know it’s the fruit of a cactus? I’ll be honest I hadn’t even heard of this fruit before we got to SE Asia, and even then I looked at it suspiciously the first time. The inner flesh is white with black seeds and the texture is soft, like a kiwi fruit. The taste is somewhat tart, but not very strong.

We first ate cactus in Mexico. It was slimy and in a cactus salad the “juice” resembled something like ecto-slime. I didn’t want to touch it again. Looking at dragonfruit I can definitely see it’s resemblance to cactus fruit, thankfully though, the inside is more delicious and less like a prop for the ghostbusters.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: The floating markets of the Mekong Delta are worth the trip, their vibrant, colorful and an interesting peak to life along a river delta. Dragonfruit is found all over Southeast Asia, in fact a tour of dragonfruit countries would make a great list of places to go… are there dragonfruit holidays in Sri Lanka?

Eating Vegetarian Abroad

Photo: Giant Doner Kebab

Photo: Nutella on the Coast

Open your mind and take a bite: Vegetarianism

Photo: Dragonfruit

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