Foods TravelGal Has Tried

Some fish can dance.

Every morning, Chinese vendors sling savory, crispy crepes to lines of patient fans.

The Soviet-Korean carrot salad is a sweet-and-sour testament to a diaspora's resilience.

A wartime rice scarcity made this versatile pancake a Japanese staple.

Savory meat jelly with a dollop of spicy mustard is a customary New Year's dish in Russia.

The most sobering salad of the Russian Civil War.

These delicious strands of juice-coated nuts look like colorful candlesticks.

The dessert that's also a meal.

Usually, the only heat that gets close to this raw pork fat is a sprinkle of pepper.

Baloney's predecessor is sweet, delicately spiced, and bigger than your head.

This condiment proves that what the world considers delicious is (nearly) universal.

Eating these unpredictable tapas is a game of spicy-pepper roulette.

Pink or green syrup turns a historic German ale into a tart, sweet delight.

A bitter liqueur that traces the history of a Hungarian-Jewish family.

Tarragon provides the herbal kick to this neon-green Georgian soda.

A citrusy cream soda with a hint of rust outsells Coca-Cola in Scotland.

This gooey, sweet treat was a Soviet staple.

Russian Mardi Gras features blinis, fistfights, and burning effigies.

Soviet cafeterias whipped up this chocolate “potato” to use leftovers.

The fiery fruit brandy of the Balkans.

These old-school metal tea-glass holders are a fixture on Russian trains.

These ornately decorated spice cookies developed alongside a Russian city's gun industry.

In Lisbon, tiny, standing-room-only bars specialize in this sour cherry liqueur.

The aroma of this mulled wine has been compared to “a warmed-up bowl of Froot Loops.”