When travelling to a new place, tasting local delicacies is likely to be high on your agenda, whether that’s a pizza in Italy, a croissant in France or something more unusual such as crispy tarantulas in Cambodia.
But jet-setters risk missing out on authentic local dishes as overtourism, climate change and globalisation dilute regional food cultures.
Research by leading food experts, commissioned by Intrepid Travel, has revealed how traditional dishes are being adapted for mass tourism or abandoned altogether as destinations cater to visitors’ tastes.
While 61 per cent of Britons say they want to try local delicacies abroad, in practice many default to the familiar. Some 51 per cent won’t travel beyond their accommodation to find authentic food, while one in four eat at a global fast-food chain within 48 hours of arrival.
Dan Saladino – author of Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them – and award-winning food writer Yasmin Khan, have identified a global list of ‘endangered dishes’.
The list includes everything from traditional hand-rolled New York bagels, increasingly replaced by industrial shortcuts to a sticky rice dessert from the Philippines.
Here’s a full rundown of the top ten endangered dishes…
1. Cuscos transmontanos com coelho (couscous with rabbit stew), Lisbon
Cuscos transmontanos com coelho, a rabbit stew, is a little-known Portuguese dish
Translated as ‘transmontanos couscous with rabbit stew’, cuscos transmontanos com coelho is a Portuguese dish that is believed to have been brought to the country by Sephardic Jews.
Historically, local artisans sprinkled and rolled the flour to create the couscous – and then marinated the rabbit for up to 24 hours.
The couscous was then made by hand – a process which is greatly on the decline – and is infused with regional herbs and wines.
2. Mosbolletjies grape must buns, South Africa
Mosbolletjies is a traditional Afrikaner sweet bread from South Africa
Mosbolletjies, often dubbed a ‘poor man’s brioche’, use must – a type of grape juice -to create a sweet taste.
A popular treat in the Cape winelands, it is a traditional Afrikaner or Cape Dutch delicacy, and originated from French Huguenots who settled in the region in the 1680s.
Traditional mosbolletjies rely on time, fermentation and old baking methods, so commercial shortcuts such as instant yeast and margarine alter and speed up the process – but also the taste.
3. Inanchila, Northern Philippines
‘Inanchila’ is a sticky-rice dessert made by endangered rice in the Northern Philippines
Inanchila, a sacred sticky rice dessert from the Philippines, is threatened by the decline of indigenous ingredients in favour of tourism-driven western snacks.
Topped with caramelised coconut cream and shaped like a tongue, the dish is made with an indigenous Chaykot rice.
But due to a slowdown in demand, the dessert has almost disappeared – apart from among local farmers in the Pasil Valley.
4. Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels, New York
Bagels are a hallmark of New York – but traditional ones are often passed over
This next one might surprise you – bagels are synonymous with New York, but the most traditional type are on their way out.
Dan Saladino said: ‘The research identified three primary threats including environmental loss from climate change, cultural dilution due to overtourism, and the disappearance of traditional artisanal skills.
‘We chose dishes like the New York bagel because they are, in culinary terms, global icons, yet most people don’t realise the authentic versions of these are actually on the brink of vanishing due to modern shortcuts and mass-market pressures.’
5. Petkhvis Cvishtvari (black millet patty), Georgia
Petkhvis Cvishtvari, a black millet patty, is one on-the-decline Georgian delicacy
Savoury patties made from a black millet native to Georgia, Petkhvis Cvishtvari, are mixed with egg and cheese.
However, since most are nowadays made with cornmeal, the taste – and original recipe – has been altered.
Nonetheless, local farmers and cooks in Svaneti and Tbilisi are keen to keep the original tradition alive.
6. Kwun Tong Gao (jumbo soup dumplings), Hong Kong
Soup dumplings of a certain variety are one Hong Kong delicacy disappearing
Soup dumplings are hardly under-the-radar food items – but with traditional methods increasingly being replaced by mass-produced versions, the original types are becoming less common.
Kwun Tong Gao (jumbo soup dumplings) are one such dumpling struggling – and they are from Hong Kong.
Usually filled with pork and a rich broth, they are closed by hand and steamed while fresh.
7. Chelsea Bun, London
The Chelsea bun is surprisingly on its way out
Chelsea buns are being replaced by trendy pastries, from cinnamon buns to viral desserts across the UK capital.
Originally, these buns were filled with currants, brown sugar and spice, and finished with a sticky glaze.
They were sold for the first time in 18th-century London, but are becoming increasingly difficult to locate in bakeries.
8. Tlacoyos made with maíz criollo, Mexico
Tlacoyos made with maíz criollo (heirloom native corn) are no longer popular
Plenty of Mexican dishes are popular nowadays – but not tlacoyos, street food made from corn dough, filled with beans and topped with cheese and salsa.
But climate change has disrupted the growing cycles of corn, meaning the dish has become less prevalent.
To ensure travellers can experience some of the ‘endangered dishes’ first hand, and to help protect them for future generations, Intrepid has worked closely with local communities and producers in order to include these dishes on its trips – these include experiences such as cooking tlacoyos in a Chinampa community on the outskirts of Mexico City.
9. Traditional gumbo with filé powder, New Orleans
New Orleans delicacy gumbo is no longer as popular as it once was
Gumbo, a rich stew containing onions, celery, file powder and seafood, chicken, sausage or shellfish, is one of New Orleans’ best-known dishes.
But file powder is increasingly difficult to get your hands on, meaning it is not used as much.
Plus, the younger generations are not as dedicated to maintaining the fishing traditions required to produce the dish en masse.
10. Funazushi/Narezushi – the ‘original’ sushi, Osaka
Rounding out the top ten endangered food items is the original sushi
Sushi is likely associated in your mind with the image of pretty rolls filled with an abundance of fresh salmon and crab.
But before we had nigiri and maki, funazushi and narezushi were the ‘original’ sushi – fish packed in salt and rice and fermented for months, and up to years.
Nowadays, modern palates are less keen to try it. Plus, the nigorobuna carp often used is on the edge of extinction.
