Meals and snacks around the world

Afghanistan

Austria

Belgium

Brunei

Cambodia

Cameroun

During a trip across Africa, we make a break to eat lunch in the forest south-east of Ngaunderé, from left me, Steffen Madsen, and Johnny Kristensen. The first part of this trip is described on the page Travel episodes – Africa 1980-81: An arduous journey across Africa. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Chile

China

On a cold spring day, a large pot of hot noodles does a lot of good! Judy and I are seated at a table outside a Buddhist temple on Fung Shan (‘Phoenix Mountain’), near Weining, Guizhou Province, together with biologist Li Ching (2nd from left), Mrs. Li (left), and our driver, Uh Tao. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

In 1987, during a bus trip between the Nepalese border and Shigatse, Tibet, we made a stop in the small town Nyalam to eat lunch in what at first sight resembled army staff quarters. We were served a meal of rice and fried vegetables, with green jasmine tea.

This was my first experience with Chinese eating habits, and they were definitely worth a study. Using their chopsticks, people shoveled rice into their mouth, not the least concerned that some of it spilled on the table or the floor. Smacking their lips and burping, they threw gnawed chicken bones over their shoulder, and when a group had left, their table and its surroundings resembled a battlefield.

The Guizhou Province is famous for its many varieties of chili, and the many ways of using them. This picture shows boiled potatoes, sliced and dipped in chili powder. Chili is described on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

At lunch somewhere in the Guizhou Province, from left Judy, her brother Horng-i, his colleague Miss Li, and his friends Mr. and Mrs. Bao. We were served barbecued dog. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Comoro Islands

Costa Rica

Denmark

In my childhood, we often went on trips into the countryside, where we enjoyed lunch or coffee at the camping table, or at a randomly chosen roadside.

Lunch at Vrads Sande, central Jutland, summer 1956, from left my brother Leif, me, my cousins Bruno and Jytte, my uncle Arne, my brother Per, my mother Elly, and my mother’s sister Olga. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Enjoying coffee and soft drinks at the camping table, Lake Knudsø, central Jutland, 1962, from left my mother Elly, my brother Leif, and my father Jens, typically with his pipe in his mouth. (Foto copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During a stay on the islets Hirsholmene, caretaker Jens Klingenberg (left) and his wife Lise invited us for dinner (plaice). The other persons are Jens Gregersen (centre) and Jacob Funder. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Egypt

France

Germany

Lunch break at Winningen, near Koblenz, summer 1963, from left me, my brother Leif, and my father Jens. In the background vinyards on a slope along the River Moselle. (Photo Elly Halberg, copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Greece

Guatemala

Bagels for sale, Todos Santos. The man is wearing the typical red-and-white-striped trousers of this town. A bagel is a type of bread roll, which originated in the Jewish communities of Poland. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Iceland

India

Hot tea, called chai, is an immensely popular drink in India, taken with liberal amounts of milk and sugar, and often spiced with cardamom or cinnamon. Here, a street vendor in Bikaner, Rajasthan, is heating milk to make chai. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Using his teeth, this little boy is tearing off the outer hard shell of a sugarcane stem, and then chews the white, sweet internal layer. – Kokkare Belur, near Mysore, Karnataka. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Maize (Zea mays) is one of the most important food sources in the world, only surpassed by rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum). This Koya tribal woman in Odisha (Orissa), is pounding maize to make flour. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

I am just about to enjoy a paper dosa, a crisp, very thin bread, made from a fermented batter of rice and black gram. It is served with coconut sauce and sambar, a hot sauce with tamarind and potato bits. – Karnataka, South India. (Photo copyright © by Søren Lauridsen)

Street vendors, preparing breakfast: pakora (vegetables, dipped in a batter of chick peas and then fried in oil), and jelebi (a sweet dough, fried in oil), Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During two camel safaries in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, our camel drivers make a stop to cook our evening meal. My adventures in the Thar Desert are described on the pages Travel episodes – India 1986: “Sir would you like to see this peacock?” and India 2003: Camel safari in the Thar Desert. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

In the village of Khudi, in the Thar Desert, our staff tricked Lotte Møller Pedersen, Niels Peter Andreasen, and me into ordering a huge meal, which was expensive, but very delicious. This event is related on the page Travel episodes – India 1986: “Sir would you like to see this peacock?” (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

The native range of the Asian palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer) is the Indian Subcontinent and Indochina, with disjunct populations in Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands. Its fruit is edible and sweet. A sugary sap, called toddy, can be obtained from the young inflorescence. It is fermented to make palm wine or a strong alcoholic drink, arrack. It may also be concentrated to a sweet, hard substance, in India called jaggery. It is used as a substitute for sugar. Palm wine is consumed in huge quantities in India and Sri Lanka.

Shark-fin soup is regarded as a delicacy in Chinese communities around the world, and for this reason many shark species are highly threatened. This picture shows drying shark fins on the beach at Kochi, Kerala. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Juice of pomegranate (Punica granatum) is very refreshing. It is also added to the alcoholic drinks Grenadine and Campari, giving them a bright red colour and a bitter taste.

Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) recommended pomegranate root bark to expel tapeworms – an efficient, but nauseating method. Juice and rind are anti-inflammatory, having a high content of anti-oxidants. Pomegranate is probably an efficient remedy against breast, colon, and prostate cancer. The leaves, which have antibacterial properties, are applied to wounds. In Ayurvedic medicine, the bitter rind is used to treat dysentery, and in the West for diarrhoea.

The common name is derived from the French pomme (‘apple’) and the Italian granata (‘maroon’). This tree is probably native to Iran, eastwards to western Himalaya, but is widely cultivated and has become naturalized around the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, and elsewhere.

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Italy

Kyrgyzstan

In the evening, myriads of mosquitos make it necessary to dress well during cooking, Karakol Valley. The fire has been made very smoky to help drive the mosquitos away. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Malaysia

Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important food plants in the world. It is described in depth on the page Plants: Grasses. In this picture from Borneo, Punan girls are pounding rice in a large wooden trough. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During a long hike through the rainforest of Borneo, we have made a stop to eat lunch on the bank of the Sungei Ba River, from left Elisabeth Souvignier, our three Punan guides, and myself. This hike is related in detail on the page Travel episodes – Borneo 1975: Canoe trip with Punan tribals. (Photo Walter Souvignier, copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Myanmar

Children, buying icecream from a bicycle vendor, Bagan. A white paste, called thanaka, has been applied to the children’s faces. This paste, which is made from branches of the orange jessamine tree (Murraya paniculata), protects the skin against the sun and also makes it smooth. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Nepal

This woman in the village of Chitre, Annapurna, shows wild foods, which have been collected in the surrounding forest: watercress (Nasturtium officinale) and young ferns. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

New Zealand

Niger

Pakistan

Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) is a shrub or small tree of the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae), also known as Chinese date or Chinese apple, and in Urdu and Hindi as ber. It has been widely cultivated for more than 4,000 years. The fruits are tasty, eaten cooked, dried, candied, pickled, or as so-called ber butter. They are a common ingredient in Chinese dishes. Ripe fruits are dried in the sun, ground, and kept for out-of-season. The fruit is also taken for various ailments and diseases.

Puerto Rico

Russia

In 2011, I spent 3 weeks in Chukotka, eastern Siberia, together with Jens Gregersen and Max Nitschke. Transportation in the area took place in an old army caterpillar, driven by a Russian, Sasha. This interesting trip is described on the page Travel episodes – Siberia 2011: Caterpillar trip in Chukotka.

Sasha told us that when you embark on a trip, it is customary to celebrate the crossing of the first stream by enjoying a glass of vodka. From left Jens, Max, and Sasha. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Drinking vodka with the staff of the lighthouse on Kosa Ruskaya Koshka, from left Max (with an egg, which, according to the Russians, had to be eaten raw), Jens, Andrei, Sasha, Leonid, and a man, who had been mauled by an angry bear. Leonid’s wife didn’t want to be photographed. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Scotland

Sri Lanka

In 1975, accompanied by two Srilankan friends, Sarath, who is Sinhalese, and Siva, who is Tamil, I undertook a hike through the large Wilpattu National Park, on the west coast of Sri Lanka. This hike is related on the page Travel episodes – Sri Lanka 1975: An illegal walk through Wilpattu.

One day, we had to walk 30 km, as we had promised local wardens to be out of the park the same day. During this long hike, Siva (left), Sarath and I enjoy a well-deserved rest, while cooking a very simple meal of potatoes, boiled in dirty lake water, and served with marmalade. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

A coconut scraper is one of the most important tools in a Sri Lankan kitchen. It consists of a small wooden board with a bent iron piece attached to one end. The free end of the iron is flat, with very sharp spikes. On this iron, the copra from coconuts, split in half, is scraped into small bits, which are then pressed to extract the oil. Copra and oil are cooked with the curries. The scraped copra can also be eaten raw, mixed with raw onion, lemon juice, salt, and chili powder. This mixture is called sambol.

The king coconut is a variety of the common coconut (Cocos nucifera), which is much cultivated in Sri Lanka, where it is known as thambili. It contains more and sweeter juice than regular coconuts, and this juice is a very popular drink.

Kusuma Fernando, who lives in the village of Diggala, near Panadura, prepares indiapa – very thin noodles, made from rice flour. They are made by pressing a dough of wet rice flour trough a pipe with numerous tiny holes at the end. A suitable amount is pressed onto tiny woven mats, which are then placed on top of each other and steamed for four or five minutes. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

South Africa

Sweden

The Swedish term fika is generally believed to be more or less an anagram of the word kaffi (the old Swedish spelling of coffee), and originally the coffee itself was the fika. Later, the meaning of the word changed to meeting and having a small bite together.

My Swedish friends Hans and Ann-Christine Lomosse also use the word fika about eating lunch in nature. These pictures show the couple in Ottenby Lund, Öland (top), and near Kristvalla, north-west of Kalmar, Småland. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Lars Skipper, eating lunch, Sandbyborg, Öland. There were no benches, or anything else that might be used as a table, so we simply ate, squatting on the ground or standing. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Switzerland

Taiwan

Prior to the invasion of Taiwan by Chinese peoples, the indigenous Malayan tribes of this island roamed the forests, hunting wild boar and other animals. Today, they still love whole roasted pig, but now raise domestic pigs for the purpose. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) was imported to Europe at a very early stage. It was used extensively by the Romans, but almost disappeared from Europe with the fall of the Roman Empire. By the 11th Century, however, ginger was again a widespread European commodity, and its usage in food became much more widespread, when the Arabs and other Muslims began expanding their empires. In the 1500s, the Spaniards brought ginger to Jamaica, where they established plantations, and during the following centuries, plantations were established in most hot countries. Today, the rhizome is widely used as a spice, especially in Asian cuisines. From the tender young rhizome, a variety of products are made, including pickles, candied ginger, ginger wine, and ginger cakes.

During a Daoist festival, celebrating the Mother Goddess Mazu, this woman is cooking food to be served for passing pilgrims, Xingang (top). – Women, serving fruit in the town of Pitou (centre). One of them is burning fake paper money as an offering to the gods. – Serving meals in Pitou (bottom). (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During the Daoist Boat Burning Festival, honouring Wang-yeh, the god of diseases, people have presented offerings at a temple, including a rooster and a pig’s head. – Siao Liouchou Island. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Dried persimmons (Diospyros kaki) are a delicacy in Taiwan. While on a day-trip to a persimmon plantation in Xinpu, these school children assist in peeling the fruits, in order for them to be dried. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Tanzania

In 1990, John Faldborg, Frederik Brammer, Torbjørn Eriksen, and I were sent to Tanzania by the Danish section of ICBP (International Council for Bird Preservation, today BirdLife International), with the aim of investigating bird life in coastal forests. In this picture, John is baking bread in our camp in Litipo Forest. In the background Frederik. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Thailand

The term floating market describes a market, where people sell vegetables, fruits, ready-made meals, and numerous other items from boats, which they paddle around. In the pictures below, from the town of Damnoensaduak, near Bangkok, meals and snacks are sold, besides fruits like pineapples, grapes, rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), pomelo (Citrus maxima), lime (Citrus aurantiifolia), and longan, or dragon-eye fruit (Dimocarpus longan).

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

United States

Judy and our friend Rosemary Mason, eating bagels and drinking coffee, Old Portland, Maine. A bagel is a type of bread roll, which originated in the Jewish communities of Poland. Today, it is a very common snack in the USA. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Vietnam

Instead of talking to each other, while they wait for their meal, these people fiddle with their mobile phones, Hanoi. This habit has spread like a wildfire all over the world. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Zaire

During a journey by car across Zaire in 1980, we had to endure countless ordeals due to muddy roads. This journey is related on the page Africa 1980-1981: An arduous journey across Africa.

For a while we can forget our sorrows, eating lunch at the road side together with German friends, from left Franz, Albert, Johnny, Gizela, Jürgen, Steffen, and Wolfgang. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

(Uploaded January 2023)

(Latest update October 2024)

Kaj Halberg - writer & photographer

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Meals and snacks around the world