Top 3 Favourite Countries: Mitch and Colin of Very Tasty World
November 24, 2022 | Tagged: Top 3 Favourite Countries
Introducing Mitch and Colin of Very Tasty World, Travel Bloggers from the UK for part 25 in my 'Top 3 Favourite Countries of Fellow Travellers' series.
If you are a traveller, blogger or both and have a story to tell and would like to be featured on this series, just contact me.
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Hello, we’re Mitch (short for Michelle) and Colin. We met as students and have been travelling together for over 30 years. We live in the UK and have visited nearly 50 countries.
Travel is our passion – we love exploring the world, discovering different cultures, viewing amazing architecture, hiking through beautiful landscapes, and encountering the local wildlife.
One of the most enjoyable elements of travel for us is to discover new cuisines and tantalise our tastebuds with exciting and unfamiliar flavours. When we get home we love trying to recreate some of the dishes we’ve tasted.
On our blog verytastyworld we share stories about our journeys as well as recipes for some of the many different foods we have enjoyed on our travels.
It was really difficult to choose just three countries – there are so many places all around the world that are really special and hold fantastic memories.
Travel is our passion – we love exploring the world, discovering different cultures, viewing amazing architecture, hiking through beautiful landscapes, and encountering the local wildlife.
One of the most enjoyable elements of travel for us is to discover new cuisines and tantalise our tastebuds with exciting and unfamiliar flavours. When we get home we love trying to recreate some of the dishes we’ve tasted.
On our blog verytastyworld we share stories about our journeys as well as recipes for some of the many different foods we have enjoyed on our travels.
It was really difficult to choose just three countries – there are so many places all around the world that are really special and hold fantastic memories.
1. Japan
We first visited Japan 20 years ago and it was love at first sight.
On our return, we immediately signed up for Japanese lessons and started planning our next trip. We’ve been back a further seven times.
Japan is beguiling – the hi-tech, Blade-runner style neon cities with crazy video games and cacophonous pachinko parlours could not contrast more with the refinement of historic temples and castles and the peaceful gardens.
Japanese culture is fascinating too – we enjoy manga and anime as well as Japanese cinema, literature and art. On our trips, we have visited kabuki theatres, spent a day watching sumo wrestling and enjoyed hot spring onsen resorts.
It’s incredibly easy to travel through the country as the integrated public transport network is fast and efficient. Riding the bullet train with a bento lunch box and cup of sake, watching the scenery fly by, is a brilliant and relaxing way to travel.
Japan’s cuisine covers an entire spectrum of culinary delights.
Like everything else about the country, it offers unexpected pleasures and occasional shocks (horse sashimi ice cream anyone?) that are guaranteed to whet your appetite or perhaps befuddle you.
From a humble bar selling noodles outside a subway station, which you slurp while standing up, to the exquisite perfection of haute cuisine kaiseki ryori with its beautifully presented multiple courses, every meal is a delight.
What’s also special is that there are so many regional variations. Even a simple bowl of ramen can have many different local ingredients and stock bases, resulting in a huge variety of flavours.
Japan is relentlessly cool, relentlessly refined and relentlessly delicious. We’re already planning to go back again.
On our return, we immediately signed up for Japanese lessons and started planning our next trip. We’ve been back a further seven times.
Japan is beguiling – the hi-tech, Blade-runner style neon cities with crazy video games and cacophonous pachinko parlours could not contrast more with the refinement of historic temples and castles and the peaceful gardens.
Japanese culture is fascinating too – we enjoy manga and anime as well as Japanese cinema, literature and art. On our trips, we have visited kabuki theatres, spent a day watching sumo wrestling and enjoyed hot spring onsen resorts.
It’s incredibly easy to travel through the country as the integrated public transport network is fast and efficient. Riding the bullet train with a bento lunch box and cup of sake, watching the scenery fly by, is a brilliant and relaxing way to travel.
Japan’s cuisine covers an entire spectrum of culinary delights.
Like everything else about the country, it offers unexpected pleasures and occasional shocks (horse sashimi ice cream anyone?) that are guaranteed to whet your appetite or perhaps befuddle you.
From a humble bar selling noodles outside a subway station, which you slurp while standing up, to the exquisite perfection of haute cuisine kaiseki ryori with its beautifully presented multiple courses, every meal is a delight.
What’s also special is that there are so many regional variations. Even a simple bowl of ramen can have many different local ingredients and stock bases, resulting in a huge variety of flavours.
Japan is relentlessly cool, relentlessly refined and relentlessly delicious. We’re already planning to go back again.
2. Mongolia
With neverending landscapes, vast deserts and dunes, broad lakes, and the bluest of azure skies, Mongolia is a destination that is off the beaten track but was one of the most rewarding places we have ever visited.
When we decided to travel to Mongolia we knew it would be a challenge. We were visiting at the end of winter and temperatures were extremely cold.
We stayed with a nomadic family in the Gobi desert and this meant living in their gers (the Mongolian term for yurts) with no heating once the stove had gone out, no running water – hence no showers - and a toilet which consisted of a couple of planks laid across a hole in the ground some 50m away from the ger.
We got stuck in and joined in with the family’s daily routine, mucking out the sheep and goats and sending them to pasture, going to the local well to provide water for the cows (and to collect water for us) and gathering dung for the fire.
Mongolia isn’t known for having fabulous cuisine but the food is simple, wholesome and tasty.
We loved learning how to cook on the stoves in the ger. We made tsuivan (Mongolian noodles), buuz (dumplings) and boortsog (doughnuts).
The stoves are ingenious – as well as providing heat, you can interchange various elements such as a stewing pot or a hot plate and cook different dishes.
The most famous Mongolian dish is probably barbeque, which is also cooked on the ger’s stove. Stones are heated inside a deep pan and the meat is placed on top, cooking slowly with vegetables.
We went out to gather wood for the stove – we didn’t want to use our hosts’ precious fuel – and bought the meat from the local market.
The barbeque was delicious. And it was all washed down with airag – a fermented drink made from horse milk (it’s much nicer than it sounds) and, later, a strong milk vodka which definitely warmed us up on a freezing cold night.
All of this was made even more enjoyable because of the wonderful hospitality and generosity of the families we stayed with.
On every visit everyone made us feel very welcome.
And, while the trip was a challenge, we discovered that not showering for several days was surprisingly liberating!
When we decided to travel to Mongolia we knew it would be a challenge. We were visiting at the end of winter and temperatures were extremely cold.
We stayed with a nomadic family in the Gobi desert and this meant living in their gers (the Mongolian term for yurts) with no heating once the stove had gone out, no running water – hence no showers - and a toilet which consisted of a couple of planks laid across a hole in the ground some 50m away from the ger.
We got stuck in and joined in with the family’s daily routine, mucking out the sheep and goats and sending them to pasture, going to the local well to provide water for the cows (and to collect water for us) and gathering dung for the fire.
Mongolia isn’t known for having fabulous cuisine but the food is simple, wholesome and tasty.
We loved learning how to cook on the stoves in the ger. We made tsuivan (Mongolian noodles), buuz (dumplings) and boortsog (doughnuts).
The stoves are ingenious – as well as providing heat, you can interchange various elements such as a stewing pot or a hot plate and cook different dishes.
The most famous Mongolian dish is probably barbeque, which is also cooked on the ger’s stove. Stones are heated inside a deep pan and the meat is placed on top, cooking slowly with vegetables.
We went out to gather wood for the stove – we didn’t want to use our hosts’ precious fuel – and bought the meat from the local market.
The barbeque was delicious. And it was all washed down with airag – a fermented drink made from horse milk (it’s much nicer than it sounds) and, later, a strong milk vodka which definitely warmed us up on a freezing cold night.
All of this was made even more enjoyable because of the wonderful hospitality and generosity of the families we stayed with.
On every visit everyone made us feel very welcome.
And, while the trip was a challenge, we discovered that not showering for several days was surprisingly liberating!
3. Mexico
We had been in Mexico for less than 24 hours when we decided that we already felt at home there. Mexico is loud, vibrant and exciting – an assault on the senses in the best possible way.
Just head for the zocalo in any city and there will be music playing, friends and families relaxing together and street vendors selling their wares. There may even be random fireworks throughout the day!
Mexico has an amazing cultural heritage with its many Aztec and Mayan architectural sites to explore.
We were lucky to join in with the Day of the Dead celebrations on our visit – although the decorations and costumes may appear macabre, it’s a really happy and inclusive festival, a celebration and commemoration of ancestors who have passed on.
Mexican people are very kind and welcoming and we met many locals who were happy to show us their country and culture, as well as to look out for us if we needed help with directions or finding the right buses.
And the cuisine! With Mexican food more is definitely more – it offers flavour upon flavour upon flavour. Whether you’re dining out at a top restaurant or scouring the cities for the very best street food you are guaranteed to discover taste sensations.
We had never tried mole poblano before our visit and were instantly hooked – it was nothing like we had ever tasted. A sauce that contains more than 20 ingredients, including numerous herbs and spices, and, of course, several different types of chilli as well as chocolate, it has a flavour that is complex, sophisticated and moreish.
We also learned about the origin of tacos by eating lots of them and discovered the heady – and boozy – joys of mezcal.
We made sure we visited the local markets and stuffed our bags with ingredients before we flew home.
Just head for the zocalo in any city and there will be music playing, friends and families relaxing together and street vendors selling their wares. There may even be random fireworks throughout the day!
Mexico has an amazing cultural heritage with its many Aztec and Mayan architectural sites to explore.
We were lucky to join in with the Day of the Dead celebrations on our visit – although the decorations and costumes may appear macabre, it’s a really happy and inclusive festival, a celebration and commemoration of ancestors who have passed on.
Mexican people are very kind and welcoming and we met many locals who were happy to show us their country and culture, as well as to look out for us if we needed help with directions or finding the right buses.
And the cuisine! With Mexican food more is definitely more – it offers flavour upon flavour upon flavour. Whether you’re dining out at a top restaurant or scouring the cities for the very best street food you are guaranteed to discover taste sensations.
We had never tried mole poblano before our visit and were instantly hooked – it was nothing like we had ever tasted. A sauce that contains more than 20 ingredients, including numerous herbs and spices, and, of course, several different types of chilli as well as chocolate, it has a flavour that is complex, sophisticated and moreish.
We also learned about the origin of tacos by eating lots of them and discovered the heady – and boozy – joys of mezcal.
We made sure we visited the local markets and stuffed our bags with ingredients before we flew home.
This series features top travellers such as Jonny Blair of Don't Stop Living, Ric Gazarian of Global Gaz and Peter Steyn of GlobeRovers, so if you are a traveller and blogger with a story to tell and would like to be featured, drop me a line on nomadicbackpacker [at] protonmail [dot] com