This was published 1 year ago
Top 10 meals around the world in 2023: The dishes we can't wait to eat
Grilled turbot in Spain: Simple food is the best food.Credit: iStock
Sometimes your tastebuds just know what they want and where to get it. Here are the 10 dishes I can't wait to indulge in this year.
GRILLED TURBOT, SPAIN
Simple food is the best food. That's the ethos of so much cooking in the Basque Country of Spain, and it's never more apparent than in the grilled turbot at Restaurante Elkano in Getaria. Whole turbot here are grilled over coals, filleted at the table, and served with only a few squirts of oil and citrus, which emulsifies with the fish's juices to create what is honestly one of the best plates of food on the planet. See restauranteelkano.com
OKLAHOMA SMASH BURGER, US
The American chef Kenji Lopez-Alt, whose YouTube channel became something of an obsession during the pandemic, is a passionate advocate for the greatness of the onion-heavy Oklahoma smash burger. Perfection, he says, can't be improved upon. It has half an entire onion, shaved thin enough for it to soften on the grill as the beef patty is smooshed and seared on top of it. I've never had a real one, and I want it. See travelok.com
MOLE NEGRO, MEXICO
There is a serious Mexico obsession in my house at the moment. We've bought a press to make fresh corn tortillas, we're sourcing specialty ingredients such as tomatillos and guajillo chillies, and we're creating some beautiful meals. Still, does it get any better that a visit to Oaxaca state to try mole negro, the king of Mexican sauces, the dish into which countless years and skills have been poured? No. See visitmexico.com
SHORT EATS, SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka is on the road to recovery after a torrid time, and there are so many reasons to celebrate that. One of them is the chance to enjoy short eats. These Sri Lankan snacks are usually fried or grilled, eaten with the hands, feature local fish and vegetables, are highly spiced, and absolutely delicious. Get me to Galle and hand me a fish cutlet, a piping hot ball of minced tuna and potatoes and spices, and I will be one happy traveller. See srilanka.travel
SUSHI, JAPAN
Credit: Minamishima
Australia has finally embraced the concept of high-end sushi, with restaurants such as Minamishima in Melbourne, plus Sushi Oe and Kuon Omakase in Sydney winning a slew of fans. In 2023, I want to go back to the source. This is a style of cuisine that has so much depth to it, so much complexity, so much artistry. High-end sushi in Japan is like nothing else in the world. See www.japan.travel
RAGU NAPOLETANO, ITALY
Here's another of those dishes I just can't forget. Ragu napoletano is the Campanian answer to the famous ragu Bolognese: a hearty, heavy, tomato-based sauce that's mixed through pasta to form one of the most umami-rich, belt-busting dishes you have ever sunk a fork into. This thing is cooked for an entire day until the meat is falling apart and the tomatoes are impossibly rich. I have a deep need to get to Naples for another. See italia.it
BANH CUON, VIETNAM
The food of Vietnam is just incredible. Everything is good, from the noodle soups to the grilled meats to the herby salads to the turmeric-heavy pancakes. The dish I really want to explore in 2023, however, is banh cuon. There's a certain magic to the way these big sheets of steamed rice noodles are made, before they're wrapped around savoury fillings and served with herbs and sauce. See vietnam.travel
SARAWAK LAKSA, MALAYSIA
Credit: iStock
I'm a sucker for a noodle soup. Pho, ramen, udon, wanton noodles - you name it, I'm into it. And so it should come as no surprise that in 2023 I'm chasing laksa, though a style of laksa that's not so common in Australia: Sarawak laksa. This laksa, ubiquitous in Kuching, is based on a pungent, tamarind-sour soup that was described by Anthony Bourdain as a "breakfast of the gods". Good enough for me. See sarawaktourism.com
DUCK SAUSAGE SANGA, MELBOURNE
Some dishes you eat once and never think about again. Others are so clever and so delicious that you find yourself daydreaming about them daily. The "duck sausage sanga" from Aru in Melbourne is the latter. Ever since I tried Khanh Nguyen's playful take on the Bunnings sausage sizzle – influenced by the barbecues his Vietnamese-Australian family would have when he was a kid – I've been hankering for another. See aru.net.au
TAHDIG, IRAN
Admittedly, a helluva lot would need to happen in Iran in 2023 for this wish to come true. We hope for protesters there to succeed, for the current regime to be forced from power and this wonderful country to come under more liberal rule. To celebrate, my first meal in Iran would involve tahdig, the crispy rice dish that is so much tastier than it has any right to be, and which has become an obsession in my household. Until then: jin, jiyan, azadi. Woman, life, freedom. See visitiran.ir
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