SUNDAY POST Dec 21-27
Iconic dishes are now global, so where can you still sample them at their authentic best? Check out…
Italian pizza
The best place to eat pizza is Il Pizzaiolo del Presidente on via Tribunali in Naples. It was called Pizzeria Cacialli until July 1994 when Bill Clinton walked in and tried the pizza, after which they renamed it ‘The President’s Pizza Chef’. It stands out for the quality and digestibility of the dough: don’t forget to have a margherita. It’s a family-run restaurant and a very eat-and-leave kind of place – there’s no hanging around. It’s how Italians interpret ‘fast food’.
Pad Thai
This dish doesn’t have as much substance as many people think. It was created in the 1940s, a time of depression, in response to a nationwide invitation from the dictator, Plaek Phibunsongkhram, to create a dish that was frugal, healthy and easy to prepare. Strangely, the winner was the wife of one of the government officials. Her recipe was a reinterpretation of Chinese noodles, with the inclusion of palm sugar and tamarind – its name means ‘noodles in the style of the Thais’.
There are so many places to eat it in Bangkok, everyone has their own interpretation. Essential ingredients include dried prawns and sen jan rice noodles. There’s one place on Soi Suan Phlu Soi 8, just off Sathorn Road, opposite the main market, that does it really well. Another is Phat Thai Ratchawong on Ratchawong Street, at the top end of Chinatown. There’s also a great stall in Sri Yarn market which has been going for 40 years.
American hot dogs
The classic experience is Hebrew National hot dogs at a ball game at the Yankee Stadium. It’s an iconic dog with potato buns and yellow mustard that everybody eats. A famous restaurateur got into the hot dog game in New York about five years ago when he opened the DBGB Downtown, where he sells grown-up hot dogs using the best natural ingredients. The joint produces its own sausages and buns as well as a secret sauce that’s a blend of spicy, sweet and savoury.
Mexican tacos
A place in Mexico City that’s consistently good is Taqueria los Parados. They make the Mexico City classic tacos al pastor, which originates from a wave of Lebanese immigrants who introduced cooking pork on a spit like a kebab. It’s a real staple, a street-food classic.
The pork is marinated in achiote powder, pineapple juice and onion to tenderise the meat; then it’s roasted like a kebab. It has a whole pineapple on the top and the juices run down and char the meat. It’s garnished with a squeeze of fresh lime and a scattering of sweet white onion and coriander. This taqueria does an incredible avocado green sauce; it’s thin and milky green and livened up with serrano chillis.
Peruvian ceviche
Many people who grew up in Peru and left the country when they were teenagers still have their families there and visit the country once or twice a year to research new dishes. The roots of the famous ceviche can be traced to Huanchaco where it was, in all likelihood, created 2,000 to 3,000 years ago by the Moche culture. Here, you get delicious ceviche at a restaurant called Big Ben. Another outstanding example is anchovy ceviche from a sand-floor shack, Anchoveta Azul, south of Lima. Its owner, Efrain Morales, pioneers sustainable anchovy fishing and has won awards.
In Lima there’s Chez Wong. The chef, Javier Wong, who is in his seventies, has been a mentor to many. He started serving food from his garage, which has since taken over his house. Twenty-five seats are available at lunchtime only and he cooks just with sole. There’s no menu – you choose hot, cold, sweet or savoury, served with a beer or water. The ingredients are simple: lime, chilli, fresh sole, fresh red onions, great salt and pepper. You might be sitting next to the prime minister or next to a builder; it’s a cult place.
Japanese sushi
The best place for sushi was Araki in Ginza, Tokyo. It was a tiny restaurant, seating only 10. It closed recently, but its owner, Mitsuhiro Araki, has just opened a new one in central London with his wife and daughters.
His skills are the very best. He uses the freshest fish sourced from around the coast of England and France to make some of the best sushi and sashimi. You’d get very good red snapper, fresh clams from France and steamed abalone; also egg with white truffle. The sake sommelier recommends different sakes. Just sit and watch as Araki prepares the fish, as if performing a ceremony.
The setting is intimate, very Zen – simple Japanese design with attention to detail. You can see the passion that has created it. The counter is one long, carved piece of wood with a long chopping board the same length as the counter. All the food and ingredients are kept underneath.
Israeli falafel
The falafel at Hakosem in Tel Aviv, just off the Dizengoff Centre, is amazing. The staff hands out fresh falafel to lunchtime customers as they waiting in line for their food to take away. They have just the right amount of spices, a great crunchy texture and are incredibly fresh and fluffy. The joint imports chickpeas from Spain and grinds them 15 times a day.
Singaporean Hainanese curry rice
Hainanese curry rice, or scissor-cut curry rice, is a celebrated Singaporean dish. This dish has both Hainanese and colonial origins as most cooks who worked for British families in the early 1900s were Hainanese. They have put an innovative twist on the classic pork cutlet by pummelling it flat, snipping it up over rice and coating it with curry.
The Beach Road scissor-cut curry rice is one of the best in Singapore. This is comfort food on off days. The simple dish comprises a fried pork cutlet with dark gravy, chup chye (stewed cabbage) and a fried egg. The pork cutlet is cut into bite-sized pieces with a pair of scissors, after which gravy from the lor bak (soy braised pork) and then curry is ladled over it. The layering of the lor bak gravy and curry creates a delicious gravy that is slightly spicy and starchy in texture. It is the crucial element that brings all the individual ingredients together, transforming an ordinary dish into something amazing.
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