I’m curious to know what snacks have stuck with you from your travels. Not necessarily the best, but the most memorable, with bonus points for those that conjure a specific sense of place when you think about them.
For me, it’s a tie between the ham bocadillos that sustained me on long walks around central Madrid for several days one September, or the beef pate (the local variation on a hand pie) I had in a seaside park in Frederiksted, St. Croix, where a DJ had set up a table to play reggae but, for twenty minutes or so, I was the only audience. I can still hear the music, see the waves (and the cruise ship a block or two away, with tourists disembarking and walking around the park without stopping to enjoy it), and taste the spicy meat filling of the pate.
My top snack of all time is the onigiri, the rice ball that is ubiquitous in Japan. Students take homemade onigiri to school for lunch. Conbini all over the country sell dozens of varieties, and my personal favorite was the chahan (fried rice) or the shiso-umeboshi (pickled plum) varieties. They are filling and reasonably healthy, depending on the kind you get. Wrapped in nori or without it; with meat, vegetarian, or vegan: there's an onigiri for everyone.
Discussion: What's a memorable snack you've had while traveling?
My top snack of all time is the onigiri, the rice ball that is ubiquitous in Japan. Students take homemade onigiri to school for lunch. Conbini all over the country sell dozens of varieties, and my personal favorite was the chahan (fried rice) or the shiso-umeboshi (pickled plum) varieties. They are filling and reasonably healthy, depending on the kind you get. Wrapped in nori or without it; with meat, vegetarian, or vegan: there's an onigiri for everyone.