If you are a foodie – go to Chile.
This is the advice of TikTok traveler Chris Joondeph (@autentieke_reis) and it’s certainly worth noting, as he’s a self-confessed foodie, has visited 166 countries and told MailOnline Travel in a chat about his global dining experiences that Chilean cuisine is the most underrated on the planet.
He also reveals his thoughts on Kenya’s goat head soup, why he especially loves it Nigeria – and not just because you can get meals there for a dollar – and other countries worth checking out for their cuisine.
But first – what is it about Chile’s food that is so tempting?
He says: ‘Nobody really knows about Chilean cuisine and it’s so good! They love to eat these massive sandwiches with freshly cooked meat, sauerkraut and topped with homemade mayonnaise. They are so nice and comforting. Chile has many unique foods, but you will probably never see a Chilean restaurant outside of Chile. It’s definitely worth visiting for the food.’
Where else makes the foodie destination fire list?
Argentina does. In the capital, Buenos Aires, Chris recommends getting a ‘bife de chorizo (sirloin steak) with a glass of Malbec from one of the many steakhouses’.
Mexico is also on the list. Here, try ‘tacos al pastor (pork tacos)’, says Chris, who adds that they are ‘most popular in Mexico City, but can be found all over the country’.
Chris Joondeph has visited 166 countries and shares his favorite places with MailOnline. He says Chile, where he is above, has the most ‘underrated’ cuisine
LEFT: Chris says Chilean cuisine is ‘so delicious and comforting’. RIGHT: Chris enjoyed Chili’s ‘massive sandwiches’, which feature freshly cooked meats and sauerkraut and are ‘topped with homemade mayonnaise’
Chris also gives Hawaii the thumbs up. Here, try the ‘Loco Moco’, which he describes as a ‘hamburger patty on top of white rice, topped with a sunny side up egg and topped with sauce’.
Thailand is the only Asian country to make the popular list. Chris says: ‘Can’t go wrong with a pad Thai from a street kitchen or my favorite from the north, Khao Soi, a kind of curry soup with noodles.’
In Peru, Chris loves the ‘ceviche – fresh raw fish marinated in lime juice, onions, peppers and spices’, along with the pisco sour (a Peruvian cocktail made from pisco, lime juice, angostura bitters and egg white).
Lebanon and Syria also feature on the hot list for the ‘best shawarma (thinly sliced meat) in the world’, but Chris also recommends ‘muhammara – a fragrant dip made from roasted red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses’ try.
He meanwhile considers Nigeria something of an unsung tourism hero.
He reveals: ‘It’s one of the most populous countries in the world, but it’s rarely featured in travel content. I enjoyed exploring the country and seeing places that hardly get any foreign tourists.’
It’s also a bargain. In a TikTok videoChris shows viewers all he can eat in Nigeria for only $1/79p/900 naira. Chris explains: ‘I consult a local about this and they take me around to find the absolute cheapest possible food to get the most out of my one dollar.’
In the video, Chris enjoys a Nigerian sausage roll, puff balls, rice, spaghetti and beans with an egg and beef skin, corn on the cob with African pear, a bottle of Coke, and pork cooked in a spicy palm oil stew – all for the low price of less than $1. The best of his bargain treats? The poffertjie, which Chris describes as ‘a simple street food made from fried dough, which is so sweet and delicious’.
LEFT: Chris in Argentina, which he says has some of the world’s best food. RIGHT: Chris in Nigeria, which he describes as one of his favorite destinations
LEFT: In one video, Chris shares how much food he can eat for $1 in Lagos, Nigeria. RIGHT: Chris buys puffballs as part of his Nigerian meal and says they are ‘sweet and delicious’
Chris, who is from Denver, added to MailOnline: ‘Compare that to a country like Switzerland or Scandinavian countries where you can barely buy a meal for $20 (£15.82). Even the grocery stores in these countries are prohibitively expensive. My whole travel philosophy is about finding local experiences where regulars might eat, so I don’t necessarily go for very expensive meals.’
Chris’s travels have led him to taste some of the world’s more unusual delicacies, such as Kenya’s goat head soup.
The intrepid traveler explains: ‘It’s a popular Kenyan drink made by boiling goat’s head and other parts of the animal in large vats. The soup is then poured into plastic containers, shaken to trap air and served in cups.
‘It can be drunk straight or with hot pepper. It looks like a milkshake and tastes like every part of an animal was just put in a blender and put together. I call it the Kenyan protein shake. I probably won’t try it again, but it was an interesting experience.’
Chris (34) reveals that his food experiences, from the mouth-watering to the bizarre, don’t necessarily happen by accident. He rolls up his sleeves on Google beforehand and explains: ‘I do a lot of research before a trip to try and find the places that locals like to visit. It’s typically somewhere cheap with a lot of foot traffic. It is easy to identify them on Google because they have a high number of ratings compared to others. This means they are generally more popular.
‘I try to go to these places, with large numbers of reviews, as they have been around the longest and form the institutional dining places of certain cities. I will also determine a list of top dishes that I need to identify restaurants that serve those dishes so that I can be sure to check everything off my list.’
Chris reveals that there is very little he turns his nose up at on his travels. “I really like food, so there’s not much I don’t like,” he says. However, he is stricken with food poisoning, even though he is careful about what he eats and where.
The traveler explains that he adheres to the ‘boil it, peel it, cook it, or forget it’ mantra to keep stomach bugs at bay, adding: ‘You want things that are cooked and still hot because the heat go the harmful bacteria. If it’s not cooked, you want something that is freshly peeled or you can peel it yourself.
Chris tasted ‘goat head soup’, a popular local drink in Kenya. He says it ‘tastes like every part of an animal has just been put in a blender and combined together’
‘Another tip is to go to crowded places. If a street food vendor has no people patronizing them, it could be for a reason. If someone else is busy, I’m much more likely to go there.’
Despite the perceived risks of eating street food abroad, Chris says he has found that ‘fancy restaurants or home-cooked meals’ tend to have ‘the biggest risk’.
Assuming he’s stomach-bug free, what’s next on the travel menu for Chris?
To get the passport stamps.
He adds: ‘I’ve always had a desire to see more of the world from a young age. I set my sights on trying to visit (every country) and I’m almost there, with about 30 to go.’
