RunningWithBulls.com - The curse of Sanfermin

I smiled when I read Thomas Crampton’s (Thomas, you have no idea who I am. ;D ) post on Joi Ito’s blog this afternoon about eating food in Asia, and developing countries (but I think this can be applied to most countries).

I have to say, I agree with him completely. If I am travelling in any country (be it poor or not) I always:

1. try to find the smallest street off the beaten track.
2. get friendly/talking to a local. He/she is the best type of guide you will find.
3. and get invited, shown where the locals eat.

The main importance word here is local. Locals *always* know the good places to go. They should, they live in the place! And when I say good places, I don’t mean where all the other guiris (foreigners) go, I mean the local people.

If you see a local eating there, then you can be assured that it will be clean. Ok, it might not be the RItz, but you will be eating proper, local food (Cliph take note!).

Thomas explains:

Basically, I never eat anything that has been washed in tapwater (like lettuce) and avoid anything that has milk products (pies with cream or other milk products that can go bad in tropical heat) but you can eat almost anything that has been peeled (fruit) grilled (meat) boiled (soup, noodles, curries, etc). Always wash hands before eating and get in the habit of carrying purell in your pocket. Be wary of cutlery in the sense that you should rub it down with a napkin before using it. One of the greatest pleasures for me in travel is sampling the local cuisine in street stalls and small restaurants, so I probably push the envelope, but rarely get ill. (Perhaps I have built up resistance)
Medicines I use for rare occasions when digestive issues arise? Peptobismol and - if needed - immodium. Some people take peptobismol before eating, but that such a waste because it ruins the taste.
Also, there is no need to buy water purification tablets. Never in more than a decade of travel through developing countries have I been out of reach of clean water. That said, make sure to keep yourself hydrated in tropical heat. Drink small amounts constantly rather than gulping once every few hours.
Most important: Don’t obsess on it! Enjoy your holiday.

[There are plenty of places in Dublin where I have had to rub down my cutlery with a napkin - and this is “the developed world” (or so they would say).]

I am not in any way as travelled as he is, but the bulk of what he is saying is correct. Obviously you have to use a bit of commonsense. You might not like the taste of whatever it is (eating deep-fried crickets in Bangkok from a street vendor didn’t taste nice, but I didn’t die from it).

Its nice to hear that in all the “don’t eat that, don’t eat this” warnings!