Life in the Field: Teach Us Something About Your Local Food Scene

Caroline Dorr, KF25 in Indonesia


Rice is everywhere here in Bali, Indonesia! Rice (or “nasi” in Indonesian) is the staple food here and is eaten every day by almost all Indonesians. Not only is rice the staple food, but it is also a staple crop. Beautiful sprawling rice terraces make up much of the country’s landscape. The lush, green rice paddies turn to a golden yellow just before the rice is ready to be harvested. My favorite rice dishes here are steamed rice with various tasty sides (nasi campur) or fried rice with veggies (nasi goreng)!

Duen Krittika, KF25 in Myanmar

Tea leaf salad is a snack/food that you can find almost everywhere in Myanmar. It's mixed of Burmese pickled tea, bean, corns and other herbs or you can eat it with rice as food. The pickled tea is unique in Myanmar and is regarded as the national delicacy as well.

Vardah Malik, KF25 in Vietnam

Spring rolls are a staple food through out Vietnam and can easily be found at a street vendor. They might be served on their own with a dipping sauce, or with a side of rice or vermicelli noodles. Sea food can also be found most everywhere, especially if you are in a coastal town. This is home-made squid with shrimp in the background. You can combine the two and have seafood, such as shrimp, IN your spring roll. Fried goodness.

Sarah Renfer, KF25 in Paraguay

Paraguayan food is heavily meat and corn-based, and you'd be surprised of everything you can do with this. I had the chance to visit a women's group that prepares food to sell at the side of the road, like corn bread called "chipa", and a pig meat sausage called "butifarra" that includes a lot of herbs and spices like cumin. Hilda was preparing the butifarra just when I was visiting, and graciously offered me a "Hamburger Caacupé-Style" - it was delicious!

Vince Main, KF25 in Azerbaijan

These are Qutabs. A most delicious thin flat-bread stuffed with vegetables or lamb. They are one of the favorite foods of Azerbaijan. Here you can see the wonderful Sevda, the lady I am staying with, carefully preparing the Qutabs using a frying pan. She uses her own special ingredient..... pomegranate seeds. There is only one problem with Qutab ..... you can eat too many of them :-)

Shannon Kossik, KF25 in Ghana