Global Snack Attack! Tasty Treats From Around the World

Helllooo Culture Kids!  

Thanks for tuning in to our new episode!  My name is Kristen and I am your host along with my son, Asher.  

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Kristen:  So Asher, what’s one of your favorite things to do after school?

Asher:  First things first.  I always come home and eat a yummy snack.  My everyday snack is bananas with peanut butter or chocolate peanut butter.

Kristen:  Yes and you always ask for sprinkles.

Asher:  It just makes it more fun..

Kristen:  Sometimes when we’re traveling Asher might get a little frustrated that the snacks we eat at home are not available where we are. 

Asher:  Yeah, for example, whenever I go to Korea I have to eat the snacks that halmunee makes.  (Halmunee means grandma in Korean by the way).  (Got it boss!)  And sometimes I like it…but sometimes I don’t.

Kristen:  Yup and that’s okay.  Every culture is different and every country is different.  Which means snacks might be different too.

Asher:  Yeah but it’s kinda fun to try new snacks because you might like it!  And it’s fun to try new things.  Yes, yes! 

Kristen:  So today, we’re going to learn about some fun snacks kids like to eat around the world!!

Asher:  Let’s goooo!

Kristen:  First stop on the culture train…we’re going to stop by El Salvador!  El Salvador is a country located in Central America. 

Asher:  We love learning about El Salvador because our friend Mercedes and her whole family is from there.  We did an episode on pupusas and black-sand beaches a while ago!

Kristen:  That’s right!  Mercedes’s family has been showing us so many delicious snacks from her hometown and we’ve been very lucky to try many.  But one of my favorite snacks that stuck out to me the most is what they call “papitas locas” which means, crazy fries!’Here is Mercedes who will describe what this dish is like! 

Mercedes: Voice Recording

Kristen:  That does sound really delicious.

Asher:  I eat fries with ketchup but not with mayo.  But maybe I’ll try it.  

Kristen:  Yes but to add the cheese on top of the ketchup and mayo..sounds like it would be creamy, sweet and tangy all at the same time.  

Asher:  Another snack that is popular in El Salvador is called Palitos.  

Kristen:  Palitos are basically crunchy, salty fried sticks. It’s perfect to snack on while you’re watching movies with friends and you kinda can't stop eating it-something about the crunchy, saltiness makes you want to eat it more.

Asher: I mean I don’t like it.  I love it. They are made from a dough made of cornmeal, water, and salt.  It is deep-fried. Yummmmm….

Kristen:  Mercedes and her family eat it as a snack or sometimes with a dipping sauce!  Like salsa or a creamy avocado dip.   You can get these at any groceries  that would have a special section for El Salvador.

Kristen:  Next, we’re going to Thailand!  Our friend Amy was born and raised in Thailand and shared some of her most delicious snacks that are usually sold as a street snack in Thailand. 

Asher.  Oh yeah.  So street snacks are little snacks or food you can buy on the street vendors and stands.  I saw them everywhere in Korea, too.  

Kristen:  Those are always the best!  Street snacks are popular in Korea too.  It’s so hard to pass by those street vendors because they all smell SO yummy, and served in small bite sizes and very affordable.  Meaning, it usually doesn’t cost too much money. 

Asher:  And one of Amy’s favorites is a Leaf Wrapped Bites.

Kristen:  It is called Miang Kham.  And they are almost like little wraps, but with a dark green leaf, called betel leaves.

Asher:  So it’s kinda like dumplings.  There’s a filling and you wrap it, but with leaves.  

Kristen:  Yup.  So betel leaves are heart-shaped leaves from the Piper Betel plant, which grows mostly in Southeast Asia.

Asher:  Oh and the leaf is used as a wrapping for fillings in lots of Southeast Asian food, like Thai or Vietnamese.

Kristen:  Yes.  So Miang Kham has a lot of strong, powerful flavors.  It’s sweet, salty, pungent, sour, and spicy.  

Asher:  Some people sell miang kham so people can wrap their ingredients on their own.  Or some come in skewers, already wrapped.    

Kristen:  They might be wrapped with a toothpick, or a skewer, which means there might be multiple in one stick.

Asher:  Ooh I’ll take one.  And it’s usually served with a sweet and tangy thick yummy sauce.

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Kristen;  Next let’s explore my hometown…Korea!  

My personal favorite snack growing up was called “hodduk.”

Asher:  Hodduk hodduk!  I’ve tried this before.  It’s a pancake but with a sugary filling inside!  It tastes really good.  And it oozes out!

Kristen:  Yup.  It is made by filling a circle of dough with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped peanuts, and then you flatten it and fry the dough until it’s crispy and brown.

Asher:  So yummy!  And when you take a bite the sugary filling just melts in your mouth!   But it’s also a little crunchy bc there are peanuts inside, too. So that means Keira can’t eat it.

Kristen:  Oh that’s a good point and very important to remember  Some of our friends like Keira has a peanut allergy.

Asher:  We can’t really bring it to school because peanuts are not allowed.

Kristen:  Hottuk  a mixture of all the good sensations and flavors!!  It tastes almost like a pancake, but the cinnamon and peanuts really stick out.  

Asher:  We also eat a lot of choco pie at home!

Kristen;  Yes while this is not a  traditional Korean snack, it's safe to say every person that grew up in Korea would know about this famous brand.  It’s called choco pie and you can even get it here in the United States in most Korean supermarkets.

Asher: It has two small round layers of cake with marshmallow filling and it’s covered in hardened chocolate.  It’s better than cake!!!

Kristen:   Next we’re going to….Egypt!

Asher:   Oooh….Egypt is in the northeast corner of Africa.

Kristen:  Mommy’s friend Ragia, who lives in Cairo, which is the capital of Egypt, shared some delicious snacks that she ate while growing up.

Asher:  Oh that’s so cool.  Is Cairo where the pyramids are?

Kristen:  Close.  But Cairo is a city so there are no ancient pyramids there.  But about 12 miles outside the city, the pyramids are there in an area called Giza Plateau.

Kristen:  Ragia shared a healthy snack that is very common to Egyptian families.  It’s called Mulukiyah. And it is a vegetable, often called “Egyptian spinach” and grows on a tall plant.  The leaves are kind of fuzzy.  Here is a voicemail that Raja left to share with us.

Voicemail

Asher:  From the photos we looked at, it looks kinda like a spinach dip 

Kristen:  It does.  Maybe one day we can visit Cairo and try it ourselves.

Asher:  Next up, we’re going to the United Kingdom!

Kristen:  Our friend Rachel who lives in the UK has a childhood snack that she wants to share with us.  Here’s a little message from Rache::

Voicemail

Kristen: Yum. I think I definitely want to have it toasted with butter too.  

Asher:  What is MALT?

Kristen:  Malt is a special kind of grain, like the seeds that grow into plants.  When you want to use malt to make something like beer or bread, you first have to let it sprout a little bit.  This process is called “malting.”

Asher:  Malting!

Kristen:  After the malted grain is dried, it becomes really sweet, kinda like sugar.  And it tastes like caramel. 

Asher: Oooooh

Kristen:  So people like to use malt in different ways, like adding it to bread, or using it to make drinks like malted milkshakes.  It’s yummy and sweet!!

Asher:  So cool that so many different countries eat different kinds of snacks.  Like we always say, every family is different and every country is different. And that’s what makes the world so interesting.

Kristen:  Yup.  Grown ups, make sure to check out our instagram page and our new YouTube channel to watch Asher and Arden try some of these delicious snacks we learned about today!  Thank you to our friends, Mercedes, Amy, Rachel, and Ragia for sharing your cultural snacks with us.  

Asher:  Where’s what about the jokes?

Mom:  Oh.  I almost forgot about the jokes.  Gasp.  Okay Asher, do you some snack jokes you’d like to share?

Asher: Yes  What do you call a cow in an earthquake?

Mom:  What..

Asher:  A milkehskae!

Mom:  I get it.  The cow makes milk..and the ground shakes when there’s an earthquake!  I get it.

Asher:  You go.

Mom:  What do ducks like to eat as a snack?

Asher:  What

Mom:  Cheese and quakers!

Asher:  I get it

Asher:  Can I do one more?

Mom:  Yes

Asher:  What is a table you can eat?

Mom:  What

Asher:  A vegetable!

Mom:  I get it.  Vegetable.  Vege-table.  Thanks again for joining us on another episode of Culture Kids Podcast!  We have some special guests coming up on our future episodes, so don’t forget to hit subscribe and leave us a review! Till next time!

Asher:  Bye choco pie or stinky styes!