Man “Travels” the World by Cooking Traditional Dishes From Each Country

Traditional dishes from Bangladesh on table

Bangladesh

According to the United Nations, there are 195 recognized countries in the world. As fascinating as each of them are, getting to visit and know all of them would take more money and time than most of us can afford. In 2020, Redditor Johnny_Banana18 came up with a clever idea to explore as many nations as possible. Having his vacations canceled due to the global pandemic, he set out to read a book about each country and cook a meal based on their cuisine. Even since travel restrictions have lifted, he's kept at it. So far, he's “visited” 25 countries through food and literature.

The Redditor tackles one country at a time in alphabetical order. “When I do these country dinners,” he writes, “I like to make a variety of things including common meals, holiday meals, and cuisine of ethnic or religious minorities.” Close to completing 15% of his list, he has almost crossed out all the nations whose names start with a B.

Though he has been vigilant, Johnny_Banana18 admits that the more obscure the country, the harder it can be to complete his mission. Living in the Denver area, he has access to specialized supermarkets, and can take suggestions from locals whose native countries he's looking to emulate through food. But sometimes, like when he covered Bahrain, he was limited in his access to books and struggled to find suggestions by born-and-raised nationals from that country. Fortunately, when he succeeds, things can get really exciting. He reported that the views on his Brunei post were higher than that nation's population of 452,524.

Johnny_Banana18's reveals recently got more alluring, as he has made the effort to get the respective flag of each country for his images. His latest adventures have taken him around the world, from Brazil's Pao de queijo—a cheesy bun—to Bhutan's Jasha Maroo–a chicken curry. Up next in his list is Bulgaria, and one can only imagine the tasty adventures he's yet to go on.

Take a look at his latest cuisine adventures below and stay up to date with him on Instagram and Reddit.

Reddit user Johnny_Banana18 came up with a clever idea to explore as many nations as possible.

Traditional dishes from Barbados on table

Barbados

Having his vacations canceled due to the global pandemic back in 2020, he set out to read a book about each country and cook a meal based on their cuisine.

Traditional dishes from Belarus on table

Belarus

So far, he's “visited” 25 countries through food and literature.

Traditional dishes from Belgium a on table

Belgium

Close to completing 15% of his list, he is almost done with all the nations whose names starts with a B.

Traditional dishes from Belize on table

Belize

Traditional dishes from Benin on table

Benin

Traditional dishes from Bhutan on table

Bhutan

Traditional dishes from Bolivia on table

Bolivia

Traditional dishes from Bosnia and Herzegovina on table

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Traditional dishes from Botswana on table

Botswana

Traditional dishes from Brazil on table

Brazil

Traditional dishes from Brunei on table

Brunei

Johnny_Banana18: RedditInstagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Johnny_Banana18.

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Regina Sienra

Regina Sienra is a Staff Writer at My Modern Met. Based in Mexico City, Mexico, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications with specialization in Journalism from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She has 10+ years’ experience in Digital Media, writing for outlets in both English and Spanish. Her love for the creative arts—especially music and film—drives her forward every day.
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