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The word ‘extinction’ is more commonly associated with the decline of wildlife species or languages, but it can actually apply to anything – including our favourite foods.
While many of us already have sampling a local dish sitting high on our to-do lists in a new place, tour operator Intrepid Travel has, with the help of Author of Eating to Extinction Dan Saladino, award-winning food writer Yasmin Khan, plus other food experts from all over the planet, curated a list of endangered foods that are in need of some love.
Each one has been identified as either being materially endangered (likely due to environmental degradation), culturally endangered (which could be due to diluted practices to keep up with overtourism), or craft-endangered (social, economic or environmental change leading to a decline in skills).
So, what’s actually on this list? Well, this one might shock you, but New York’s acclaimed hand-rolled bagels, which are traditionally kettle-boiled, feature. Intrepid Travel’s food experts found that authentic cooking techniques are gradually being replaced by larger-scale industrial methods.
Recommended: Our guide on where to find the best bagel shops in NYC.
‘We chose dishes like the New York bagel … because they are, in culinary terms, global icons, yet most people don't realise the authentic versions are actually on the brink of vanishing due to modern shortcuts and mass-market pressures,’ said Saladino. ‘Food is the most profound link we have to our history, our land, and our identity, yet we are currently witnessing a global collapse of culinary diversity.’
Funazushi and Narezushi, two original sushi dishes, also risk extinction because of similar shifts towards mass-market production.
Elsewhere on the list is Cuscos Transmontanos com Coelho, a traditional Portuguese rabbit stew served with couscous, as well as Kwun Tong Gao, which are Hong Kong’s famous jumbo soup dumplings, and Gumbo from New Orleans. Check out all the most endangered dishes below.
The world’s most endangered dishes
- Cuscos Transmontanos com Coelho – Transmontanos couscous with rabbit stew, Lisbon, Portugal
- Mosbolletjies – grape must buns, South Africa
- Inanchila – a sacred sticky rice dessert made with endangered rice varieties, Northern Philippines
- Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels, New York, USA
- Petkhvis Cvishtvari – black millet patty, Georgia
- Kwun Tong Gao – jumbo soup dumplings, Hong Kong
- Chelsea bun, London, UK
- Tlacoyos made with maíz criollo – ‘heirloom native corn’, Mexico
- Traditional gumbo with filé powder, New Orleans, USA
- Funazushi / Narezushi – the original sushi, Osaka, Japan
So, now you have a bucket list of stuff to eat on your travels – and you can feel good about seeking out these priceless, endangered meals.
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