Why the same food can taste differently in other places?

Yesterday there was a special lunch in Taptrip`s office. As we had a long meeting to discuss improvements, nothing better than something delicious to give us energy during it! As part of us wanted pizza and the other part wanted paella, we ended ordering both. 
This was my first time to have european cookery in Japan. Although it was very good (the paella's rice has the right portion of salt and the sea food on it was so soft as the pizza), the taste was different of Brazil, my home country, and probably might be different of the original spanish and italian cookery.

"It tastes much better in my home place." - I am pretty sure you've heard that from someone or also said that to someone in life. But, why? Why the same food can taste differently from one place to other? I wanted to answer to this question during the conclusion of this post, but I can answer right now: because people are different and their taste for meals is different too. That's why the cookery has to be adapted according to the flavor of everybody from a specific place likes. Simple, huh? 
But, some people are against it. For example: sushi - a traditional japanese meal made with rice, fish and condiments - is also prepared with strawberry, mango, kiwi and other fruits in Brazil because it's a tropical country where many people love fruits. My japanese friends always say a big "WHAT?!" every time I tell them this and complement saying "a japanese sushiman would be very upset if sees something like that!"
But, we need to accept it as something new, an opportunity to try a different flavor of something we like very much. When I went to France, was surprised to see the fritter is different of Brazil because has no chocolate cream inside. According to a friend, the japanese curry is less spicy than indian curry probably because indians are stronger for spicy food. The japanese sausage is much smaller than the argentinian one, I found it by myself when went to a latin restaurant in Tokyo...don't know if will be back someday.

New experiences are good in life, specially if they are yummy. By the way, did you already download Taptrip and has the experience of making friends in the whole world? You can also send them pictures of what you had for breakfast and lunch. Install it now and have fun!

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Japanese convenience stores: 3 reasons why they are so good!

Even before coming to Asia, I've heard a lot about the convenience stores, but didn't know what they were. Basically they are stores which offer the same products you find in the supermarket, drugstores and bookstores, everything in just one place.

This is a famous convenience store in Japan, you can find everywhere.

"But, what is the advantage of going to there instead of going to supermarket or drugstores and bookstores?" - you might be asking. Well, I will explain it in this post.
Basically, there are three advantages: conbinis (this is how the japanese call the convenience stores) are open 24 hours, they are everywhere and offer discounts and promotion for clients. These advantages are the three reasons why they are so good, specially if compared to many western countries where this kind of business is not so strong as in Asia.
When I just arrived in Japan, went to the closest conbini to buy some stuffs. After paying, the cashier asked me to put my hand in a box full of papers and get four of them which had pictures of an ice coffee, a coke and two snacks. Suddenly, she said: "Congratulations! You won all this!". 
I just went there to buy a bottle of water and credits for the cell phone, but ended caring a lot of things to home. Then, I realized that the convenience stores do this kind of action very often to get loyal clients. Another store to my work gave me a point card to get discounts because I buy things in there everyday. My coworker got two prizes after buying many goods and gathering many seals.

My coworkers were gathering these seals from goods bought in the conbini to change for exclusive products, like a Hello Kitty's plate. 

During my first weeks in Japan, I didn't know that conbinis were open 24 hours. As the commerce here mainly closes between 8pm and 10pm (yes, very early), I thought the same thing happened with the convenience stores. Until the day I saw one open during the night, since then I could stop running from work to get the supermarket still open.
Of course, the prices are a little more expensive (about 5% which is ok) and there is no much variety as the supermarkets, drugstores and bookstores do. But, you can still find the basic goods for your daily activities in any store close to you, including other services as ATM, photocopy & print.

This is the stand with "bento", cheap meals which can be found in any conbini. 

There are magazines and comic books for the clients to buy or to read right there.

The copy machines can be handled by the clients, each copy costs ￥10 (about U$10 cents).

I would like my country to have this kind of commerce too, but as some western countries are not so safe as Japan, could be difficult to run a store during the whole night. By the way, are there convenience stores in your country? So, take some pictures and upload them in Taptrip for the whole world to know.

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Having breakfast in 5 different countries. - Part 2

Last week I listed the breakfast of the main countries of Taptrip. Seems many people liked that yummy post, so now I introduce other typical breakfast of other five countries where many people are taptripping.
6) MOROCCO: a traditional moroccan breakfast has tea, khobz (moroccan bread), harcha (fried bread), khobz b'chehma (stuffed bread), krachel (sweet rolls), omelet with veggies & cream cheese, sausage & egg tagine, beghrir & msemen (pancakes).

7) COTE D'IVORE: as the breakfast can vary according to each region, I decided to introduce the foutou which seems to be the most delicious one. It's made of creamy peanut butter, peeled & chopped cassava and plantains which attributes a salty taste, but also sweet.

8) GHANA: bread is the main food of this meal, and there are many kinds of bread: tea bread, sugar bread, brown bread and butter bread. All of them can be eaten with baked food, wheat flour and cassava flour.

9) PHILIPPINES: has a big variety of aliments, like: pandesal (small bread rolls), kesong puti (white cheese), champorado (chocolate rice porridge), sinangag (garlic fried rice), meat, fish or duck eggs. Coffee is also served and has a strong flavor.

10) IRAQ: it's basically composed by egg dishes, a flat bread known as khubz, an oval-shaped bread loaf called samoon, butter, jam, honey, cheese, libna (yogurt with olive oil), date molasses and sesame paste.

So, how delicious was this post? Do you know any other food from these mentioned countries? Your country also has delicious meals for breakfast? So, share with us in the comments and in Taptrip too!

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Having breakfast in 5 different countries.

The last post mentioned the 10 countries with the biggest quantity of Taptrip users. There are nations from Asia, Africa, Central America and South America. There are many differences among these countries, but the main difference must be the food.

I had meals in four countries up till now: Brazil, Argentina, France and Japan. And the most different meal was the breakfast. So, let's check what people and Taptrip users have for breakfast in the five countries below:

1) INDIA: has a big variety in the whole country, so it's easier to classify as breakfast from the north and from the south of India. In the south, for example, they eat idli, vada and dosa coupled with chutney and sambar.

2) SAUDI ARABIA: mainly consists of bread and dairy products, tea, labneh jam and cream. May have a variety of sweets and savory morsels too. 

3) DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: has eggs or meat and mashed plantain which is called ''mangu''. May include salami and onions.

4) ALGERIA: has cornflakes, bread, home made biscuits, jam, milk and coffee. 

5) BRAZIL: basically has bread, butter, cheese & ham, fruits and may include home made cake, coffee, milk, tea or juice.

What do you have for breakfast in your country? Please, leave a comment here and tell us. If you are a guide in Taptrip, upload pictures of your breakfast and show it to people from the whole world too.

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