International Street Food Festival: Luscious Latin American Eats

When it comes to street food, simple is often the most delicious. That seems to be especially true in Latin America.

What could be tastier than fried cheesey things and simple meat-and-bread and meat-beans-and-tortilla combinations? Let Latin America-lovers Nancy of Family on Bikes, Stephanie of The Travel Chica, Ayngelia of Bacon is Magic and Pete and Dalene Heck of Hecktic Travels show you more on this final day of the International Street Food Festival.

Street Food Sensation: Buñuelos from Colombia

Think light fluffy deep-fried clouds. Rich, decadent melt-in-your-mouth goodness.

Buñuelos, a Colombian staple, are made fresh by roadside vendors in portable vats of hot oil and sold in paper bags for breakfast or dinner. Made from corn flour, cheese, and I’m-not-sure-what-else, they are delightful piping hot and right out of the oil vat. With a flavor all their own, these fluffy balls of cheese bread, are uniquely Colombian.

Typically made twice daily, buñuelos are purchased by people of all ages. Moms buy big bagfuls to feed their families, children pick one or two up on their way to school, motorcyclists make a quick stop to grab some for the office.

Here’s a short video Nancy made about buñuelos while on the road:

Nancy trained as a teacher, so it was only natural that she’d join the Peace Corps and then agree to cycle across India, Nepal, Pakistan and China with a guy she’d never met. After that epic adventure, the obvious thing to do next was to marry her crazy cycling buddy, move to Egypt, Ethiopia and Taiwan, produce twins and decide to cycle from the top to the bottom of the Americas, earning the family a world record along the way.

Get Inspired!

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” – a motto that inspires Nancy

Street Food Sensation: Choripan from Argentina

Choripan is a staple street food item in Argentina.  It is a sandwich made from chorizo sausage with loads of chimichurri salsa.

Simple yet delicious.

Choripan from Argentina

If the baguette is fresh and toasted, the chorizo is hot off the grill and the chimichurri is homemade, you’ve hit the choripan trifecta!

Although this is considered street food and can be bought cheap when you are on the run, choripan is also a common appetizer at an Argentine asado.  Because you should always start a meal that will consist of at least 2 kilos of meat with … meat.

Stephanie, at the age of 29, decided to take a one-year travel sabbatical in Latin America. Stephanie lived in Buenos Aires for six months and is now back on the road exploring the rest of South America … and is well past the one-year mark.

Get Inspired!

Read: Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols. Stephanie says: “I am not into sailing, but this book about how nine sailors set off in 1968 to be the first to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop is incredibly interesting, exciting, and inspiring.”

Street Food Sensation: Panuchos from Mexico

Originating in Merida, Panuchos are small fried corn tortillas garnished with black beans and topped with turkey or chicken, lettuce, avocado and pickled onion. As always, hot sauce or habanero peppers are available as an additional topping. Many street vendors and restaurants sell them throughout Merida and the Yucatan.

Panuchos from Mexico

Unlike some other street food it was light, fresh and didn’t have the heaviness of typical fried food. It’s often an appetizer, but like most food in Mexico, it was enough for lunch.

Ayngelina left an amazing job, apartment and boyfriend in Canada to travel through Latin America. Ayngelina is now back in Toronto creating a life of choosing what she wants instead of what other people think she should do.  

Get Inspired!

Read: The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham. “One of my favourite books, it’s about one man’s search for meaning in his life when he is surrounded by people who value possessions,” Ayngelia said. “In the end he has very little but is very happy, unlike his friends.”

Street Food Sensation: Lomito From Argentina

In Salta, Argentina, there is no better to way to follow up a football match then with a hearty steak sandwich!

Our new friend Marcello led us through the northern city streets to find this lady who had been cooking it up for as many years as he could remember.

Lomito from Argentina

We waited patiently for our turn (she is a local icon), and salivated the entire time.

With fresh bread, a thin, perfectly cooked steak and a dash of chimichurri, we nearly went back for seconds.

Peter and Dalene Heck are two Canadians who traded in their comfortable corporate lives for two backpacks. They sold everything in 2009 and have been traveling ever since, with no end in sight.

Get Inspired!

There will always be a million reasons not to follow your dream, and there will never be a perfect time. Just suck it up, and do it. – Advice from Dalene for people who have a dream but are a little afraid to jump into it.

Thank you to all the fabulous bloggers who contributed to the International Street Food Festival. You will hear from them again soon, in a wrap-up post featuring even more inspiration.

For more foodie photos and other fun, follow Dropout Diaries on Instagram and on Facebook

By: Barbara

A career girl who dropped out, traveled, found love, and never got around to going home again. Now wrangling a cross-cultural relationship and two third culture kids.