The Best Things I've Eaten This Year
It’s that time of year where most are reflecting on good deeds done, goals accomplished and broken promises. I’ve done my fair share of that, but what I’ve been most focused on lately is all of the things that I’ve eaten this year.
As I thought about it this year, I realized that Porto was my favorite city to eat in. Porto was the city that taught me that yes, salt can really be as magical as Samin Nosrat claims. I didn’t have a single bad meal there. Every classic Portuguese restaurant, every trendy modern haunt and every cozy coffeehouse delivered in a big way in this little city. It also didn’t hurt that it was all extremely affordable. I paid 12 euro for a three course meal that took place at a restaurant overlooking the Douro river. Please explain that to me. (I was talking to an Uber driver about this and he told me that there were some places you could go and get a meal for 5 euro.) I want to keep this city all to myself.
Outside of Porto, I had some great dishes all around the world. Here are my favorites in order of when I ate them.
Grilled Fish - O Buraco, Porto - See my note on salt above. With nothing more than olive oil and salt, this fish was magical. I was amazed at the simplicity of ingredients to bring forth such tremendous flavor. I ended up at this restaurant twice and each time I felt like my eyes rolled around in my head trying to comprehend it all.
Bok Choy in Lemongrass Broth - Chef India, Jamaica - For my second dinner in Jamaica, Chef India put together an amazing meal. The stand out for me though was the bok choy. I didn’t even realize that lemongrass was available in Jamaica. This is the only vegetable dish on my list and it stands up easily against these very meat-centric dishes.
Korean Pork Tacos - Chef Jiyeon Lee, Atlanta - In March, I hosted an event for Riazul tequila. It honored different women in their industries, one of which was Chef Jiyeon Lee from Heirloom Market. For the event she made tacos. I’ve never been a big pork fan. However, after this, I sought out pork every chance that I could this year. (The porchetta sandwich I had in Rome almost made the list).
Beef Stew - Korean Fusion, Atlanta - I’m still trying to figure out what exactly this was. Every time I hear rice cakes, I think of stale, hard crunchy, unflavored discs. Not good. The Korean ones are much more appetizing. Still bland, but with a chewy consistency that makes whatever it’s with better. As they soaked up the flavor from the beef stew, the flavors exploded. I’m going to have to beg her to make this again so that I can properly describe this.
Oxtail Burgers - Gourmet Tapas by Sensi, Barcelona - When I had this meal on my third day in Barcelona, I knew that I wouldn’t have anything better. I had about 7 different tapas and each one was inventive, flavorful and well executed. However, the oxtail burgers were this Jamaican girl’s wish come true. I didn’t even know that I wished for it, but I’m glad I stumbled across it.
Cacio e Pepe - Nannarella, Rome - Cacio e pepe is one of my favorite pastas. Again, simplicity. At first glance, you would guess that there is cream in this dish, but there isn’t. They do some voodoo with the water from the pasta and cheese to deliver a creamy dish that’s topped with cracked black pepper. Rome is the birthplace of this dish, so I had to try it as many places as I could. Nannarella, the most touristy of the locations, was my favorite.