25 Popular Dishes to Try Around the World

Traveling the world and looking for something to eat? Seek out some of these dishes that go hand-in-hand with their respective destinations to get the full experience of what a new city, town or country has to offer.

The typical meal of Costa Rica, the casado can be found at most restaurants throughout the country, including the roadside restaurants they call "Sodas." Casados refer to the entire plate, which consists of meat (either chicken, beef, pork, or fish), rice, black beans, plantains, salad and a tortilla.

Poutine is Canada's favorite comfort food, sure to warm you up on a cold night. The dish, in its simplest and traditional form, is French fries smothered in gravy and topped with cheese curds. Other variations of the dish have evolved over the years, including dessert poutines.

Souvlaki is a basic but tasty Greek dish-pieces of beef, pork, lamb or chicken served on a skewer. It is often served with tzatziki sauce for dipping. A sister dish of souvlaki is the gyro, where similar ingredients are served in a pita, often with tomatoes and French fries.

Kalua Pork is Hawaii's version of barbecue. Traditionally, a whole pig was cooked in an underground oven with nothing but salt, then shredded and served, typically with rice and mac salad. You can find it on the menu at restaurants across the islands-no barbecue sauce needed.

New Orlean's most famous food is also its most famous sandwich. The Po Boy is a general term that refers to a Louisiana sandwich served on a French baguette, usually with fried shrimp. Other versions are available, such as roast beef or other fried seafood. Every local has a favorite Po Boy spot-all you have to do as a visitor is ask around.

After the whole fish-typically cod-is dried outdoors on a large, ocean-side rack, it is then re-hydrated for nearly two weeks. The end result is a fish filet with a jelly-like texture. It is usually served with boiled potatoes and butter in Scandinavian countries like Norway.

Aspic refers to a dish where the contents have been encased in a gelatin made from meat stock. Known specifically as "sult" in Estonia, a mixture of meats, like pork knuckle or rinds, are cooked together and allowed to cool and congeal. The gelatinous texture makes this dish unique-and a little bit adventurous.

This simple staple of Nepal is cooked lentils and rice, sold for cheap just about everywhere. Locals eat it with their hands, mixing the rice and beans together.

A Nepalese man once told me, "An American wants a cheeseburger, a Nepalese wants a Momo." This goes for many regions through the Himalayas, including Tibet, Bhutan and Northern India. These small, simple dumplings are filled with meat like chicken, pork and lamb, and sold at low cost. You can find them from street vendors and restaurants alike.

This Portuguese favorite is a custard tart sprinkled with cinnamon, a creamy and spicy combination. You'll see them sold in bakeries and cafes throughout the country, the perfect match for a cup of coffee.

Though oddly named, the dish is quite simple-it's just a shark sandwich, or shark burger, if you will. The shark filet is seasoned, fried, and then served between two pieces of flatbread (the "bake"). The hub for the bake and shark scene is Maracas Beach, where many vendors offer their take on the local sandwich.

Meat stew doesn't sound hard to make, but somehow the Hungarians are able to do it better than most. The country's infamous goulash soup has infiltrated all parts of the world, but you'll want to try it at the source, from a variety of vendors. Variations switch up the type of meat used, the spices, the vegetables and the viscosity of the broth. Will you like yours thick or thin? Only one way to find out.

Georgia (the country) has its own variation of what Americans would deem a pizza: Khachapuri. Filled with mostly cheese and eggs, it's a rich, fulfilling, casual snack (or meal), something you'll find in most local restaurants.

An arepa is a maize patty that is cooked, split and filled with other ingredients-cheese, mainly. You'll find arepas on menus and from street carts wherever you go in Colombia.

Green plantains are cooked, mashed and seasoned with salt to make what's called Mofongo-mashed plantains. Chopped meat is sometimes added (or meat is served alongside) and it is often covered in a broth.

A "pork knuckle" is a roasted ham hock, originally from Bavaria and a popular dish at Oktoberfest. The exterior is salty and the skin is crispy, pairing well with beer in pubs.

It seems that almost every country in Southeast Asia has its own version of laksa. Usually spicy and flavorful, the noodle soup can take a variety of forms, using wheat noodles or rice vermicelli in broths flavored by chicken, shrimp or fish, with a base of spicy coconut milk or a sweet-sour broth.

This one probably won't be so good going down, but hey-you never know. That's why you travel and try different things. Balut is an egg that contains a still-developing bird embryo. It is boiled and eaten as a street-food snack. It's very popular with the locals-will you feel the same way?

Bulgogi translates to "fire meat," a reference not to its amount of spice but to the fact that it is simply barbecued meat, thin strips of marinated beef cooked on the grill. It is often served with sauteed green peppers, onions, garlic and fresh lettuce.

This is one of the more odd-looking street foods we've come across lately-and also probably one of the strangest names, too. The origin of the name "Bunny Chow" is unclear, but the dish itself is pretty straightforward: a loaf of white bread hollowed out and filled with a curry stew. Look for it on the streets of South Africa.

Don't feel too bad for the little buggers-they are the deer of Australia, and the locals eat them in many different forms that include burgers, sausages and steaks. Look for it on menus around the country and at grocery stores.

Everyone knows about perogies in Poland, but the Russian pelmeni, a close neighbor, is rarely mentioned. Typically very thin and filled with minced meat, pelmenis are never served in dessert form, which distinguishes them from the perogi. Otherwise, it's everything we Americans have come to know and love about dumplings from Eastern Europe.

Mohinga is the national dish of Myanmar. It is a noodle soup, similar in makeup to laksa, that is typically eaten for breakfast.

You wouldn't be totally out there if you called the tlayuda a Mexican pizza. It's a thin, crunchy tortilla layered with a variety of toppings like refried beans, avocado, lettuce, meat, cheese and salsa.

Conch in the Caribbean is a classic. Usually served cut and fried, it is found fresh throughout the region's warm waters and caught daily by locals. Look for beach shacks where you can enjoy with your feet in the sand. Pairs well with cold beer!