Grilled, baked, fried, with or without sauces: meat is the main ingredient in many national dishes.

One of the most memorable things about travelling is the food. Each nation has delicacies to bring, a mix of flavours and aromas that conquer the taste, the smell and the “heart”. From Europe to Asia, Africa to Oceania, without forgetting the Americas, you will be spoilt for choice regarding the unmissable culinary proposals that characterise each country. And many of them are based on meat. Below is a selection from a sea of recipes for some typical non-European dishes.

Delicacies from South America

In Argentina, the unmissable dish at moments of celebration and conviviality is Asado, slowly grilled beef. Before cooking, the meat must be marinated with coarse salt, pepper, a few rosemary sprigs, and a generous amount of chimichurri sauce made from parsley, cloves of garlic, dried chillies, thyme and oregano. The Spanish term “asado” means “barbecue” and refers to cooking on the grill. The traditional Argentine asado involves large portions of meat with long cooking times.

The main and very ancient dish in neighbouring Chile is Curanto, which has shellfish, chicken, and pork. It dates back to around 6,000 years ago and is cooked in one-metre-deep pits, the bottom of which is covered with stones on which the fire is lit; when they are red hot, the ingredients are placed on top, and finally, everything is covered with aromatic nalca or pangue leaves and cooked for over two hours.

In Brazil, the national dish is Feijoada, made with rice, black beans, pork and beef. The recipe dates back to the historical period of colonisation and seems to have been the food of the slaves working on the plantations, who made bean soup with the leftover pork they received from their masters. In Brazilian cuisine today, “fagiolata” is served in earthenware terrines with white rice and bacon.

Moving on to Venezuela, one of the most representative dishes is Pabellon criollo – or ‘Creole meat’, based on boiled meat, shredded and sautéed with vegetables, boiled rice, black beans and fried plantains. Arepas, the Venezuelan bread par excellence, accompany Pabellon.

In Colombia, Bandeja paisa is one of the national dishes. It is made with minced meat, sausage, pork chop, beans, rice, eggs, fried plantains, and salad. It is traditionally served in oval bowls called nerejas, with raised rims to collect all the ingredients.

Central and North American dishes

In Costa Rica, Casado is made with boiled rice, red or black beans seasoned with onion, garlic, celery, pepper and coriander, meat – which can be beef, pork, chicken – or fish, and steamed raw or cooked vegetables.

In the Dominican Republic, Sancocho stands out, a soup made with meat – chicken, hen, pork, fish, cow, chop, horse, liver, tripe, goat, turkey, duck – corn, carrots, green bananas, ripe bananas, sweet potatoes, cassava, potatoes, pumpkin, arracacha, spices, legumes and vegetables.

In the United States, the stuffed turkey is very popular, stuffed with a mixture of bread, onion and sage, but also with chestnuts and sausages with some seasoned salt, accompanied by spring onions with cream, Brussels sprouts or potatoes, with a special sauce prepared with the cooking juices of the roast.

In Canada, a traditional dish is Gaspesie tourtiere, a kind of meat pie made with three types of meat: beef, veal and pork, cooked for at least six hours with onions, pepper, cloves, cinnamon and thyme and then baked in a pan with shortcrust pastry.

Delicacies from the Black Continent

In Morocco, you can enjoy Tid, a dish based on pancakes, chicken and a lentil sauce enriched with various spices.

In Nigeria, the national dish is Jollof rice, made with a base of rice, tomato and broth, cooked with peppers, curry, thyme and bay leaves and served with chicken and fried plantains.

In South Africa, Bobotie stands out, a cake made from minced meat spiced with curry and covered in egg, while old recipes include the addition of ginger, marjoram and lemon.

Flavours from the East and Oceania

Kung pao chicken is one of the most famous dishes in China. It consists of diced chicken, marinated and stir-fried with chilli, cucumber and peanuts.

In India, Tandoori chicken is marinated in a yoghurt and spice sauce called tandoori masala, with coriander, cumin, garlic, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, ginger, cloves and bay leaves, and then cooked in special clay ovens called tandoors, hence the name.

In Indonesia, Nasi goreng is boiled rice pan-fried with vegetables, meat, fish and eggs.

The national dish in Mongolia is Mongolian Marmitta, a soup made with mutton broth, potatoes, legumes and steppe herbs.

In Lebanon, Kibbeh, lamb croquettes with onions and spices, stands out.

In Iran, the national dish is Celo kebab, made with steamed rice, saffron, lean meat, egg, and sumac, a Persian wild berry.

In Australia, meatloaf is one of the most famous dishes, and its main ingredient is minced meat, which is added to a base of flour, butter and salt.

The list of countries and meat-based recipes worldwide would be too long to go into here, so we will limit ourselves to a few examples. What is certain is that meat has always been important worldwide, and its value (including its cultural value) is immense. While some would like to eliminate it, perhaps replace it with unlikely artificial products, one fact remains: wherever you go, you will find succulent meat-based dishes.