Travel Food Origins

Where my favorite foods are from!

Papaya Salad

While papaya salad is a signature dish in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, it’s the Thai version that is the most famous. However, food historians believe that this dish originated in Laos. This is because papaya salad is especially popular in Thailand’s northeastern region of Isaan, which shares a border with Laos. What’s more, papaya and chili have been key ingredients in Laotian cuisine since the 1800s. Although the Thai green papaya salad we all know and love is a little different from the papaya salad, they serve in Laos, which often includes green eggplant and fermented fish paste.

Spicy Miso Ramen

Miso is fermented soy beans. Our story begins with miso soup, a Japanese staple. At a restaurant called Aji no Sanpei, it's rumored that a drunk customer requested noodles to be placed in their miso soup.This may be how miso ramen got its start. This happened in 1953 in snowy Sapporo, Hokkaido. The restaurant, Aji no Sanpei, is credited with creating miso ramen. They still serve it today too! Before this, most bowls in the city were shoyu (soy sauce) based. But today Sapporo City is Japan's biggest bastion of miso ramen restaurants.

Massaman Curry

Massaman curry has a very interesting history to it. Also known as Matasaman curry, it is believed that this dish was introduced to Thailand by Persian merchants and soon became an integral part of the Thai Muslim cuisine. Infact, historical writers believe that the name Massaman could also have been originated from the word ‘Mussulman’ which is another word for Muslim. But there are many others who believe that it is more of a Southern Thai dish with influences of Malay and Indian cooking since the curry relies heavily on the use of spices and coconut.

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