THE TASTE TEST

Food is the secret sauce, a special ingredient that offers great insight into culture. Let's explore the world through various cuisines.

- KEITH BAIN

There's no better way to connect with a place's food culture than on its streets. Whether that means pavement kiosks or impromptu stands, street carts with queues around the block (a long wait is inevitably a sign of freshness - and, presumably, deliciousness, too) or trailers that serve just one item until they run out of ingredients and then pack up and disappear, street food outlets are where you discover the culinary heart of the people. They offer an understanding of what ordinary folk eat and provide those rare opportunities to break bread with strangers.

WHEN IN BANGKOK

You can barely turn around in Bangkok without stumbling across another food stall, stand or place to pick up something delicious, the name of which you might not be able to get your lips around, but the taste of which you won't soon forget. Head for places like Wang Lang Market, cruise the stalls that line the streets of Chinatown, and do try the fare on Khao San Road, where vendors sell everything from pad thai (stir-fried rice noodles with added goodness, designated Thailand's national dish in the 1930s) to coconut pancakes.