Food Paradise International is a television series narrated by Jesse Blaze Snider like its predecessor Food Paradise that features the best places to find various cuisines at food locations, but instead of America, all over the world. Each episode takes the viewer on a culinary quest to discover unique types of restaurants serving up their signature specialties. It's the most unusual foods the continents have to offer; dishes from Asia and Europe to Africa and Australia. New episodes currently air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on the Travel Channel.
Season 1 (2015)
Pork Paradise Restaurant Location Specialty(s) Lefty's Cape Town, South Africa Pulled Pork Sandwich (applewood-smoked locally sourced free range pulled pork shoulder dry-rubbed in salt, pepper, sugar, paprika, garlic and onion powder, basted with apple juice, sautéed in natural juices and topped with Asian leaf, red cabbage root house slaw, pickles and mayo on a toasted brioche bun, served with fries on a mini cutting board); Sticky Baby Back Pork Ribs (pork belly short ribs braised for 5 hours in a stock spiced with peppercorn, bay leaves, celery, onion powder and sugar, flame-grilled and basted with house-made molasses-based barbecue sauce) Mr. Crackle’s Sydney, Australia "Crackle's Classic" (pork belly braised for three-days in chicken stock, slow-roasted for 24-hours and crackled in high-heat oven, topped with house-made pickled carrots, cilantro and cabbage, drizzled with "Thai dressing" made from lime juice and palm sugar on a sourdough roll); "Crackle's Manwich" (half the veggies, twice the pork topped with creamy house-made whole-egg mayo sauce); Sweet Pork Bun (pork belly braised in Chinese marinade made with soy, cinnamon and five-spice powder, topped with cabbage, cilantro, scallions and whole-egg mayo sauce on a white soft bun); Cracklin’ (salted pork skin roasted on high heat to a crisp) Butalian Restaurant Yōga, Tokyo, Japan "Butadon" (twice-cooked Japanese pork bowl—locally sourced cuts of Berkshire pig pork loin, sliced bacon-thick and grilled on a traditional binchotan grill with taré sauce—a marinade of soy, seaweed and spices, sautéed in extra taré sauce and served on short-grained akitakomachi rice); Shabu-shabu (paper-thin sliced raw pork loin and fatty rib meat served on a plate with raw cabbage and Japanese Chrysanthemum leaves; diners’ cook their own food in a simmering pot of pork stock with shiitake mushrooms, seaweed and fresh garlic with a choice of two sauces; nutty sesame or citrus ponzu) I Porchettoni Rome, Italy Porchetta (Roman-style deboned whole 100-pound farm-raised roast pig from butcher shop in Ariccia stuffed with herbs—salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and thyme, rolled-up and slow-roasted for 4 hours and then oven-roasted on high-heat for crackling skin) L'avant Comptoir Paris, France "Swine Bar" (small plates of pork): Caramelized Pork Belly (cubes of pork belly sautéed and caramelized in their own fat with tart onions marinated in wine vinegar, shallots, parsley, fried garlic and a splash of vinegar served in a mini copper bowl); Ham Croquettes (fatty Iberian pork is added to a batter of flour, egg and pork broth and deep-fried); Ham and Waffles (candy-sweet air-dried Bayonne ham sliced-thin on two crispy mini waffles with puréed artichokes, garnished with lime zest) Essen Restaurant & Beer Café Ultimo, Sydney, Australia "Jurassic Pork" (1½ pounds pulled pork shoulder dry-rubbed with smoked paprika, oregano and secret spices, slow-roasted for 14 hours, filled in a hollowed-out specially shaped German loaf, along with homemade slaw made with red and white cabbage, mayo and chili and garnished with two strips of crispy bacon speared in the loaf's lid) "Jurassic Pork Challenge" (eat a 3½ pound Jurassic Pork with a side of thick-cut fries in 10 minutes!) El Asador de Aranda Restaurante Castille, Barcelona, Spain Cochinillo Asaso ("suckling pig" ordered on reservation; Sagovia—style swine fed only on milk, butterflied in a traditional clay pan and salted, roasted for 2½ hours in a 200-year-old adobe oven and sliced with a plate table-side and the plate is smashed on floor!); Jamón ibérico (extra fatty Iberian pig, salt-cured in Spanish mountain air and sliced paper-thin); Morcilla (sausage made from onions, rice, spices and pig's blood) Frizzante Café Restaurant Hackney City Farm, East End of London, England Full English breakfast (or "fry-up" made with Kent-raised pigs, grilled "bangers"—pork sausage made with salt, pepper, onions and sage, "class-A" Ginger Pig bacon, free-range fried eggs from Light Sussex Chickens, farmhouse white toast and oven-roasted tomatoes and mushrooms) La Glorieta de Quique La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina Across from La Bombonera Junior Soccer Stadium "Choripán" (spicy full pork sausage, cooked low and slow for 15 minutes on a charcoal grill, split in half and laid on a soft roll); "Bandiola" (prime pork shoulder cut like a sirloin, salted and marinated in rosemary, oregano, smashed fresh garlic and olive oil, grilled and place in a soft roll); "Matambre de Cardo" (grilled pork flank steak served "a la pizza" because it looks like a pizza slice and its topped with sliced tomatoes, melted mozzarella, olive oil and oregano)
Steak Paradise Restaurant Location Specialty(s) Casale della Mandria Rome, Italy Agriturismo ("bed and breakfast"): Bistecca Alla Fioentina (2.2-pound grilled Chianina cow beef steak smoked with oak and maple wood in an outdoor grill and garnished with coarse salt flakes served with coal-roasted whole artichoke drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil) Tokyo Butchers Tokyo, Japan Rib Roast (2-inch thick Australian-bred cow grilled rib roast, sprinkled with salt, pepper and a drizzled of olive oil char-grilled on a traditional mesh yaki-ami grill with native Japanese oak called "binchōtan"; burns at 1,800 degrees, then blow-torched to render the steak's fat, garnished with parsley and served over a bed of fries and a roasted tomato); Rump Roast Steak (Australian rump roast steak seasoned with salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil, served with creamed and buttered whipped potatoes spiked with American dill pickles, topped with thick-cut grilled bacon) The Pig and Butcher Pub & Eating London, England Sunday Roast (meat from local farms butchered on site, 32-day dry-aged prime sirloin char-grilled on a Japanese robata or "fire-side cooking" grill, ladled with 8-hour gravy made with beef stock, beef bones and a splash of ruby pork served with twice deep-fried in duck fat Maris Piper potato chunks, creamed leaks topped with panko bread crumbs and a duck fat Yorkshire pudding—English pop-over) Victor Churchill Sydney, Australia Butcher shop established 1876. All meats are dry-aging cool room for month in a showcase with Himalayan salt brick wall: Porterhouse (Tasmanian grass-fed porterhouse beef steak, seasoned with coarse salt and grilled on a high-heat grill pan to medium rare); Waygu Beef ("Scotch fillet" cut or "rib eye" cut grilled without any seasoning to medium) Restaurant Robert et Louise Marais Nord, Paris, France Côte de Boeuf (beef ribs seasoned with coarse sea salt on a 50-year-old grilled oven greased with a fatty cow kidney served family-style on a rustic wood cutting board with oven-roasted potatoes, simple salad dressed with tart vinaigrette and ground mustard on the side) Bombay Bicycle Club Cape Town, South Africa Chocolate Chili Steak (locally raised beef prime filet rolled in an herb, salt and pepper mix, sautéed in a pan, then placed in plastic wrap to seal in the juices, cut into medallions and grilled for a final sear and dipped in a mole-inspired chocolate sauce made with olive oil, caramelized onions, hot chili flakes, a sprig of rosemary, butter, beef stock and dark Belgian chocolate served on a bed of sautéed mushrooms and fresh arugula and topped with fried vermicelli noodles); Rib Eye Roast Beef (2-pound local rib eye slow-poached in white wine, with garlic, rosemary and creole spices topped with a sauce made from onions, porcini mushrooms, local chalmar beef bone marrow, ruby port, sugared cranberries and beef broth served on a bed of mushroom purée) Meatpacking Bistro Sant Gervasi-Galvany, Barcelona, Spain Angus Beef Tenderloin (half-pound grilled Angus beef tenderloin slathered with a herb-flavored compound butter made with 20 ingredients which include local marcona almonds, a variety of Spanish paprika, fresh and dried garlic, anchovies, orange and lemon peels, rosemary, shallots, bay leaf, basil, mushrooms, flour, port tarragon and ground mustard); Chili-Spiced Steak Tartare (raw beef tenderloin cut into small cubes, mixed with chilies, vinegar, salt, capers, pickles, black olives and onions, and topped with a quail egg) Parrilla La Brigada Buenos Aires, Argentina "Temple of Meat": Mixed Grill (grass-fed beef, seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled: bife de chorizo, bife de lomo, T-bone steak, skirt steak, asado especial—short rib roast, rib eye cap, tripe, kidneys and sweetbread, "criadilla" or beef testicles, all served on hot plates to keep the temperature up with a classic chimichurri sauce made with chopped parsley, olive oil, garlic, red wine vinegar, and paprika; meat is so tender its cut with a spoon)
Deep Fried Paradise