Belize

With influences from the multitude of nations behind Belize’s unique culture - it is the only country in Central America with English as its first language - the local cuisine is often eclectic but utterly delicious. One staple found throughout Belize are tamales, a corn dough is stuffed with any number of fillings before being steamed inside a corn husk. This tasty snack has been served in Central America for thousands of years, with its origins rooted in Mayan culture. The Belizean coastline ensures that an array of marvellous seafood is on offer in most regions, typically served with local rice and beans. One of the most popular dishes in Belize is the succulent slow cooked cochinita pibil (or pibil pork), which is wrapped in plantain leaves and cooked in the ground for hours to ensure the meat is extra tender.

Something different: Conch fritters. Conch meat and cornmeal are mixed with bell peppers and a traditional blend of spices before being fried to create these mouthfuls of deliciousness.

Costa Rica

One thing you are sure to encounter in Costa Rica is gallo pinto, or a flavourful mix of rice and beans. This side dish is renowned throughout the country and can be eaten with breakfast, lunch or dinner. Fresh fruit and vegetables are another key element in the Costa Rican diet and are incorporated in such dishes as the hearty beef based stew olla de carne. Staple fruits include passionfruit, starfruit and guava.

Chifrijo is a popular snack served in bars and restaurants, a fusion of beans and crispy pork crackling typically accompanied with diced tomatoes and creamy avocado slices - the perfect partner for a cold beer. Seafood is also widely available along Costa Rica’s coastlines. A more traditionally prepared seafood dish comes in the form of rondon, a coconut based chowder-like soup originating in the Caribbean.

Something different: Granadilla. Common throughout most of Central America and South America, this tropical fruit combines the distinctive texture of passionfruit with sweet flavours akin to those of a lychee.

Cuba

No trip to Cuba is complete without sampling its internationally renowned spirit - rum. Believed by some to be particularly flavoursome due to the soil in which Cuban sugarcane grows, local rums come in many variants and are utilised in countless cocktails across the island. The cocktail making class on our Cuba in a week tour gives you the chance to learn how to make some of these classics in your own home. For those who are particularly interested in the spirit (beyond a desire to drink it in copious quantities) the Havana Rum Museum in Havana is a must-visit.

Alcoholic beverages aside, Cuban cuisine is full of a number of tasty, largely undiscovered specialties. Meat lovers should try the shredded beef and vegetable stew ropa vieja and boliche, where chorizo sausage is wrapped in a beef rump before being roasted until perfectly tender. For those in search of tasty meat-free options, black bean soup is a Cuban classic that combines black beans with different local ingredients, culminating in the form of a hearty soup typically served with fresh avocado and crispy tortillas. Being a relatively small island, Cuba is also home to an assortment of dishes incorporating tender cuts of fish.

Something different: Deviled crabs. Originally the creation of Florida’s Cuban population before emigrating to the home of its creators, deviled crabs are deep fried croquettes filled with succulent crab meat and served with a hot dipping sauce.

Guatemala

Believed to be the home of the planet’s first chocolate makers, many Guatemalans still use traditional Mayan methods when creating the popular snack today. The small volcano flanked city of Antigua offers chocoholics the chance to indulge in all manner of cocoa-based treats, with some of the city’s cobbled streets carrying the sweet scent of chocolate as it is crafted by local experts nearby. In terms of savoury plates, Guatemala has its fair share of flavoursome food. As well as all the classics found throughout Central America, such as rice and beans and tamales, Guatemalan staples include kak’ik, a spicy turkey soup common in Antigua, and pepian, a thick nut-based stew typically served with chicken. The stuffed cornmeal flatbread pupusa is also common, having been adopted from Guatemala’s neighbour El Salvador. These are traditionally stuffed with cheese, refried beans, squash or a combination of the three.

Coffee is widely available throughout the country thanks to the abundance of coffee plantations. One of the planet’s top exporters of coffee beans, Guatemalan coffee is full bodied and known to pick up hints of chocolatey cocoa flavour from the surrounding local cocoa production. You can take a tour of a coffee farm on our Guatemala Encompassed tour.

Something different: Tapado. A seafood stew containing any combination of shellfish and fresh fish as well as plantain. It is gradually stewed in a coconut broth that is expertly spiced to compliment its assorted ingredients.

Honduras

Honduran cuisine is far from world-renowned but if you know where to look then there are plenty of finger-licking local specialities to be found. The simply named plato tipico is one of the more commonly found Honduran dishes, consisting of beef served with an array of carbs on a banana leaf, whilst anafre is one of the country’s more popular sharing dishes. Named after the pot in which it is cooked, anafre is a fondue-like dish made from refried beans and local cheese, served with tortillas for dipping. A Honduran take on the taco comes in the form of a baleada, where a soft, thick tortilla is filled with mashed beans, cheese and avocado before serving.

Amongst the six largest coffee bean exporters in the world, you are sure to have no trouble finding yourself a brilliant morning cup of coffee to go with your typical breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese, beans and tortillas. Coffee in Honduras is always freshly brewed and typically served black with sugar.

Something different: Horchata. A sweet, creamy drink comprised of milk, cinnamon, nuts/seeds and ground rice. It is served over ice and is a perfect refreshment during a hot day.

Mexico

It’s no secret that food in Mexico is bursting with flavour, regardless of the region in which you find yourself. The streets of Mexico City are teeming with all manner of food vendors and the scent of delectably spiced barbecued goods seems to follow you wherever you walk. The base ingredients for most Mexican street food consists of tortillas, meat, beans and cheese. The best place to start - tacos. Readily available throughout the entire country, these soft shelled handfuls of deliciousness are dripping with flavour and provide an ideal on-the-go snack. Tacos al pastor - a combination of spiced pork, sweet pineapple and fiery salsa - are the most commonly found, but fillings can vary from chicken to cactus to cow’s tongue! Enchiladas see the filling of choice wrapped, fried and doused in a fiery hot sauce with cheese whilst tostadas have a crispy tortilla for a base with the filling of choice piled on top.

Whilst tequila is certainly Mexico’s most widely recognised form of alcohol, we recommend that fans of the agave-based liquor give mezcal a try. Preferred by locals, the only real difference between the two is that the latter is not made in the Tequila region of Mexico. Once you’ve filled up on street food and have a few mezcals inside you, why not search for a local churro stand? Churros are donut-like sticks of dough that are fried right in front of you, coated in sugar and served with a chocolate or caramel dipping sauce.

Something different: Mole is the name of a sauce originating in Oaxaca that is dribbled over the top of a meat dish, typically chicken. It comes in various colours, each denoting a different flavour, but for something truly different we recommend the rich mole negro, which is made using chocolate.

Panama

Panama’s border with Colombia acts as a bridge between continents, and the influence of South America can be seen in Panamanian cuisine. One of the more notable examples of this is ceviche, which is believed to have first been made in colonial-era Peru. Ceviche is a unique dish consisting of tender raw fish meat expertly marinated in citrus juices and topped with finely diced tomato, onion and coriander. A local favourite for breakfast is the stuffed yuca dish carimanola, which can be filled with deliciously seasoned ground meat or cheese. Other deep fried goods include Panamanian tortillas, which are thicker than those from neighbouring nations with a crisp outer shell, and almojabanos, a corn dough alternative to a classic french fry. In terms of traditional beverages, Panama is home to the velvety ron ponche cocktail, made using rum, evaporated milk and egg yolks.

Something different: Sao This opinion-splitting dish is well and truly Panamanian. Originally created as the peasants’ alternative to ceviche, sao replaces fresh fish with sliced pork from a pig’s trotter. If you can get over the idea of what you’re eating it can be a delicious delicacy.