I’ve probably had raw everything at one point or another. But I was surprised to find a sliced raw beef dish alongside everything else here in a Korean buffet, and I thought it was for cooked bibimbap, but nope. I saw a couple guys grab scoops of it, dip it in sauce and eat it so I did too. And it was quite good!
Yea, I only found out myself last year that “third world” was just an archaic term for “not in a trade agreement”.
Poor food hygiene abroad is largely a misconception in my experience. It exists of course, but not more in Inida or Laos than it does in the US or Germany. India in particular, considering its abominable reputation, shocked me by how clean it was last year and how much care Indians pay toward hygiene; I came to the conclusion the “dirtiness” people talk about in India refers to literal dirt roads, so there’s dust in the air, and that some traditional food stalls/restaurants prepare food with their hands rather than actual poor hygiene/sanitation.
My friends and family would disagree re: India and South East Asian countries at least, even now.
It also depends on what street food you’re trying to pick up. But I’ve seen raw meat left out in the humid weather of south east Asia at some stalls and some places don’t have clean water. I’m not trying to spend my trips in bed lol.
It’s sadly also why my extended family don’t eat anything but well done steaks in US or sushi. They are traumatized and continue to be even decades later.
Food poisoning definitely sticks in the mind, it can be scary, and I completely agree that our perception of something is often more powerful than the thing itself. Raw meat often sits out in Asian markets, but once it begins to smell or look rancid, it goes. In the US, on the other hand, I can’t count the number of times I’ve opened an “unexpired” package of meat I had to return because it’s spoiled.
Water’s a big factor too: The Clean Water and Air Acts helped for a long time in a lot of the US. You can have street food in plenty of countries, no problem, but if you get unlucky with a glass of tap water, game over. Course, now that the US EPA can’t enforce either Act anymore and Congress is dismantling them, I don’t know what the US situation will be like by the end of Trump’s second term.