Pho, Vietnam

 

This oft-mispronounced national dish ("fuh" is correct) is just broth, fresh rice noodles, a few herbs and usually chicken or beef. But it's greater than the sum of its parts -- fragrant, tasty and balanced, the polar opposite of the moto rider who brought you to the little café where you find the best stuff.

Montreal-style smoked meat, Canada

 

Day and night, lines form outside of Schwartz's, Montreal's best Hebrew delicatessen and Canada's oldest. Here clerks slice up the best smoked meat in North America.

Following a 1928 recipe, the meat is cured for 10 days. Order your smoked beef sandwich medium-lean, heavy on the mustard, three pickles and with extra pommes frites, the way the Rolling Stones have supposedly enjoyed it.