Sun, salt and sand: the best beach food from around the world

Picture a high-summer day at a far-flung beach: the faint putter of lapping waves, drifting plume of suncream scent, and the approaching call of a food hawker making their way across the molten sand. While cold drinks, fresh fruit and miraculously unmelted ice-creams feel universal, the street snacks and beachside dishes that we crave vary wildly across countries and cultures.

In Mumbai, Karan Gokani reaches for charred sweetcorn finished with lime and chilli; in Brazil, Ixta Belfrage prizes pamonha and crab-and-banana pastéis washed down with Guarana. Marcelo Rodrigues remembers Portugal’s egg-custard bolas de berlim, and Adriana Cavita longs for fresh coconut pulp scooped from split coconuts with lime, salt or chilli on Mexico’s Pacific shores.

From the Caribbean, Kareem Roberts points to Antiguan seasoned rice — a one-pot seafood rice that must include salted pork — often served roadside in foil or a styrofoam box.

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