10 maps reveal what in the world people are eating and drinking

If you are hungry or thirsty, you may want to grab a meal and a drink before reading, otherwise these maps may make your stomach growl and your mouth water.

1. Global alcohol preferences: While it might be easy to guess the favorite alcohols of many countries around the world, guessing how much of it is being consumed might be a little more tricky. Prepare to be surprised as you scroll through this interactive map issued by the World Health Organization.
   
   Image credit: Ghostinthedata.com

2. Every country’s most popular beer: Vinepair aims to take the “pretension of wine” speaking to the masses to help understand the nuances. It does the same for beer digging into brewing history, techniques, how to drink, types of beer and pairings. Here the site illustrates the most popular beer anywhere.
   Image credit: Vinepair

3. 40 maps that explain food in America: This series of maps ranges from troubling, to depressing even a little bit repugnant before it gets to the superficial. The state of agriculture, economics of farming and feeding, policy and health come under the former categories, and fast food, bars and Starbuck’s orders under the latter.

Image credit: Vox

4. Coffee and tea around the world: Speaking of coffee, does it dominate world palates or is the preference for the more genteel beverage of tea? Pew Research Center pulled from several sources to answer this question. Since it takes more coffee to make one cup, it makes sense that more is produced globally than tea, but that does not account for taste. Tea wins.
   
   Image credit: The Economist

5. Food capitals of Instagram: There are 400 million active Instagram users, so if you want to know what food is popular, this booming platform is a great gauge as seen through an interactive map — 18 food hashtags against the world. In some cases a native food is more popular outside of the country it calls home. #Jerkchicken rules in Queens, NY over Kingston, Jamaica. Other foods barely resonate outside borders — Germany reigns in #currywurst. Image credit: Instagram

6. World map of desserts: If you are looking for a map of the world’s deserts, please use com, but if your keyboard autocorrected the search and you want something sugary, this infographic goes on a sweet journey.

Image credit: Infographicsmania.com

7. London’s food taste: When you think of haute cuisine London may or may not come to mind, but turns out it’s the city with the second most Michelin star rated restaurants. It’s a quite a diverse city, which according to YouGovUK, means there are equally diverse pockets of food specialties. There are a couple sections where British food doesn’t even make it to the top 3. Image credit: YouGovUK

8. The Weirdest Eating Patterns of Each U.S. State: There is probably a lot of weird eating going on in the US and while Design doesn’t break it down like Andrew Zimmerman does, there are some distinctive foods make it to the top of the ingredient list in menus across the country. Green chile in New Mexico makes perfect sense but ranch dressing in seven states – that is totally odd. Image credit: Fast Company.

9. Umami culture around the world Unami is used in many foods around the world. According to the Umami Information Center: “Taking its name from Japanese, umami is a pleasant savoury taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products.” The map below shows what this means in on your plate.

Image credit: Unami Information Center

10. Global recipes: Make sure to use your HERE mobile apps when you go out into the world, but when you stay home, Global Table Adventure brings the world to you through food. You can search through 650 recipes from 195 countries.
    

Image credit: Global Table Adventure