FOOTBALL MATCHDAY SNACKS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!
SPOT THE BALL’S TASTY FOOTBALL TREATS!
When you go to a football match in the UK, you can be sure that pastry is going to play a big part in your pre-match or half-time treat! Yes, we love our lard in the UK – especially when it’s on top of a meat and tatie pie! But while we’re stuffing our faces with cholesterol, what are our footy-mad friends around the world eating? Play StB has done a bit of research and found out what the favourite snacks are elsewhere!
CROATIA:
Surprisingly, seeds and peanuts are the most popular treats if you’re hanging out watching Dinamo Zagreb or Hajduk Split. There’s not a meat and potatie pie in sight! We’re not sure what we expected from Croatia – possibly (cover your ears if you work in animal rescue) goat or donkey? But no, you get bloody bird food!!!
ESTONIA:
Hot soup and garlic bread are the snack of choice in Estonia! Jesus, it’s like going out to Bella Italia!! The last thing you want at a footy match is tomato soup down your scarf. Yer mam’ll go mad! Soup and garlic bread is so unnecessary at a football match that we're going even going to show you a photo of it!
FRANCE:
As you would expect in France, they do things slightly classier than us Brits. The most popular snack is a Galette-saucisse, which is a thin pancake wrapped around a well-seasoned pork sausage. Yeah, and they’ve probably got bidet’s at Paris Saint Germain!
THAILAND:
You can get a bag of grubs for 40p. Sorted! Or if the thought of bugs disgust you, then fear not – you can plump for scorpions, tarantulas (deep fried), frogs, grasshoppers (not a lot of meat on those!?) or giant water bugs. Don’t worry, they all taste OK with a bit of ketchup on ‘em! Oh, and don’t worry about the poor standard on football on the pitch – you’ll spend most of the game puking up in the bogs!
SAN MARINO:
No pork pies for the good folks of San Marino on a Saturday afternoon as they watch their favourite team – they tend to go for something called a ‘Paidina’ – which is a flatbread which contains things like cheese and ham. What? A cheese and ham sarnie at a football match? Do they think they’re in the local park or something? Football’s not a picnic – it’s a life or death struggle between two great greats (or Southampton and Leicester!)
SWEDEN:
You’d think that the Swedes would go for meatballs with cranberry sauce like in IKEA, wouldn’t you? Well, no – one of their favourites is a Mazarin cake filled with almond cream! What the?? Yep, the Swede’s have gone all middle-class and prefer an afternoon tea rather than lard as they cheer on Malmo! Another popular food is the hotdog, which they love with mash, shrimp and salad. Dear-oh-dear. This is like a really bad dream (or watching Everton).
BRAZIL:
Whilst watching Flamenco or Santos stroking the ball around, you won’t find the crowd stuffing their faces with a Cornish pasty or a ‘Greggs’ – they’re likely to be feasting on pinto beans with garlic, greens, onions bacon and eggs. Obviously it would be much better with some gravy thicker than Joey Essex and some pastry on top!
TURKEY:
Pop down to see Galatasaray and you’ll be able to get yourself a delicious koffe ekmek – which is a meatball sandwich! And if you fancy a kebab – don’t use the stadium toilets – they’re the ones you squat over!
JAPAN:
Octopus in batter is the matchday favourite in Japan. Let’s hope it’s dead, or it’ll kick all the batter off!
MEXICO:
With the great Mexican range of foods, you’d expect either tacos, fajitas or burritos wouldn’t you? Well, as football matches in Mexico, they love instant noodles. Yep, basically Pot Noodles with lime and chilli are matchday favourites! It’s also a favourite with the drugs cartel workers…ahem, well, so we’re told!
GERMANY:
It’s got to be a big sausage hasn’t it?? Yes, it has…BUT they love ‘currywurst’ which is a sausage cut up into bite-size chunks with curry ketchup! Like we care… the ball was definitely over the line!
BELGIUM:
You’d expert the Belgians to be a bit classy, like the French, wouldn’t you? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but they love chips with mayo! It’s a chavvie wonderland over there in Bruges!
Check out our blog on the best quotes from the legend, Brian Clough here!Written by Graham Hey