����tv

Whether it’s a gargantuan bucket of popcorn or the classic hot-dog, some foods just go with watching a great film.

But in other countries you might enjoy some refreshing fermented bread, or maybe some dried sardines.

Here are six more exotic snacks you can enjoy in cinemas around the world.

Kvass (Lithuania)

Bucket-sized servings of fizzy pop might be the go-to thirst-quencher in British cinemas, but in Lithuania it’s Kvass that’s going to send you running for the loo - inevitably at the most exciting part of the movie.

Often served on draught from stalls outside the cinema or in bottles inside, Kvass is traditionally made by soaking cubes of rye-bread in water before adding yeast and sugar and allowing it to ferment, though these days it’s also mass produced using different methods.

It’s usually non-alcoholic, has a cloudy brown appearance and tastes slightly sweet and sour.

Buttered squid (South Korea)

Sure, you can get popcorn and hot dogs in South Korean cinemas, but are you sure you wouldn’t prefer some nice, buttery squid?

Buttered squid is often served warm in a box or small grease-proof bag, with a sauce topping of your choice and sometimes with a side order of vegetables.

Salty liquorice (Netherlands)

Liquorice has always been a bit of a ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ food. But even liquorice lovers are divided over this snack.

Known as ‘zoute drop', Dutch salty liquorice comes in the form of black, shiny pastilles and it’s much more sour-tasting than the liquorice we’re used to in the UK.

But Dutch people have really got a taste for it. They consume more liquorice than any other country in the world - four pounds of it a year each, to be exact.

So it’s probably no surprise that it’s a really popular movie snack.

Roasted ants (Colombia)

If you visit a cinema in Colombia and hear crunching during the movie, it might not be popcorn. It could be the local speciality, roasted ants.

A species of leaf-cutter ant sometimes called ‘big-bottomed ants’ are a popular treat in the country’s cinemas.

They are harvested from their underground nests in the Santander region of the country, then roasted and salted.

They’ve been a delicacy for indigenous people for thousands of years, and are served in little plastic cups in many cinemas.

Dried sardine crackers (Japan)

Iwashi senbei are a kind of rice cracker (‘senbei’ means cracker and ‘iwashi’ are sardines in Japanese), and they’re one of the snacks you may come across in Japanese cinemas.

The dried fish are cooked whole in rice-flour, soy-sauce, sugar and spices then coated with sesame seeds making for a sweet and sour crunchy snack. A bit like salted and sweet popcorn… but a bit fishier.

Samosas (India)

Indian cinemas have one of the widest choices of foods available of any in the world. Alongside the usual popcorn and sweets you’ll find sandwiches, pizzas and rice bowls available in many Indian movie-houses.

But one of the most popular snacks are samosas. A survey of Indian cinema-goers revealed that they consumed nearly two million portions in 2022. You can see why: the fried pastry triangles are perfect for munching on in the dark.

This article was published in August 2023