George Bernard Shaw said. Judging by the number of amazing dishes out there, he was right.

But which are the tastiest? Which are the best foods? And what are the destinations that serve them?

We’ve scoured the planet for what we think are 20 of the most delicious foods ever created. For now, feast your eyes and control your drooling, as we reveal some of the world’s best foods that can help inspire your travel plans:

Forget all your fancy, contrived lobster dishes deployed by showoff chefs eager for Michelin endorsement. When you have a best food as naturally delicious as these little fellas, keep it simple. The best way to enjoy lobster is simply to boil it and serve with a side of melted butter and slice of lemon.

16. Pastel de nata, Portugal

Pastel de natas are perhaps the world’s tastiest laundry byproduct. Legend has it that Portuguese nuns and monks, having used egg whites to starch their religious clothing, used the leftover yolks to make pastries, including these sinfully delicious custard tarts.

15. Pierogi, Poland

There are dumplings, and then there are Polish dumplings. Pierogi are parcels of deliciousness that can be filled with everything from potato to sauerkraut to meat to cheese and to fruit, and often topped with melted butter, sour cream or fried onions. They’re traditionally boiled, although fried pierogi are becoming more common.

14. Donuts, United States

These all-American fried wheels of dough need no introduction, but we will say one thing: the delicious guilt of snacking on these addictive calorie bombs makes them taste even better. If that’s possible.

13. Corn on the cob, global

God probably created corn just to have an excuse to invent melted butter. There’s something about biting down on a cob of corn — it’s a delicate enough operation to require concentration but primal enough to make you feel like the caveman you always wanted to be. Great food is caveman food.

12. Piri-piri chicken, Mozambique

The South African restaurant chain Nando’s has made Mozambican-Portuguese piri-piri chicken loved around the world. But for the original dish, head to Maputo, capital of Mozambique. Galinha à Zambeziana is a finger-lickin’ feast of chicken cooked with lime, pepper, garlic, coconut milk and piri piri sauce.

11. Rendang, Indonesia

Beef is slowly simmered with coconut milk and a mixture of lemongrass, galangal, garlic, turmeric, ginger and chilies, then left to stew for a few hours to create this dish of tender, flavorful bovine goodness. Tasting it fresh out of the kitchen will send your stomach into overdrive, but many people think it gets even better when left overnight.

10. Chicken muamba, Gabon

A bastardized Western version of this delectable Gabonese dish swamps everything in peanut butter. Oh, the insanity. The proper recipe calls for chicken, hot chili, garlic, tomato, pepper, salt, okra and palm butter, an artery-clogging African butter that will force you into a second helping and a promise to start using your gym membership.

9. Ice cream, global

You may have just gorged yourself to eruption point, but somehow there’s always room for a tooth-rotting pile of ice cream with nuts, marshmallows and chocolate sauce. Thank God for extra long spoons that allow you get at the real weight-gain stuff all mixed up and melted at the bottom of the glass.

8. Tom yum goong, Thailand

This best food Thai masterpiece teems with shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Usually loaded with coconut milk and cream, the hearty soup unifies a host of favorite Thai tastes: sour, salty, spicy and sweet. Best of all is the price: cheap.

7. Penang assam laksa, Malaysia

Poached, flaked mackerel, tamarind, chili, mint, lemongrass, onion, pineapple … one of Malaysia‘s most popular dishes is an addictive spicy-sour fish broth with noodles (especially great when fused with ginger), that’ll have your nose running before the spoon even hits your lips.

6. Hamburger, Germany

When something tastes so good that people spend $20 billion each year in a single restaurant chain devoted to it, you know it has to fit into this list. McDonald’s may not offer the best burgers, but that’s the point — it doesn’t have to. The bread-meat-salad combination is so good that entire countries have ravaged their eco-systems just to produce more cows.

The maltose-syrup glaze coating the skin is the secret. Slow roasted in an oven, the crispy, syrup-coated skin is so good that authentic eateries will serve more skin than meat, and bring it with pancakes, onions and hoisin or sweet bean sauce. Other than flying or floating, this is the only way you want your duck.

4. Sushi, Japan

When Japan wants to build something right, it builds it really right. Brand giants such as Toyota, Nintendo, Sony, Nikon and Yamaha may have been created by people fueled by nothing more complicated than raw fish and rice, but it’s how the fish and rice is put together that makes this a global first-date favorite. The Japanese don’t live practically forever for no reason — they want to keep eating this stuff.

3. Chocolate, Mexico

The Mayans drank it, Lasse Hallström made a film about it and the rest of us get over the guilt of eating too much of it by eating more of it. The story of the humble cacao bean is a bona fide out-of-the-jungle, into-civilization tale of culinary wonder. Without this creamy, bitter-sweet confection, Valentine’s Day would be all cards and flowers, Easter would turn back into another dull religious event.

2. Neapolitan pizza, Italy

Spare us the lumpy chain monstrosities and “everything-on-it” wheels of greed. The best pizza was and still is the simple Neapolitan, an invention now protected by its own trade association that insists on sea salt, high-grade wheat flour, the use of only three types of fresh tomatoes, hand-rolled dough and the strict use of a wood-fired oven, among other quality stipulations. With just a few ingredients — dough, tomatoes, olive oil, salt and basil (the marinara pizza does not even contain cheese) — the Neapolitans created a food that few make properly, but everyone enjoys thoroughly.

1. Massaman curry, Thailand

Emphatically the king of curries, and perhaps the king of all foods. Spicy, coconutty, sweet and savory. Even the packet sauce you buy from the supermarket can make the most delinquent of cooks look like a Michelin potential. Thankfully, someone invented rice, with which diners can mop up the last drizzles of curry sauce. “The Land of Smiles” isn’t just a marketing catch-line. It’s a result of being born in a land where the world’s most delicious food is sold on nearly every street corner.