How to make your next trip a gastronomic affair
My style of travel is geared towards finding new experiences and gastronomic adventures. Unlike so much of modern travel, ticking off landmarks and finding Insta-friendly photo spots, you can have an upgraded experience by incorporating local food and drink.
The unexpected textures of tripe stew in Rome, the smell of grilled shellfish on the streets of Bangkok to the intoxicating aroma of charcoal-grilled satay in a KL street food stall. It’s these flavours that turn a holiday into something unforgettable. For your next big trip or a quick last-minute holiday, here’s how to add a little flavour to your trip.
Go beyond the standard restaurant menu
When travelling, dining at local restaurants is de rigueur but it might be more fun to graze around a night market, a Cuban paladares or a nonna’s kitchen. Skip the restaurants with tourist menus and find places that the locals love and an unfiltered taste of a place.
Picture yourself in Marrakech, learning to cook tagine in a family home, or wandering through a local vineyard in the Tuscan hills, sipping wine with the same locals who grew the grapes.
You’ll have an experience you can’t replicate back home, wherever you go. And you might even have a new skill to show off when you get back.
Discover the heritage in every dish
Every dish tells a story, and knowing that story can make the food taste better and the whole eating experience more meaningful. Greece’s fascinating culinary heritage reflects centuries of history, from Ottoman influences to ancient Mediterranean roots.
In Athens, you can walk through the bustling old town Plaka, taste a souvlaki from the oldest shop, taste Greek loukomades doughnuts from a heritage family shop and and learn about the origins of each olive or goat cheese you nibble on. The flavours are a direct link to centuries of tradition. You can experience this with a Greek Food Tour in Athens.
So next time you sit down for one of these meals, you’ll know there’s history packed into every bite.
Dive into local festivals for an authentic flavour hit
Food festivals show off local produce, traditions, culture, and even the stories people tell through what they cook. Time your trip with a festival for the best way to experience local customs, lifestyles and flavours of a destination.
Take Lyon’s famous Festival of Lights, it’s a celebration that mixes stunning lights with traditional French food. You can take a trip to Beaujolais for the Beaujonomie, a unique way to taste the rarer wines of the region (besides Beaujolais Nouveau) and have meals in iconic vineyards and venues across the region.
Or go to the Feria de Abril in Seville, where you can sample tapas you’ll find nowhere else, made with ingredients that are only available at certain times of year. These events immerse you in local life in a way that a museum never will.
Taste the seasons
Local fresh food is always the best, but the freshest food depends on the time of year. That’s why when you travel, it’s worth knowing more about local producers and seasonal specialities.
In Alba, Northern Italy, autumn means white truffle season, and you’ll find menus popping up showcasing this exquisite truffle that is a special flavour of the Italian Langhe region. Or try Germany in spring, when the first white asparagus appears and local chefs can’t resist showing it off.
Time your trip with these culinary seasons, and you’ll eat the best of local food in season, tapping into the very best that nature has to offer.
For epicurians, food is never just a side note when you travel. Sometimes, it’s worthy of being the main event. So on your next trip, do a bit of research, find the hottest new chefs, find out what’s in season and if there are food festivals. When you taste the traditions, uncover new flavours, you learn a lot more about the history and the contemporary lives of the people who live there.
