How Does Food Shape Your Travel Experience?

HOW DOES FOOD SHAPE TRAVEL?

 

There are a lot of things I love about travel but the my favorite is the food. Tell me a better way to get to know a place other than tasting the food the location is known for?  

 

Italy has excellent food.  But what region has the best?  I recently got into a debate over this very subject.  My pick was Florence.  My friend’s pick was Naples.  While both are excellent, I love Florentine food because of the ingenuity.  During the Siege of Florence in 1529-30, there were food shortages and common ingredients such as salt and wheat were scarce. As a result, Florentine food persevered with a take on more rustic creations.  With no wheat, there was no pasta.  No pasta? Don’t worry, we’re going to create gnudi which is essentially the filling of ravioli without the casing of pasta.  Low on salt?  Their breads tend to have less or no salt and the dishes served alongside have more robust flavors.  One of the best things I ate in Florence was pappa al pomodoro which is a thick and hearty soup made of stale bread, tomatoes, and aromatics. Food tells a story and I love a good story.

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Potatoes are to the Irish as hummus is to the Israelis – a cultural staple born from need and a steady supply of ingredients.  San Diego is rich with Mexican influence and the food, as a result, will yield some of the very best Mexican cuisine outside of Mexico.  Food is the calories that keep us moving. Local cuisine is the stamp a place puts on staples such as bread, meats, potatoes, and vegetables that make it unique.

 

Not only do I get excited about the food I experience while traveling, I like to come home to share the exercise by trying out recipes from those travels.  While in Rome, we had some of the best food of our lives.  What was the first recipe I tried when we returned?  Mini-bar cashews.  Why in the world would I be obsessed with some nuts I got in my hotel room? They were so good that I ate three jars while there and stowed another jar in my suitcase so I could dissect when I got home.  Roasted cashews with a touch of spice and a lot of rosemary have become something I gift at Christmas and a treat that triggers memories of travel to a city that I loved.  Not to say that I haven’t tried extensive recipes from the Eternal City.  This is just the one the evokes a memory of a tired traveler who thought she was eating something basic and was surprised by what she found.

 

I’m going to share some articles about food and a few recipes along the way that I’ve created as a tribute of those favorite places.  And even if I cannot replicate, I can share the restaurants and cities that inspired my favorite souvenirs – the food that makes a place special.