Get your healthy appetite ready for a treat as we take your taste buds to a global tour of flavors with these food itineraries. Gather your cash, passports, and credit cards because we’re about to take you there!
1. Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a mountain town in North Carolina with more than 25 breweries to make your ale hunting overwhelming. The combination of mountain mineral-rich water with cool-kids diving into the newest artisanal suds and ta-da, you now have Asheville – craft beer mecca! Beer enthusiasts may take guides on walking tours of the small-batch brewers in the South Slope downtown area. So do come thirsty as you’ll try 7 to 10 beers, from IPAs to barrel-aged sour beers.
2. Japan
Any chef would choose Tokyo to be their favorite food city. Japan credits this to a private food-centric odyssey that includes sake tastings in the old town of Takayama, picking tea leaves in Kyoto Prefecture, and a ramen prep crash course in Osaka.
3. Cuba
Cuba is also making its way with new culinary paths, opening the celebration of its traditional foods to the broader world. A privately-owned restaurant in the island models the Cuban-Mediterranean fare at Atelier in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood serves plates such as the seafood-papaya lasagna at the paladar La Guarida. Work up an appetite for an epicurean feast by learning the Cuban salsa moves from a local pro as well as how to make the perfect daiquiri with a bartender from the famed El Floridita. This is definitely worth the travel investment as the world watches it bloom “culinarily.”
4. Switzerland
Your Switzerland food experience should involve a journey from Lucerne, an 800-year-old lakeside town, to the ski resort of Zermatt to get the feel of Alpine culture and cuisine, including a visit to Maison Cailler, home of Switzerland’s oldest milk chocolate brand. And since you’re already at it, a tour of the walled medieval cheese village of Gruyères is a must. Enjoy also, a raclette tasting at the 16th-century Château de Villa, east of Geneva in the canton of Valais. This is one of those indulgent trips to look forward to.
5. Oaxaca, Mexico
Oaxaca features the flavorful heritage of the famous, Chef Susana Trilling, who shows it off by guiding cultural tours and leading classes in everything from making queso to mastering mole sauces in this place. Her seven-day “Dia de Muertos” course combines culinary lessons with field trips to learn about Day of the Dead customs. There’s really more in this place than it is given credit for. Definitely worth the culinary visit!
6. Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula is the land of king salmon, Kachemak Bay oysters, and a spread of a variety of wild edibles, from berries to mushrooms to seaweed. The land’s produce loans to the culinary industry some of its notable dishes as a good dish always has something to do with your catch and pick. Your Alaskan stay should include a tour of the bivalve farm as well as a forage in a forest of Sitka spruce trees. This is where you learn how to cook the known local dishes such as the salmon bacon in rhubarb lacquer with chef Kirsten Dixon of Tutka Bay Lodge, which was awarded by National Geographic as Unique Lodge of the World. Let it be your “Tutka Bay Lodge Culinary Retreat!”
7. India
India could mostly be known for its spectacular sites such as the Taj Mahal but your visit can be mixed with flavor-packed dishes to try on this “real food adventure.” It’s time that we set on that Indian flooring and sample on the parathas (flatbreads), chaatsnacks, and Goan fish curry. While in Udaipur, learning the best way of preparing a traditional meal and visiting a spice farm in Goa would also be quite a culinary catch!
Based on Materials from National Geographic
Photo Sources: Shade Streetfood+ Bar, Travel Earth, Sydney Community College