Foodie Travel Tips- Travel Mania

As I’m in the midst of my own wanderlust adventure, I’ve been having fun exploring foodie travel and I can’t wait to share some of my fun discoveries soon.

I recently learned about this new book called “Travel Mania – Stories of Wanderlust” by a lifelong traveler, Karen Gershowitz. I can’t wait to read the book after our trip, but thought it would be fun to encourage a fellow traveler and introduce you to her writing through some foodie travel tips that she was willing to share with you as my readers.

Do you enjoy foodie travel or do you pretty much stick with your familiar favorites when you’re on the road? My husband, Terry is probably more adventurous in some areas of food than I am, but I do love to find out what the local favorites are and try at least a few of them.

A Foodie Travel Adventure

When we were in the Mount Hood area of Oregon we stopped in at a new Mexican restaurant called “Chicali Cantina” and tried a flight of six different salsas with chips. The sauces ranged from a hot smokey red sauce to a mild avocado and cilantro salsa. Some were chunky, like the pico de gallo, and others were blended smooth. That’s just one example of what foodie travel can look like without being too crazy.

More on our personal foodie travel escapades in my upcoming posts about our road trip. For now, please enjoy these tips and check out Karen’s book if you’re looking for more wanderlust travel inspiration.

Cactus Fries in Sedona

Karen Gershowitz – Guest Post Author

My nephew looked askance as I ordered the cactus fries with avocado dipping sauce at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Sedona, Arizona. “Honest, they’re great.  You’ll love them.”  

He didn’t believe me.  “They’ll have prickly things on them.  Ugh.  And they’ll be green.  No one eats that stuff.” 

I agreed that where he lives in New York, people don’t eat cactus.  “Not to worry, I’ll eat them.  You can stick with your burger.”  The truth was, I’d never eaten a cactus fry, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.  

When the fries were served, he examined one carefully for any sign of prickles, then reluctantly bit into it. He proceeded to demolish the entire portion and asked if we could order more.

To me, this was an important lesson about being a traveler—you are often faced with unfamiliar, unappetizing sounding or even strange looking or smelly foods. Below are my tips for being an adventurous eater when you travel:

7 Tips for Foodie Travel – How to Eat Adventurously

Traveling the world, I’ve learned to become an intrepid eater—not always happily and not always by choice.  But I try never to judge.  Even though I don’t always open my mouth, keeping an open mind has become my definition of a well-seasoned traveler.

1. If you want to learn about a culture, put away your preconceptions. Be willing to taste dishes you’ve never eaten before or ingredients prepared in a new way. Don’t be afraid of unusual spices or seasonings. You may be pleasantly surprised.
2. If you want to eat adventurously, stay away from chain restaurants of any sort. While you can count on consistency at them, they are the antithesis of discovery. Look for places owned by locals. Once in the restaurant, ask diners seated around you what their favorite dishes are. Their willingness to advise and explain may surprise you.

Give it a Try

3. Sometimes you may be faced with sampling foods you can’t even begin to identify. On my first trip to Hong Kong, the waiter handed me a menu with items that defied my best imagining of what they might be. What is meat floss with cinnamon blossom? Or deep-fried frog with OK sauce? The server was unable to clearly explain what these foods were. Unable to decide, I asked the waiter for his recommendations, saying that I wanted what is most popular with his customers.

4. If I’m not familiar with the cuisine, I order several appetizers rather than a single main dish. That means I get to try a selection of different foods. If I don’t like one, I just don’t finish it. More often than not, I happily eat it all. Because I’ve been willing to taste unfamiliar cuisines, I’ve come to love lassi (an Indian yogurt beverage), watermelon juice (Bali), bubble tea (Japan) and pear cider (Finland) and often drink them in New York. When I’ve tried a fabulous wine or beer, I take a photo of the label. With a bit of searching, I’ve found some of them at local specialty markets or online. When I take a sip, I am transported back to where I first drank it.

5. Even if you don’t choose to eat the more exotic foods in a country, perusing menus is always a fascinating part of travel. If you can’t read the language, try with the help of a translation app to figure out what the items are. While this strategy has usually been successful, sometimes what arrived wasn’t what I thought I’d ordered. On occasion, unable to read the menu, I’ve pointed at what someone else was eating and hoped for the best. Sometimes a kind server or owner has led me into the kitchen and let me choose from what was cooking. I can report mixed results, including some fabulous meals that I’ll probably never have again, largely because I have no idea what I ate.

Invest in Local Food Experiences

6. For an exotic and consistently wonderful food experience, buy spices when you are traveling in the country where they are grown. Go to the local spice markets, which are a feast for all your senses. The smells alone will make you swoon. The spices will be fresh and cost less than at home. For example, the best cinnamon is in Vietnam, paprika in Hungary, saffron in Morocco, and chocolate in Mexico.

7. It’s also a great idea to take a cooking class, especially if you are traveling internationally. Many will take you on a tour of local markets and explain unfamiliar ingredients. You’ll then prepare new foods, will enjoy a splendid meal, and go home with recipes.

Are you a foodie traveler?

How many of those tips do you adhere to when you’re traveling? I’m proud to say that we’ve been quite successful in avoiding chain restaurants on our cross-country road trip. This is a biggie for me. It includes our morning coffee as well if we’re on the road. I try to find local coffee spots instead of Starbucks if at all possible. Shop local whenever possible is my motto.

I’ll add that I love to buy local favorites of non-perishable items like jams, dressings, sauces, etc. if I can fit them in my luggage to bring home. It’s always fun to evoke memories of a recent trip over a delicious condiment or mix that we found along the way. How about you? What can you add to these tips?

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