A chef who works wonders with both words and food believes that cooking and eating local cuisine while traveling the world is a wonderful practice. Alison Roman, a celebrity cook, gives this travel tip to anyone who is considering traveling around the world. She says there are many opportunities for gaining a sense of other peoples’ cultures through food.
When checking into an Airbnb or a hotel, the first thing she tries to find out is if there is a kitchen. If that is the case, she would check out the kitchen and consider cooking there. If not, then the cooking trip becomes an eating trip. When a kitchen is present, the vacation can be used for both cooking and eating.
Head to the Local Market
She also gives another travel tip for people who are considering cooking while abroad – check the local market for local food. At a farmers market or a food store, one can find the food local people buy and use in their recipes.
Opt for Foreign Produce
When she is traveling internationally, Alison always tries to cook with ingredients that are not very familiar to her and can only be found in the country in question. The majority of locals do their everyday shopping at large, open-air markets, which is not as widespread in the US. The ingredients and cultures often vary, but the idea is to use fresh produce, meat, and fish that can all be found in one place.
Get Advice from the Locals
Alison’s favorite thing is to ask the people working at the market for ideas and recipes. Even though she may know how to cook a certain type of produce, the locals are sure to have a unique approach. Nine times out of ten, one can learn something new and really interesting. Alison believes that people inherently want to feed others, teach them their ways of cooking, and talk about their food, thus sharing their culture. Benefiting from this is really a good travel tip.