Making the grand tour

[Jonathan Day]

Amanda, many thanks for your generosity in making time to join this Q&A.

You spent some years in Europe. Could you tell us a bit about what you did and how this expanded your culinary horizons?

In general, do you feel that people with a deep interest in food and wine need to spend time away from their home country in order to develop a rounded appreciation of food? Would someone coming from a cosmpolitan place like New York, Paris or London find everything they need to become "well dined" in their home territory? Is the "grand tour" an important development step for young people?

[Amanda]

i can't speak for everyone. i'm really glad i traveled and cooked rather than going to cooking school here. it helped prepare me for my job, and it was a great life experience. working abroad was challenging. i had to learn quickly and be resourceful, all qualities that i have to employ at work now.

as for how it expanded my culinary horizons, well, it's much easier to write about roman cooking when you've been to rome and tasted the food first hand. it helps you put things in context. and with something like a roman restaurant in new york, i can see what parts are genuine and what parts are americanized. it's also a good idea to be, as you say, "well dined" here, too.

for people starting out, i don't know if its necessary to do a grand tour, but it is certainly fun if you can do it. it depends on what kind of career you want to have. if you want to become a chef at an italian restaurant, you probably don't need to work in france. but if you want to open up an italian restaurant in new york, it would be a good idea to eat at lots of italian restaurants in the city and possibly work in italy.

if you want to become a food writer, i'd recommend eating out as much as possible and learning to cook. traveling to europe or asia is icing on the cake.