Culinary Tourism

[Anna N]

Culinary Tourism

Travelers seem to have a healthy appetite for culinary tourism, whether it involves making caldo verde or sipping Cabernet Sauvignon.

"It's definitely a growing market. I think it's becoming a very important market as a subset of cultural tourism," said Dr. Rich Harrill, director of the International Tourism Research Institute at the University of South Carolina.

Have you taken a culinary vacation? Care to share your experience?

[newsgal]

oh yeah - last year on a 10th anniversary trip to Italy, the only things hubby and I had scheduled before we left were appointments to visit three wineries in Umbria (I HIGHLY recommend anyone visiting the area to visit Paola Bea winery in Montefalco - we were there nearly three hours visiting with Giampiero, the winemaker, and tasting various wines as his mother brought us little plates of food to sample along with it) and a cooking class in Assisi. Also, just got back from a wine-week in Sonoma.

From a professional standpoint, I can definitely agree though that culinary tourism is HUGE right now. I work in tourism, and my destination (PA Dutch Country) has launched an entire culinary tourism theme, with behind-the-scenes tours, B&Bs doing cooking demos, foodie trails, etc. What we found in our research is that culinary tourism as a whole is one of the most popular travel trends out there!

[docsconz]

This is one of my favorite things to do. Here is a topic on my most recent culinary trip.

[tigerwoman]

when hubby and I first married (23 years ago yesterday - thank you) we embarked on a 6 month 30 state, 15K mile trip around the US based on Jane and Michael Sterns original road food book.

nearly all of our travels since have had some sort of food/culinary slant - we don't visit nearly as many musuems as we do markets - outdoor, indoor - even supermarkets - go to a supermarket in indonesia or turkey and see how everyday living differs from back home.

The last few years we have made a point to seek out some sort of cooking classes or food production tours once we are grounded. In Bali two or three summers ago we saw them producing palm sugar, harvesting sea salt, and took a cooking class in Ubud - which included a tour of the market.

Last year we spent a month in southern france with our niece and her husband, cooking the fabulous produce (both fresh and bottled) from their garden and the local weekly market. We even catered a dinner for 100 over the Easter weekend for the village using all local ingredients. A neigbor gave us all a lesson on how to make the local apple tart croustade - including hand stretching the filo like pastry.

Last summer in Oaxaca we stumbled into a rug weaving village - Tiotitlan - and found a woman who besides selling rugs was willing to have us stay with her and do some cooking lessons. That too included daily trips to the local market - where we were the only non villagers around (other than the vendors). In turn she asked us to show her how to make lasagne - as her husband had had it on one of his rug selling trips to San Miguel De Allende. We had to approximate some ingredients and couldn't find lasagne sheets (substituted ziti -- which we had to drive with them back to the big city to buy) but it was fun. Now we have several great recipes, lots of memories and 3 incredible rugs.

traveling on your stomach is the way to go...

[johnsmith45678]

Have you taken a culinary vacation?  Care to share your experience?

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Yeah, Napa Valley. Enjoyed it.

[Anna N]

This is one of my favorite things to do. Here is a topic on my most recent culinary trip.

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This was fascinating reading I recall. You really shared this in a way that made me very, very envious! Thanks.

[Anna N]

when hubby and I first married (23 years ago yesterday - thank you) we embarked on a 6 month 30 state, 15K mile  trip around the US based on Jane and Michael Sterns original road food book.

nearly all of our travels since have had some sort of food/culinary slant - we don't visit nearly as many musuems as we do markets - outdoor, indoor - even supermarkets - go to a supermarket in indonesia or turkey and see how everyday living differs from back home.

The last few years we have made a point to seek out some sort of cooking classes or food production tours once we are grounded.  In Bali two or three summers ago we saw them producing palm sugar, harvesting sea salt, and took a cooking class in Ubud - which included a tour of the market.

Last year we spent a month in southern france with our niece and her husband, cooking the fabulous produce (both fresh and bottled) from their garden and the local weekly market.  We even catered a dinner for 100 over the Easter weekend for the village using all local ingredients.  A neigbor gave us all a lesson on how to make the local apple tart croustade - including hand stretching the filo like pastry.

Last summer in Oaxaca we stumbled into a rug weaving village - Tiotitlan - and found a woman who besides selling rugs was willing to have us stay with her and do some cooking lessons.  That too included daily trips to the local market - where we were the only non villagers around (other than the vendors).  In turn she asked us to show her how to make lasagne - as her husband had had it on one of his rug selling trips to San Miguel De Allende.  We had to approximate some ingredients and couldn't find lasagne sheets (substituted ziti -- which we had to drive with them back to the big city to buy) but it was fun.  Now we have several great recipes, lots of memories and 3 incredible rugs.

traveling on your stomach is the way to go...

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Wow! That sounds like the way to travel.

[Bunny Man]

My wife and I don't get into simple "tourist" travel. To us the best parts are almost always the ones not in the travel guide. When I go to a new town I always as the locals where they love to eat and am rarely disappointed. I don't want some 3 star fancy-schmancy place, I want a tiny joint that's been there for 3 generations. I want local flavor. With luck the local behind the hotel desk will say something like "Oh ... well head out of town about 3 miles until you come to a red barn on your left. Take that road a ways and then you will get to "Ted's Rooster Roadhouse". Best brisket in 4 counties and he makes great beer too!" Score!

Yeah, wine country tours sound nice but I'd rather go on a week tour of, say, costal Mexico with Rick Bayless leading us from place to tasty place telling us about the local customs and why this tinga is so good and how they harvest the prawns that we are having for lunch. That to me is touring. Sign me up!

[markk]

Have you taken a culinary vacation?  Care to share your experience?

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Yes, it's just about the only type of vacation we take. We also take some vacations that revolve around a favorite resort hotel in Florida with a magnificent pool which we never leave, but we have been taking culinary vacations to Italy and France for the last 30 years. I'll spend most of the year researching restaurants and/or wineries that we want to visit, making reservations at the restaurants and arrangements at the wineries, and off we go.

We are simply not interested in tourist attractions, or "sights". Each day (if it's a big enough city or town) we start with a list of restaurants we want to check out first-hand, food shops, cooking and baking supply places, and wine stores that we want to visit, and in walking the city from place to place, if we see something interesting, we generally do stop for a minute or two to admire it, and then when we get back to the hotel, we look it up to see what it was (learned that that big thing in Paris we had really enjoyed seeing was the Eiffel Tower that way, don't you know).

So, a resounding "yes". Why else would you travel?

(Some of our recent culinary escapades in France are found in the website in my signature.)

[lala]

The question is, have I ever NOT taken a culinary vacation?

Food is such a part of my life that while I enjoy art, scenery, etc, I always prioritize that fantastic sandwich in the strip mall, the excellent cheese shop, the tiny 5,000 cases a year winery. And I've always driven my travel companions nuts by discussing the next meal while eating the current one! This had lead me to excellent smoke houses on the Oregon coast, true Mexican food in various wine areas (WA), Oysters fresh out of the bay (wa and ca), sampling grapes as they went into the Co-op in Durnstein Austria - then enjoying vast amounts of last year's vintage... that fabulous deli sandwich in Napa, many cheeses, meats, pastries, wine, etc. in Europe.

Ok, I admit it, I travel on my tummy and those trips to cathedrals and museums are just a way to kill time until the next meal!

[eje]

The question is, have I ever NOT taken a culinary vacation? 

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Exactly!

I don't sign up for culinary tours of Oaxaca; but, every vacation I take has a culinary element. Whether it's finding the really good pub food in London or struggling to find good, locally produced food between the Applebees and TGIFs in Phoenix, AZ. I don't travel without some sort of food agenda.

My wife gives me a hard time about it; but, I don't think I've ever come home from a vacation without some sort of unusual liquor, cookbook, or other food souvenir.

[Peter Green]

Culinary tourism?

Yes, I'd say that all of our vacations have some aspect of this, whether it's a trip somewhere new such as Russia, which involves long hours of looking through restaurant reviews, or if it's a purpose directed trip (such as the World Gourmet Fest in Bangkok or the World Gourmet Summet in Singapore) where it's nothing but food. (the WGF, Coup, and Eid write ups are under Elsewhere in Asia...I'll have to figure out the linkings here)

One option I do recommend to everyone, take advantage of your business trips. There is no reason that your companies shouldn't get the best quality out of the meals they're buying for you! (See OPM - Other People's Money) be it a trip to London, Houston, Calgary, or Beijing. Plus, you'll impress your hosts with your knowledge of their culture, and amaze your accountants with your disregard for their parsimony.