Food is an enormous part of travel, and its one of the things I get most excited for when getting ready for a trip. In fact, I sometimes even pick destinations based on what I want to eat there....
Food is an enormous part of travel, and its one of the things I get most excited for when getting ready for a trip.
In fact, I sometimes even pick destinations based on what I want to eat there. I’m sure I am not the only one who does that! So for those of you who travel to eat, then these web and print resources will be right up your alley!
Print Resources for the Travel Loving Foodie
I am a sucker for both coffee table books and cook books. I need more coffee tables just for all my coffee table books. In the last few years, my favourite travel publishing company, Lonely Planet, has really branched into the reference/ coffee table book range. One of these ranges is of course, travel and food.
For those into reference books that inspire exploration, the RV Park has a range that touches of three of my favorite foodie topics; the coffee tour, the beer tour, and the global distillery tour. Of course there are also series on wine trails around the world, but the tour which appeals to me the most (and which I knew the least about) was the global distillery tour.
Lonely Planet’s Global Distillery Tour
I have been to many vineyards and also many craft beer breweries, but I have not been to many distilleries, nor do I know much about the process.
Did you know that whisky is made out of beer? I had no idea! Seriously, best trivia ever.
The Global Distillery Tour takes you on a world wide tour to some of the best distilleries to be found. It teaches you about the local spirits, how to drink them, and how to order them in the local language.
We are lucky enough to have one of the featured distilleries here in Sydney – the Manly Spirits Co. We went there for the launch of this book, and owner David Whittaker gave us the grand tour. Here they make gin, vodka, whisky, limoncello and a decadent coffee liqueur. Their gins are what make them famous, and they infuse their gins with elements from the local environment, such as seaweed. I never thought I would be a gin fan, but these guys have me converted.
But a special mention also has to go out to the limoncello and the coffee liqueur. The liqueur is made with sea water giving it a beautiful salted caramel flavour, and again, tying it to the local environment.
For experiences like this, all over the world, pick up a copy of Lonely Planet’s Global Distillery Tour.
Lonely Planet’s Food Lovers Guide to the World
Both a cookbook and a reference book, The Food Lovers Guide to the World is great for people who love to travel through their taste buds, or those who want to recreate the meals they have discovered while exploring.
The book is divided into three sections; countries, global eating, and regions. The countries section features all the culinary hard hitters you would expect; China, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Thailand and others. With in depth features on the history and origin of the countries best and most famous dishes, details of the best markets and restaurants, listing of the best food festivals, and of course, plenty of recipes to try at home.
The Global eating sections focus on some of our favourite world wide topics, such as; cheese, chocolate, the world’s best food markets, African cuisine, Jewish dishes and of course, coffee.
The regions section are set up similar to the countries section, and feature areas such as; The Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and The Middle East among others.
Not only will this book inspire you to visit these beautiful destinations through it’s features and beautiful photography, but it gives you the tools to bring these destinations to life at home in your kitchen.
Salt and Silver – Travel, Surf, Cook
This book is a beautiful blend of travel writing, destination guides (with a focus on art and surfing), and cookbook. Two young chefs, artists, and surfer dudes went on a trip of the lifetime in South America, and the product was this book. The book features the off beat stories of their adventures, guides to the best surf spots in South America (complete with everything you need to know, including GPS coordinates), and of course, lots of beautiful food features and recipes. I have made heaps of the recipes from this book, and am now working my way through their comprehensive and delicious ceviche section.
What is great about this book is that the authors understand that many typical South American ingredients are not easily accessible in a western supermarket, so they make substitution suggestions, making everything in here relatively easy to source the ingredients for.
Web Resources for the Travel Loving Foodie
The following section is full of our favourite blogs and foodie websites that feature a little bit of wanderlust flair.
Fun, Food, Travel
Tommo and Megsy are travelers, photographers, and food lovers who have traveled to 90 countries and counting to discover and eat the world’s best food. They don’t discriminate when it comes to deliciousness, and you will find features on street food as well as features on Michelin starred restaurants on their site, Fun, Food, Travel. The blog is incredibly well presented and easy to lose a bunch of time in. They also have a podcast worth checking out called The Dish.
2 Food Trippers
2FoodTrippers is another excellent travel and food blog which great country features. Daryl and Mindi are food lovers based in Portugal (a famous foodie location) who travel around the world writing great food feature blog posts, and comprehensive local food guides.
Migrationology
Mark’s food and travel blog, Migrationology, is one of the best one’s out there at the moment. Mark believes that the best way to learn about another culture, and connect with local people (and anyone for that matter) is via food. He blogs about his travel and foodie adventures, and also puts together comprehensive city guides to each place he visits. His guides cover more than just food (although food is a major component), he also covers what to do, where to stay, and why to visit.
Michelin Guide
Want something a little more gourmet? For a full and up to date listing of all the Michelin restaurants around the world, go to the source. Enter in the location which you plan to visit to see a listing of all the Michelin restaurants in that area, details of the restaurant, contact information, and price range information. It’s worth checking out as not all Michelin restaurants are crazy expensive either – we even managed to visit a Michelin starred street food vendor in Singapore!
