Food is a huge part of my travel experience – I love how it can offer such great insight into the culture of a destination. I’m definitely a bit of a food snob when I travel – you’d have to drag me kicking and screaming into a McDonalds, and I will often research the specialties of a place to make sure I can try as much as possible.
This month’s Travel Tuesday themed post is all about Food, so I’m sharing some of my most memorable meals from my travels.
5. Octopus and Other Delicacies in Lisbon
I’ve written at some length about my love for pasteis de nata, the Portuguese custard tarts that I could quite realistically eat at any hour of the day or night. While in Lisbon last year I also tried all sorts of seafood, as I generally love it, but don’t eat it much in London. However, there was one dish that almost defeated me – the whole octopus I ate in a trattoria near the centre of town. I ordered it thinking that it would likely be served as a salad, or maybe sliced up with the ever-present frites… but no. It was a whole octopus.
I did my best, and even quite enjoyed the tender tentacles, but getting any further was all a little bit much for me. A case of being confronted with exactly what you’re eating!
4. Wild Boar Tagliatelle in Rome
During my trip to Italy in June I ate many delicious pizzas, pasta, salads and of course gelato. But one meal was so good I’m still dreaming about it, and may have to try to recreate it soon. I was craving some meat so decided to order wild boar tagliatelle in a red wine sauce. It sounds simple, and the ingredients may have been, but it was mindblowingly tasty – so much so that I only very grudgingly gave Kate and Gin a taste! I hadn’t tried boar before, but this was tender and delicious, flavoured with herbs and the perfect red wine sauce. Mmmmm….
3. Seafood in the Cook Islands
As I’ve already mentioned, I’m a big fan of seafood, and some of the best I’ve had has been in the Cook Islands. This small island group in the Pacific is just over three hours flight from New Zealand, and as my Dad worked up there a lot during my childhood, I was lucky to visit quite a few times. One of my enduring food memories is of a family friend preparing fresh Ika Mata (marinated fish) from fish he had just caught, coconuts he had just cracked, and limes he had just squeezed – so good. On a more recent visit to Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands, I had this incredible seafood platter which featured some Ika Mata that tasted just as delicious as I remembered!
2. ALL THE FOOD in Vietnam
I adore South-East Asian food. Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian… and the more authentic, the better. But my two trips to Vietnam have cemented a love for it in my heart – the pho, the cao lau, the summer rolls, the banh xeo… the list goes on. I consider it a crime against myself that I haven’t yet managed to take a cooking class there yet – guess I’ll just have to go back!
1. Easter Lunch in Tuscany
Back to Italy for my all-time most memorable meal, which sadly does not live on in photographs. The biggest trip my family went on when I was younger was an amazing four-week holiday through England, Wales and Tuscany. After spending two weeks sightseeing and visiting various family members in the UK my parents, younger brother Tom, younger sister Zoe and me headed to a villa in Tuscany. We flew in on Easter Friday, and landed quite late, so dinner that night was a scratch meal of Easter Eggs gifted by our cousins and some two-minute noodles. The next day very little was open and we scavenged as best we could with the help of our hosts. However, they reassured us that they would book us in for an Easter lunch that would make up for everything – and they were true to their word.
We turned up at a local restaurant, not really sure to expect. We were ushered to our own table, surrounded by large Italian families – we were just about the only tourists there. In the blink of an eye the parade of food began. It followed the traditional appetisers, pasta, pizza, meats and desserts formula, but there must have been five or six dishes at each stage – and if you couldn’t manage more than a taste, one of the chefs would come out to enquire what was wrong with it! At no time was there anything wrong – much of the food was simple but so so delicious. The entire meal took over four hours and we loved every minute of it – soaking up the raucous banter of the families, the sublime food, and the incredible atmosphere of the place. Definitely one to remember for the rest of my life!
What are your most memorable meals from your travels?
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