TRAVEL WITH FOOD:
A CULINARY EXPERIENCE AROUND THE WORLD
Since ever food has always been a moment of conviviality, sharing, communication; food has always been able to draw people closer, it's that moment where social, economic or gender conventions cease to exist. It's not about putting something in your stomach; food becomes conversation, community, connection between ethnicities, it becomes a total experience.
When I pick a new destination to explore, one of the first things that come to my mind, thanks to my love for food, it's thinking about what new delicious or even weird dishes I am going to try. Because what’s better than exploring a new destination, new customs, a new culture through its food. It is in fact through the tastes, flavors, smells that the history, culture, and tradition of a people is embodied;
The culinary experience is the one that makes you use all your senses and stimulates them, from smells, touch, taste; triggering a complete and immersive experience; and where the language barrier becomes an obstacle, food becomes its gateway to it. My invitation to everyone is to dare! Let yourself be overwhelmed by smells and flavors, TRY! Open your mind, eat local!
A disclaimer: the recipe's photos in this article are not an exact representation of the dish of that exact nation, but all recipes are adapted to the ingredients at my disposal with some little modification to the original dish, nonetheless i tried to remain the closest to the original. This is not a food blog by any means, and you may wonder what this has to do with a travel blog. Well, to be honest, a lot...
I love trying new foods, even the most bizarre ones, not excluding on very rare occasions food poisoning ... What I miss the most about in a period of travel restrictions is food, so I thought I'd create my own culinary travel itinerary in the comfort of my own home. Everyone can do it and it's a great way to travel with your mind and mouth without actually moving away from your doorstep.
The smell of hot curry will transport you through the busy streets of Marrakesh; the taste of fresh fish accompanied by good alcohol in a Tokyo restaurant or a huge wok of vegetables and noodles in the boisterous streets of some Asian street food.
In this article, I've recreated some recipes that I love, with a personal twist...
One of the places that i love the most and that i can't wait to visit again is East and Southeast Asia. My first trip to Asia has been love at first sight and it completely changed my way of eating.
With this first dish, i have been transported again to Vietnam, with a really famous Vietnamese street food, that is eaten as breakfast, at lunch or dinner; i am talking of Banh Mi, a stuffed sandwich that associates Vietnamese tradition with French influence.
Now, if you think that i am talking about a simple sandwich, you are wrong! The first time i tried one, from a small food truck, sitting at an improvised table, it was an explosion of flavors and I couldn't wait to propose it again in my kitchen in an attempt to re-taste those flavors even remotely. Even though the recipe is the same for everyone, each vendor will add its personal twist, so every Banh Mi will be slightly different.
The Banh Mi is a crunchy baguette stuffed with pate, meat (usually pork), crunchy marinated vegetables such as carrots and cucumbers, a mix of aromatic herbs such as coriander and others, all covered with a spicy sauce; in short, it is an explosion of flavors at every bite.
For a vegetarian variant, you could opt for soy meat or stir-fried mushrooms, the result will be excellent.
Let's continue our journey through Asia, this time at the discovery of eclectic Korea. I admit to never have been to this land yet but I particularly love its cuisine, combined with the fact that I am trying to learn its language, and for this gastronomic journey I have chosen an easy, fast, and available recipe for everyone, the famous Bibimbap, in its vegetarian version.
Bibimbap is one of the cheap and most famous dishes and is usually served in a boiling stone bowl so that the rice continues to cook forming its distinct crunchy crust. The beauty of this dish is that you can add as many vegetables as you like, even better if cooked one at a time to enhance the flavor of each vegetable, then serving them on a bed of rice, all finished accompanied by a fried egg. Once the presentation is finished, mix everything and dig in; enjoy it accompanied by kimchi and a bottle of soju to stay on theme.
Let's move now on the busy streets, souks, snake charmers, voices, smells, spices that come from all over the medina of Marrakesh in Morocco.
Morocco is a country I fell in love with, one of those places that seem to take you back to other times and where the clock hands seem to slow down their flow. One of the nicest things about Marocco is its genuine hospitality.
For this recipe, I've recreated one of the most famous Moroccan dishes; the Couscous, accompanied it with a regenerating mint tea.
Couscous is usually made with meat or vegetable and a lot of spices; the preparation may vary from family to family and is consumed by sharing it with others; it is one of those recipes that has a strong social value, conviviality, and hospitality. I could only finish my Moroccan dinner by pouring myself a nice glass of tea in the Moroccan way, which means pouring it from high, the higher the better...
Let's now travel down a torrid little street in some Mexican neighborhood where some women are making a steaming chili dish served with a cold Cerveza to soothe the spiciness of this dish of Texan-Mexican origins. It's one of those dishes that can't be missing during a Mexican-themed dinner.
We end our food tour around the world by returning to where we started, in Asia, stopping in Japan and then in China.
Japan is a country where technology, modernity, and tradition coexist; a country rich in history, traditions, and where its heritage continues to be jealously guarded.
Like every aspect of Japanese life, Japanese cuisine is a form of art that embodies centuries of tradition, on top of that is also one of the healthiest cuisines in the world.
For this tour of Japan, I chose a dish known to everyone and the simplest at my disposal, Sushi; it goes without saying that Japanese cuisine is rich in dishes, and limiting everything to only this, is reductive although it remains an emblematic dish of the Japanese culture.
There are different types of sushi as well as specific ways to prepare and eat it.
China is one of the most populous nations, with an extremely varied territory full of history and architecture and a culinary culture among the richest and oldest. Food is quite predominant in the Chinese culture, as for many other parts of Asia and here the food is a moment of conviviality, in fact, in restaurants, you will never be brought a single dish for each person but several dishes on a round table to share together.
For this part of the world, I chose the Chinese dumplings; in the various regions of China they can have a slightly different shape and be called by different names, also the origin of this dish has different stories. Chinese dumplings are a particularly important dish in China, in fact, it is usually eaten during important occasions, and even the mere fact of making them becomes a moment of family union. Chinese dumplings are made of pasta, grilled or steamed, and stuffed with meat, vegetables, or seafood.
