When you travel, the local food is an opening into the culture, people and country. Local food gives a deeper and more meaningful understanding of your destination.
How do you eat when you travel?
Do you eat familiar foods or do you try unique and local foods? We encourage you to experiment and eat local for an enhanced travel experience. Discovering local foods is a huge part of travel and there’s always something new to find.
‘…enhanced travel…’
Connect to the local people.
One of the best ways to find local and authentic dishes on your travels is to ask the locals. Be curious about foods and unusual displays. If you see something you’ve never seen before, simply ask the vendor what it is. The vendor will more than likely give you a taste.
If it’s something that needs to be cooked, ask for the name of a dish that has that ingredient and the best place where you can try it. You will notice the local people will go out of their way to help. Food fortunately is a universal language that everybody understands. By displaying curiosity, you will find that you can communicate and connect in meaningful and unexpected ways.
‘…authentic dishes on your travels…’
Eat where the locals eat.
As you travel and visit local eating spots, usually located a few streets away from the beach or main roads, you’ll taste the most genuine food and you will be contributing money into deserving pockets.
‘…travel and visit local eating spots…’
Open up to new tastes, flavors and textures.
Traveling to new destinations is the perfect opportunity to eat something new. When you go local and seek out the regional dishes, the better your chances are of discovering new tastes, flavors and textures. Traveling allows you to become more adventurous in your food choices. You discover new foods and also rediscover new ways of cooking foods you would usually avoid.
‘…become more adventurous…’
Visit the local food market.
Get a slice of local life at a local food market where you will see what grows locally and what’s in season. You’ll discover fruits and vegetables you’ve never seen or heard of before. The local markets also offer ready-made dishes for you to enjoy and most have gifts you can purchase to take back home.
‘…discover fruits and vegetable never seen or heard of…’
Visit local stores and supermarkets.
Take the time to explore the local shops and larger supermarkets. These outlets are a window into the country’s way of life. See if they eat foods that are familiar to you, then see what new offerings you can find.
‘…a window into the country’s way of life…’
Visit farms and harbors.
See what’s growing in the soil and in the fields and find out what the fishermen are bringing to shore. If you’re lucky you may even find fish and shellfish straight from the boats, cooked or not and ready to eat. You’ll never find fresher fish than at the harbor.
‘…fish and shellfish straight from the boats…’
Without food, there is no authentic travel experience. By discovering new tastes and flavors, you gain a new appreciation and perspective of the places you visit.
