One of the best reasons to travel is to sample an array of foods most tourists do not experience in their own hometowns; however, the quintessential foods of a region might not be what some travelers expect. Many restaurants and grocery stores offer watered-down versions of regional food stereotypes, and the authentic cuisine may taste very different. Luxury vacations offer travelers the opportunity to try the very best of every region.
1. Japan – Light and Flavorful Dishes
Stereotypical Japanese food includes raw fish, sushi, sashimi and rice. While these ingredients are present on the Japanese table, there are plenty of other flavors in the Japanese cornucopia. Since Japan is an island, typical dishes can include plenty of fish; however, the Japanese also eat plenty of soups. A typical miso soup is made from soy bean and a light broth. Seaweed salads add plenty of fiber and vitamins to the Japanese diet.
2. Istanbul – Mediterranean Food
Luxury vacations can begin and end in Istanbul, a city with rich culture, where the air is scented with exotic spices. Typical Turkish dinner tables are topped with an assortment of meats, yogurts, chewy bread and ouzoan anise-flavored liquor. Meats include varieties of kebab, chicken, beef or lamb slow-cooked on a spit. Kebabs can be eaten on their own or folded into soft, chewy breads and topped with cacik, a yogurt-based sauce that tastes like tzatziki.
3. Napa Valley – Farm to Table
Typical foods to be found on Napa Valley vacations are any cuisine that fits in with the farm-to-table mentality. Started in San Francisco by Alice Waters and propelled by chefs like Napa Valleys own Thomas Keller, the farm-to-table movement brings local ingredients to each dish, highlighting the simplicity of each flavor. Travelers looking for great wine vacations can head to Napa to sample some of the areas best vintages. Kellers French Laundry, one of the few restaurants in the country toting three Michelin stars, is a great place to start a luxurious vacation.
4. Italian Food – Not Just Pasta
What Americans imagine when they think of Italian food is usually piles of pasta atop breaded chicken cutlets or eggplant parmesan. While this image isnt necessarily untrue, the Italian culture is filled with plenty of other textures and flavors. Cuisine in Italy tends to be regional; while Sicilians have caccio e peppea dish of pasta, butter and of course, pepper, the Northern Italians have light and fluffy piles of risotto, topped with mushrooms. Northern Italians also shy away from dishes laden with heavy sauces, butter and olive oil.
5. Brazilian Feasts – Plenty of Protein
Brazilians love topping heapfuls of rice, veggies and pastas with lots of meats. Like the Turks, Brazilians love to barbecue huge cuts of pork, wild boar and lamb over an open flame. As much as they love the turf, they also love the surf; in Brazil, travelers can find moqueca, a stew made of fish, tomatoes and coriander. Cooked in a clay pot, this dishs flavors become more complex once urucum, a red food coloring made of annatto seeds is added to the ingredients. Brazilians wash it all down with cachaça, a fermented sugarcane cocktail to cool down all those fiery flavors.
6. Iceland – A Melting Pot of Flavors
An island in frigid waters, Iceland produces plenty of fish each year. Fish like gravlax, which is present in most Nordic cuisine, is on just about every table, while travelers will also find dried and salted fish, like saltfiskur and harofisku to have a pleasant flavor with the texture of a beef jerky. A typical breakfast and snack, skyr, has been making its way into American supermarkets; a thick yogurt, similar to Greek yogurt, skyr has a tart taste and plenty of calcium and proteinwithout all the fat and carbs. All visitors usually go crazy for the Icelandic hotdogs, filled with a mixture of beef and lamb, and topped with ketchup, sweet brown mustard, onions (both fried and raw) and a remoulade of mayonnaise and relish.
Travelers can experience many different cuisines while traveling and a variety of flavors they would never have tried in their own backyards.