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When one speaks of the term ‘culinary travel’, it can get ambiguous to some extent. This is simply because of the fact that food does form an important part when travelling. So what is it that makes this term unique? Most people may find it difficult to differentiate between the two. However, to put it simply, the main goal of a culinary traveler is to explore the food culture of a particular place. This is what makes his travel different from a normal one. For the usual traveler food may be a part of the travel but for a culinary traveler food forms the primary reason for the travel.
Culinary travel does not mean eating at restaurants for the entire duration of your stay. Restaurants play an important role when it comes to culinary travel but the entire purpose of the travel is not restricted to restaurants. A culinary travel covers the entire spectrum of food and drinks, the first of it being the farmer’s market. This is the best part of a culinary traveler journey. He/she gets to interact with the local farmers and find out more about their fresh produce. These markets are also known to sell some healthy delicacies made fresh from the fruits and vegetables grown locally.
When travelling with a culinary mission, a culinary traveler gets to interact with shop owners who deal in specialty items and gourmet foods. A specialty store is where produce that is a hit among the locals and will not be found anywhere else. Gourmet on the other hand, is high quality fresh produce which could be a little expensive because of its superior quality. A culinary traveler also attends special cooking demonstrations by professional chefs to understand what makes the local cuisine enticing. He /she could also visit food fairs and festivals organized by the locals to get a taste of the local culinary culture while on a culinary travel.
A culinary traveller also visits the various dairies to know more about their milk production. This paves the way to cheese production. A culinary traveler may also visit some cheese farms and sample some delectable varieties native to the particular place. He/she could also visit some local breweries and wineries to know more about the local spirits. They also get to sample the signature alcohol of a particular place. To put it simply, a culinary traveler gets to experience every aspect of culinary culture of a particular place closely.
When you are out on a culinary expedition, you need not go about experiencing every single food culture. You could choose to specialist your travel and explore only that aspect which appeals to you most. If you are a cheese lover, you could only try to explore about cheese making and other aspects of cheese in detail covering every technique that goes into making different varieties of cheeses. This can help you to get detailed information on one aspect.
You may think that being a culinary traveler could be an expensive affair. However, this is far from truth. Agreed, as a culinary traveler one would expect to dine at fancy restaurants with the Executive Chef as he explains every dish that is being served to you while you sample some scrumptious food and heavenly drinks. All the same, if you are on a budget, you can enjoy your time as a culinary traveler tenfold as you get to interact with the locals and find out more about the history of a particular food preparation. You get to go to the roots of a dish. That is the most important part of a culinary travel.
About Author: Margaret is a food enthusiast and a very well known culinary traveler She graduated about in Hospitality and Tourism. Her love for food and travel made her choose this career path and she is now in the process of documenting her life as a culinary traveler. Also she writes for Tenerife car rental firm.
