The Travel Guide for Culinary Travelers: An introduction to global culinary travel
The best way to truly experience a destination is through its food. While home kitchens offer a glimpse, the real magic of global cuisine lies in the markets, street stalls, and family-run restaurants that define a place’s culture. Culinary travel has grown into a $4.12 billion industry because food lovers know: you haven’t really seen Italy until you’ve savored cacio e pepe at a back-alley Roman trattoria where Grandma makes the pasta the same way her ancestors did.
Each destination has a flavor story to tell. In Peru, Lima’s acclaimed restaurants draw headlines, but the soul of its cuisine lives in the vibrant markets of Cusco where you’ll taste fruit you didn’t know existed. Sicily’s culinary heritage is layered with influences from Greeks, Arabs, and Normans—each bite a history lesson. Learning to make these regional dishes at home gives you a taste, but it’s the firsthand experience of eating them where they originated that completes the picture.
Use this guide as your launchpad to explore the world’s culinary capitals. Master a few recipes before you go—not to replicate them perfectly, but to recognize the nuances when you taste the real thing. That homemade pad thai will deepen your appreciation for Bangkok’s street food; a proper pisco sour at home will sharpen your palate in Lima.
From pintxos bars in San Sebastián to time-honored hawker stalls in Kuala Lumpur, these are places serving down home recipe favorites that can’t be bottled, boxed, or recreated. They must be lived! Let these recipes inspire your next journey—because your next unforgettable meal is waiting for you somewhere across the globe.
