National Geographic - Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe

Delivering freshly baked bread in Mexico City.

Food Journeys of a Lifetime

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All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING-IN -P UBLICATION D ATA
Food journeys of a lifetime : 500 extraordinary places to eat around the globe / introduction by Keith Bellows.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4262-1609-1
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4262-0507-1
1. FoodAnecdotes. 2. TravelAnecdotes. 3. Food habits. 4. RestaurantsGuidebooks. I. National Geographic Society (U.S.)
TX357.F646 2009
647.9509dc22

09/RRDW/1

v3.1

In the kitchens of Viennas Hotel Sacher, a pastry chef ladles chocolate onto the hotels opulent signature cake, the sachertorte .

C ONTENTS

Special foods from special places, fruits of the culinary landscape

Journeys to the worlds greatest food bazaars

Regional gastronomic joys savored in their ripened perfection

Learning the intimate secrets of the worlds cuisines

Mouthwatering quick meals and snacks, from chili dogs to jerk pork

From Paris to Hong Kong to Charleston, global hotspots of good eating

Once-in-a-lifetime gourmet treats

All the glorious variety of the worlds greatest drinks

A sweet-lovers paradise of chocolate, pastries, and confectionary delights

With views that seem to come straight from a Canaletto painting, the ultra-luxurious Dogaressa Suite of Venices Hotel Cipriani offers dining paradise.

T HE T ASTE OF T RAVEL

I t is 4 a.m. and Im with a friend in Tokyo at the worlds largest wholesale fish market, Tsukiji. Saws whine as huge tuna are carved up. Buckets brim with octopus, sea urchins, salmon, and creatures bizarre enough to appear in a science documentary. We slip into Daiwa Sushi, the citys oldest sushi counter.

My companion begins ordering in a flood of Japanese. The dishes come in rapid succession: Indian Ocean tuna, mackerel, freshwater eel, oysters, flounder. Suddenly, a single shrimp is set before each of us. I do a double take. Each is undulating, clearly alive. My friend downs his with a grin. After watching mine squirm for 30 seconds, I swallow it without gagging.

This little adventure in eating is part of what makes travel so exhilarating. Invariably, when I think of a place, I recall a memorable experienceeither because of the food Ive eaten or the people I shared it with. Ive had lambs cheeks sitting cross-legged on the floor of a Bedouin tent in Jordan; dined on fresh-caught piranha in the Amazon; eaten sweet shrimp while dangling my legs over azure Thai waters; and lived off baguettes, cheese, and salami while backpacking through France.

A meal abroad is more than an intake of calories; its an exercise in cultural immersion. What people eat, when they eat, where and how they source the food, what gastronomic rituals they observeall offer telling insights to a place and its people.

This book celebrates the unique relationship between food and travel, between place and the plate. It is endlessly fascinating, offering up a cultural and culinary smorgasbord that can enrich your travels, surprise your palate, and even enliven the meals you serve at home. It truly delivers the taste of travel.

Keith Bellows
Editor-in-Chief, National Geographic Traveler magazine

S PECIALTIES & I NGREDIENTS