Travel & FoOD

Food tourism is composed of activities that provide experiences of consumption and appreciation of food and beverages, presented in such a way that value the history, the culture and the environment of a particular region.

by Food’n Road

Ayandrali Dutta, wanderer by passion, wordsmith by profession who counts her years by the number of sunsets she has seen. A journalist with more than 10+ years’ experience who also holds a degree in psychology has worked with some of the top publication houses like Times of India, Dainik Bhaskar, India today, Exchange4media to name a few along with contributing to many others. Due to her Keen interest in food and travel, she has been travelling various parts of the country and abroad for a long time. TW team is pleased to share some of her experiences on Food- Travel around the globe.

Ayandrali Dutta

It’s very difficult for me to figure out when I fell in love with my itchy feet and the affair keep growing stronger each day. As today as I pen this piece if someone ever ask what that one thing that excites me about travelling, I am 200% sure even without a second thought I would say FOOD. When people look for souvenir stores, I look for spice stores. I have always felt that the real feel and taste of exploring a place lies in knowing its cuisine, it’s local flavours. Food always has been infused with history and recipes that make speciality of a place are also representation generations that went in making that.

I believe that it’s not always about fancy place that you get to explore the exotic flavours but your backyard tourism can surprise too. Till date whenever I visit Kolkata I never miss a chance to walk those narrow by lanes of North Kolkata and eat that street side Kochuri or dig into the authentic Chinese breakfast which serves some of the best baos, buns, patras, momos, to fish ball soups, dumplings and much more. The only price I pay is I have to cut down on my sleep but I can never miss the bigger picture that eating locally I do my bit by thinking about the local community too. The local and traditional foods are perfect example of a country culinary heritage.

My experiences have taught that how and where I choose to eat as I travel has an impact on the local community and its immediate environment. Each time I have packed my bags and headed to any of the shores I have always relied on an “all-knowing local guide” rather than recommendations from magazines, online or review sites so satiate my taste buds and I can vouch for the fact that I have never been disappointed. I still remember on my maiden trip to Prague I was very sure to explore those hidden cafes that spill the heritage of the city and as I took a food trip with Eating Prague Food Tours, the whole experience of eating in an Old bel tower and digging into that Roast beef of cream at Café Louvre, a 1902 café, no money can be worth that experience. One mantra to note for sure if a street food stall is crowded, don’t shy from going there trust me you won’t regret. There are few food experiences worth the wait and crowd.

You can walk into a Pizza hut or McDonald’s anytime and grab n pizza or burger but that charm of local food is something else. It will surely elevate your whole experience. Don’t miss out on the fact that apart from digging into some real flavours you are also choosing to reduce the carbon footprint, regionally grown veggies etc always ensures the highest quality. In this whole experience of exploring newer taste I can vouch for the fact that I ended so many things for the first time and surely not the last time. Let’s say it’s all about being #Vocalforlocal.