Tastebud Tourism
Exploring a country's cuisine to learn about its culture

• Home
»
• Magazine Archives » Abroad View Spring 2008

By Carolyn Beeler

It’s hard to beat the pizza in Naples—a slightly charred crust provides a perfectly crispy base for fresh tomatoes and gooey mozzarella. Unless, of course, its competitor is a bowl of pho in Vietnam—clear broth steaming while slippery noodles slide soothingly down your throat. Or maybe the curry in India is more to your taste, and it will undoubtedly be followed by glass after glass of water to quell the fire on your tongue.

Food has always provided a way for travelers to connect with local cultures. When visitors share in the preparation or eating of local foods, from tapas in Barcelona to tamales in Mexico, the connection created by food spans cultures and social groups. “People can come back with a deeper understanding of the culture, and recognize that these people are people,” says Lucy Long, who coined the term “culinary tourism” in her 2003 book of the same name. “Generally, when you eat the food of another culture, you’re forced to recognize the humanness of that culture. It automatically gives you a commonality.”

“When travelers learn to cook from a local, they are not only learning about a new country in a hands-on way, they also interact on a much deeper level than most tourists ever have the chance to,” says Karen Herbst, founder and president of The International Kitchen. Herbst’s company organizes cooking school vacations that introduce travelers to preparation methods and local ingredients in France, Italy, and Spain. “In the cultures we’re speaking of, food and wine are such an integral part of their lives that [by eating and drinking with them] you are experiencing their culture,” Herbst says. “When you sit down to eat with them, you’re not a stranger anymore.”

Though people have been traveling and eating since the beginning of time, Long’s book gave credibility to a newly emerging industry. Soon after its publication in 2003, food tourism was defined as a niche travel market, and trade associations, package tours, and new marketing angles sprang up. The International Culinary Tourism Association (ICTA) formed as a non-profit trade organization aimed at helping destinations develop and market their culinary offerings. Participation in and demand for culinary travel is skyrocketing, according to ICTA surveys.

This increase means that there are now a myriad of ways travelers can get involved with the local food scene wherever they go, from Scotland to Australia. 

But for a student budget, tours like those offered by The International Kitchen are often out of reach. Week-long culinary excursions cost well over $2,000. The closest most study abroad students get to a “culinary tour” is a tasting of the cheap carbohydrate staple in every country—a bread tour of the world.

This doesn’t necessarily have to be true. With a little effort and imagination, even those short on cash can eat and learn to create local foods and, on the way, become more familiar with local culture and tradition.

Carolyn Beeler, a senior at Northwestern University, is Abroad View’s Highlights editor.