I like to fancy myself a citizen of the planet . . . I go places, I see, I do, I eat and I learn. And on the eating front, I take cooking classes in new places with the forever hope that someone eventually imparts in me the skills it takes to cook anything beyond …
Gelato is one of those sweet treats out there in the world that has been exported to countries all over the world. While ice cream is accessible in nearly every country, it’s a special surprise when you find a gelato shop—a place that has called upon the talents of the Italians to make more than …
Chiang Mai remains one of the most livable cities in Southeast Asia—especially for slow travelers and digital nomads. I loved the year I spent living as an expat there—the culture, food, and history. So good. There were spots in and around Chiang Mai that I returned to time and again. Some of the spots mentioned …
As a vegetarian traveling to a new country, I face a few extra challenges and considerations. While I wouldn’t out-right skip a destination because of food, the pecking order does change if I know I can eat well once I’m there. So when I had the chance to visit Jordan, my initial thoughts circled like …
I hated mushrooms as a child…and calling them fungi didn’t help much, the texture was odd, they come in funny colors, and they’re relatively tasteless. The mushrooms were just the beginning though, add to those a long litany of other fresh fruits and vegetables that found a home on my “does-not-pass-my-lips” list.
Fast forward to my college years, and suddenly the “veggie option” when dinning with friends was a huge seasoned mushroom plopped onto my plate like the limp slab of fungus it was. And I ate it, especially if someone else had just cooked it for me. And at some point, it just wasn’t that bad anymore.
As an American I get the best of many worlds in terms of food—we have a diverse immigrant culture in the United States and nearly every small town has its token ethnic restaurants: Thai/Indian/Middle Eastern/Mexican/Italian/Cuban. On the flip side, those mom-and-pop shops are perched alongside America’s huge national restaurant chains often serving up barely seasoned, run-of-the-mill generic dishes designed …
My stomach was growling after hours spent roaming the palaces and gardens China’s ancient Forbidden City. Hungry, we nearly missed the hole-in-the-wall dumpling shop because of the steam fogging up the glass, almost obscuring the overflow of diners wedged around the shop’s tiny tables. It was a standing-room-only establishment, and my friends and I took …
Visiting the Middle East was a goal for my travels for a long while. I had always wanted to travel to the Middle East, but didn’t make it there on my round the world trip, or in several subsequent years of travels. Why? Well, some of it came down to perception—I travel solo and I …