Eating Adventures

Food is easily one of my favorite things, along with naps, reading, and traveling (I guess I should include my husband on this list too). Lucky for me, he also loves food and has been a willing partner in many of my eating adventures. We have a preference for regional foods and local restaurants over chain restaurants.

I actually keep a running list of restaurants in our local area to try, and we periodically check out new places.

Dipping My To(ngu)e In

My 1^st trip abroad was Ireland which worked out well for me since I was a fairly picky eater at 19. Fish and chips were all well and good, western New Yorkers love a good fish fry, but I couldn’t live on it the whole time. One of the few new dishes I did try was Irish stew with lamb which was rich and delicious. At the time I felt very out of my comfort zone ordering it, but these days I think nothing of ordering new dishes or those with strange or exotic ingredients. 

Go Bold

Our love of food had us getting bold during our trip to Ecuador, with an attitude of ‘What the hell, let’s try it!’

We booked a day trip with My Trip to Ecuador to a family farm near Guayaquil to learn about how the cacao bean is grown, harvested, and processed. Chocolate is definitely one of my favorite food groups, so this was a must for me while we were in Ecuador. Cacao & Mango offered a delightful farm to table experience serving up lunch made with freshly harvested ingredients grown right on the farm.

Our hostess Ninfa’s homemade ceviche made me fall in love with a dish I had been leery of trying when I read about it before traveling to Ecuador. For those who may not be familiar with it, ceviche is a seafood dish made from fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, such as lemon or lime, and can be seasoned with ají or chili peppers, chopped onions, salt, and cilantro.

We also sampled cuy, or guinea pig to those of us from the US, when we were in Quito since it was something we’d never try at home. The presentation was a bit alarming at first since it was brought out all intact including the head (the look on my husband’s face was pretty funny). Despite being nervous to try some of the dishes in Ecuador, we ended up being delighted with everything we ate!

Developing a Taste

Since we enjoyed our eating adventures in Ecuador so much, when we visited Costa Rica, we took an excursion to the Café Britt coffee farm & roasters to learn about the country’s coffee industry. I’d only recently begun to drink coffee so this was a great chance to learn more about the agriculture and processing to produce coffee and to sample different varieties.

We then took a more hands on approach when we visited Rome and celebrated my husband’s birthday by learning to make pasta. It was really fun to get messy making and rolling out the dough for the pasta while our chef instructor provided a brief lesson on the many facets and history of Italian cuisine. This was an experience we’ll never forget since we learned a skill that we were able to bring home with us.

Our three week winter trip to Europe had us on a mission to try as many new foods as possible. Christmas Markets in Germany provided the opportunity to sample a lot of foods we don’t see often at home.

Go Forth and Eat

Experiencing a culture through their food and drink is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in it. Anthony Bourdain was a foodie traveler I really admired and said it better than I ever could:

“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonald’s? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria’s mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head?”

Now whenever we’re planning a trip, my husband asks what eating adventures we’ll be going on with gleeful anticipation.

Tell me in the comments what are some adventurous foods you’ve tried! Subscribe to follow along on our continuous adventures!