THE TASTE OF TRAVEL

It is 4 a.m. and I’m with a friend in Tokyo at the world’s 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 city’s 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 experience—either because of the food I’ve eaten or the people I shared it with. I’ve had lamb’s 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; it’s an exercise in cultural immersion. What people eat, when they eat, where and how they source the food, what gastronomic rituals they observe—all 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