the Travel Enthusiast
- 06 Jan
tylerd in Food Experiences | 1 COMMENTTop 5 places for gourmet weekends
Traveling is all about seeing new places, discovering and experiencing, but this entire adventure is not limited to what you see. Eating local foods and delicacies and offering your taste-buds some new tastes is just as big a part of the entire travel business.
Some people travel expressly with the purpose of eating the local treats, and in between two restaurants they can fit in a nice bit of sightseeing too. So if you want to go on an eating rampage, there are some cities better suited for this plan than others. Here’s a list of the top 5 places for gourmet weekends.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen hasn’t always had as many Michelin starts as today, but in the past few years, there has been an explosion of gourmet restaurants in the Danish capital. Famous chefs such as René Redzepi prepare intricate concoctions out of musk ox and lobster (you can try them at the Noma restaurant).
There’s no shortage of places where you can try the high cuisine, but leave some space in your stomach for some good traditional meatballs or open herring sandwiches too.
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Northern Italy
Italian cuisine is right at the top of the food hierarchy, together with French cuisine, and if you want to taste some delicious, traditional Italian dishes, you should head to Northern Italy. The wine, cheese and ham in the Emilia-Romagna region is famously good. Most of the dishes you can try here are based on these ingredients, plus lots of olove oil and balsamic vinegar. Don’t forget to buy some treats to bring home.
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Lake District, UK
Lake District is famous for its local produce, and for its creativity when it comes to new cuisine. If the greasy and hearty traditional British food scares you, try some of the more updated versions of the dishes, all made using fresh produce.
Spend a weekend at the Brown Horse Inn in Winster, a beautiful historica building, and taste as much of their menu as you can: baked camembert infused with rosemary and garlic with cranberry sauce, or a slow cooked shoulder of lamb. And here are a few hand picked travel deals for near the Lake District for you:
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travel search by Travelgrove (get this widget)Cognac, France
The little town of Cognac is surrounded by distilleries that produce the delicious drink of the same name. Taking a tour of the distilleries is a treat for any connoisseur, especially Camus, Hennessey, Martell and Rémy Martin. Le Logis du Paradis is a very scenic guesthouse built in the 18th century, and it is the perfect base for exploring the region.
The Swedish coast
The Bohuslän coast in Sweden is one of the country’s greatest treasures, because it is a genuine gold mine for lobster fishing. If you don’t have any qualms about catching your own dinner, you can book a lobster fishing tour at the Handelsman hotel.
You will sail out to the sea, catch your lobster and take a cooking class at the hotel restaurant, and in the end you’ll prepare yourself a delicious three course meal.
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I would argue about these spots. I believe that the word “gourmet” means that you want to eat something cooked to perfection. Now. While most people think about a “gourmet” as someone enjoying exquisite foods from famous chefs. I believe that a true gourmet searches for top local foods from local people. This can be high end or not.
Ok, here is my list of top 5:
1. Bangkok streets ( super fresh tasty everything)
2. Singapore Hawker Centers (superb sea food)
3. Los Angeles ( many awesome authentic local foods)
4. Rome ( just italian food)
5. Probably a split between Hong Kong, Paris and Tokyo, just because their local cuisines are so excellent.
Btw, my favorite chef is Thomas Keller ( french laundry) in Napa Valley