The Food Staycation
Turn Your Vacation at Home Into an International Adventure -- With Food
Make your retreat a culinary excursion.(photo: Joao Canziani/Digital Vision/Getty Images)
The best way is to get on a plane and go, but you can still learn a lot by getting out your pans!
— Brock Kuhlman, chef and "food scientist"
If you dream of sampling the cuisine and the beaches of the Riviera but find yourself grilling chicken and sunbathing in your own backyard, you are not alone.
The "staycation," or stay-at-home-vacation, has become an increasingly popular money-saving trend during the past few years as Americans opt to explore their own cities rather than more exotic locales.
However, you can still get a taste of your dream vacation destination, right in your own kitchen.
Planning Your Culinary Expedition
Start your culinary "travels" by choosing a cuisine. Maybe you've always wanted to check out Burmese street food or Nigerian chin-chin. Or, if you're feeling really adventurous, just stick a pin in a map.
"Part of the adventure of travel is the planning phase: buying tickets, exploring destinations and deciding on itineraries," said Brock Kuhlman, an American chef and food scientist living in Thailand. Planning a menu -- or a week of menus -- is a similar process.
"If you are new to a cuisine, before your 'trip' it's a good idea to read some blogs about the food culture of your target and get some good cookbooks," he advised.
For instance, if you decide to spend a virtual week on the French island of Corsica, stock up on clementines, hazelnuts and mussels, and maybe even go online to order the famed Corsican brush honey to put on your breakfast toast.
Next, head to your local library or bookstore to browse cookbooks that will provide details about ingredients and techniques. Travel and food writer Maggie Hall, a British expatriate living in the United States, likes to talk with other "foreigners" living in her area about their favorite foods.
"All cities and towns, often even the smallest of communities, have a range of residents who have either just settled here or whose grandparents arrived decades ago. Invariably the traditional recipes came with them," said Hall, who finds that vendors at her local farmers' market in Washington, D.C., hail from Greece, Poland, South Korea and Central America and are eager to share their recipes.
"They're always happy to discuss how they treat food and guide you on doing it their way," she noted. "Frequently it's not different ingredients in the recipes but different methods of use."
Global Cuisine in Pop Culture
You can get a real taste of food culture both at home and abroad through movies and books that celebrate food. Here are a few tried-and-true favorites to whet your appetite:
Movies:
"Big Night"
"Eat Drink Man Woman"
"Julie and Julia"
"Tampopo"
"Babette's Feast"
"Tortilla Soup"
"Mostly Martha"
"Like Water for Chocolate"
Books:
"A Year in Provence"
"My Life in France"
"The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family"
"The Art of Eating"
"The Tummy Trilogy"
"Apple Pie: An American Story"
"Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China"
Around the World in Seven Days
Seven continents in a week -- why not? Because the land masses are geographically large and culturally diverse, the challenge would be to choose recipes knowing that no single meal can represent an entire continent. Look for foods you haven't tried before: If you already cook a lot of Italian food, for example, make something Hungarian on the day when Europe is the featured continent. Admittedly, Antarctica could be a little tricky, but use your imagination!
To better understand the food of a certain region, immerse yourself in the culture as much as possible. "A large part of understanding a country's food ways is bigger than just recipes," Kuhlman said.
"How it's served, when it's served, what place it holds in the collective imagination of a country -- that can't be transmitted by a plate of food. It's complex, as complex as our relationships with each other, but it's interesting to use literature, pop culture and movies to understand the context of how a culture eats."
If you are interested in trying out a cuisine that is new to you, look for ethnic grocery stores in your area, said Kuhlman and Hall. "Virtually all cities and big towns are going to have a variety," Hall said, "and they'll even give you tips for cooking."
Closer to Home
If you don't have a yen for more exotic fare, another staycation food option is to dig deep into the traditional recipes of your own area, many of which we often forget to celebrate in a world where we can eat asparagus and bananas any time of year. The locally grown or raised ingredients in a 100-mile radius of your home may range from oysters and venison to fiddlehead ferns and gooseberries, some of which you may never have tried. Now is your chance to explore!
Nearly every state in the United States has its official state foods, from chokecherries to chanterelles. If you hail from Maryland, give Smith Island Cake a try. If you're a northern Louisiana native, whip up a Natchitoches meat pie.
Visit some pick-your-own farms and bring home the freshest local ingredients to celebrate the down-home food culture of your own turf. Every region has culinary idiosyncrasies, and it can be fun to try them out.
Hall waxed poetic about the tasty traditions of her native Yorkshire in the United Kingdom: "Special -- or peculiar -- eating habits are apple pie with a slice of strong Cheddar cheese, black pepper sprinkled on strawberries about an hour before serving, and sliced tomatoes with a sprinkling of sugar."
You don't need a passport to go to the grocery store, so pack up your curiosity and travel the world from your kitchen. "The best way is to get on a plane and go," Kuhlman said, "but you can still learn a lot by getting out your pans!"
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