The first place I visit when I touch down overseas
Here, you’ll gain insight into the traditions of the destination and get to witness locals in their most natural habitat. Plus, there’s plenty of food.
When I am deciding on where to travel for my next overseas holiday, I have to admit about 98 per cent of it is driven by food.
When I think of going to New York, it is for the toasted cinnamon and raisin bagels, which I recently discovered are best with peanut butter and jam as a filling (trust me, make it your next order).
Paris is the warm crunchy baguettes straight out of the oven from a tiny little boulangerie on a backstreet or a delicious tarte aux fraises, spotted in a window display of a patisserie.
Italy is pizza with tomato and buffalo mozzarella and too much gelato, and in England, I just want scones and jam with Cornish clotted cream, or a punnet of sweet British strawberries.
In countries I am visiting for the first time, I always seek out the local food.
Last year I was in Stockholm and I discovered kanelbullar, an unbelievably good cinnamon and cardamom bun.
This set off a daily hunt for the best kanelbullar, which I managed to squeeze in between all my other tourist activities, and it led me to discover some cool cafes that I would never have come across otherwise.
These not only had more-ish sweet treats but fabulous people-watching and provided an insight into how locals live in the Swedish capital.
And that is what I love most about food when travelling: sampling local cuisine is like getting a gastronomic, historical, social and cultural lesson in one hit.
The story behind how certain foods come about is fascinating, you gain insight into the rituals and traditions of the country and often get to witness locals in their most natural habitat without too many pesky tourists (I don’t count myself as one of those).
That is why one of my favourite things to do after arriving in a city is to go to a local supermarket.
I love wandering down the aisles to check out all the different foods on offer and things I want to try. In New York at one supermarket, there was almost a whole aisle devoted to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
In another, freshly made guacamole was better than at most restaurants in Australia and don’t let me get started on the so-called cereal aisle (my kids weren’t allowed any such sugar hits).
I am all for visiting significant monuments in cities, but I am happiest in supermarkets, restaurants, boulangeries and patisseries.
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