WRITING CHALLENGE

Food, Glorious Food

Eat like a local

I travel on a budget — a tight budget. But I have to eat, right? When I’m travelling, I usually only eat two meals a day. A big breakfast — hopefully, included in the cost of my hostel or Airbnb accommodation. I might grab a coffee, a beer or a gelato for lunch, and then dinner. Quite often dinner is homemade — nothing fancy — cheeses, cold meats, olives and a fresh baguette are quite often all that’s required and maybe a local sweet for dessert.

So eating out at a restaurant — any restaurant — is worth writing home about. I’ve written about a couple of these.

Restaurants are much more fun when you’re not alone, but I have discovered some top-notch restaurants when I’ve been travelling solo too.

Another method of eating some local food is by making it yourself — in a cooking class. The cooking class in Sevilla was fun, informative and great value. My daughter and I made a three-course meal — paella was the main course — with sangria and wine — for less than the cost of a plate of paella.

We learned to cook chicken tajine in Fès, Morocco in the home of one of the locals. It was delicious — even if I do say so myself!

Eating with locals in Oslo

Fortunately, when I’ve travelled with my oldest daughter, I’ve often eaten in a restaurant that features local delicacies. I swear she knows people all over the world — most of whom she’s met while travelling — or from her years teaching English in Japan. In Oslo, her friend Ben took us to a typical Norwegian restaurant. Meat and potatoes in a stew to ward off the cold, and the worst beer I’ve ever tasted. I’m not a beer drinker so it was probably not that bad.

Eating with locals in Hamburg

In Hamburg, we met with Martin and Missy who took us to a boutique brewery/ restaurant in a stone cellar called the Groninger Brauhaus - I think. Missy and Martin met us outside the restaurant (they heard us speaking English and thought we must be Stacey’s family) and ushered us in just as Stacey arrived, late as usual.

We let Missy order for us and she did very well! She ordered the biggest platter I have ever seen filled with sliced roast pork, sausages, whole pork roasts with crackling, mashed potatoes and cabbage soaked in something delicious. The wooden platter was as long as the table and was placed at a height so all of the food was accessible.

Martin ordered a keg of beer! I kid you not! I think it was 10 litres and we pretty much drank the lot even though all of us except Stacey are not normally beer drinkers. The beer was completely different to Australian beer and really hit the spot after our afternoon exertions on the lake.

Writing this has brought back memories of some of the amazing restaurants and wonderful food I’ve eaten when travelling. Would you like to read more about my food adventures?

Here’s the prompt if you have a food story to share from your travels.

And here is Jillian Amatt’s story from Bulgaria where she’s spending the next couple of months volunteering on a farm.