MAKE TIME TO COOK; TAG’s tips for travel no.33

Summary

Brett Jenae, The Anxious Girl, emphasizes the importance of making time to cook while traveling, as it allows one to engage with local cultures, create lasting memories, and enjoy the therapeutic aspects of cooking.

Abstract

In the article "MAKE TIME TO COOK; TAG’s tips for travel no.33," Brett Jenae, known as The Anxious Girl, shares her passion for culinary experiences while traveling. She highlights that food is not just sustenance but a narrative that connects us to history and culture. Whether it's creating a simple cheese board with local ingredients or taking a cooking class to learn about regional cuisine, cooking on vacation can be a source of joy and learning. Jenae fondly recalls a cooking class in New Orleans where she and her partner enjoyed the local food scene, cooked with unique ingredients like crawfish and alligator, and embraced the local food philosophy that "Fat tastes good." She advocates for cooking as a way to feel empowered, to express oneself, and to alleviate anxiety, suggesting that the experiences and knowledge gained from cooking while traveling are the best souvenirs one can bring home.

Opinions

Cooking while traveling is a way to engage with and appreciate local food stories and history.
Making time to cook during vacations can transform a routine task into a joyful and memorable experience.
Learning from cooking classes or experiences abroad adds to one's culinary knowledge and enriches the travel experience.
Food has a significant role in cultural exploration and personal growth during travel.
Cooking on vacation allows travelers to bring home unique experiences and recipes, serving as a lasting reminder of their journey.
The act of cooking can be therapeutic, helping to release anxieties and fostering a sense of confidence and self-expression.
Embracing local food philosophies, such as the one in New Orleans, can enhance the culinary adventure and create a more immersive travel experience.

MAKE TIME TO COOK; TAG’s tips for travel no.33

Food, Y’all. Food is life. Far or near, days traveling and non, food can tell us amazing stories. These stories have the power to teach and thrill, to comfort and restore. It is for these pleasures and more I choose in travel to MAKE TIME TO COOK.

Food is impressive. It has come before us, written history, fed our ancestors, trickled and traveled, fused, fed us, grown famous, waxed stylish and will carry on metamorphizing long after our bodies become our food’s food.

There are many ways to make room for cooking in travel. If you have a tiny workspace or table, you can buy vittles from local merchants to make a lovely cheese/vittle board. If you have a heat source, you can warm or create and cook up one of your traveling meals.

My favorite way to cook on vacay is to seek out cooking classes or experiences where I can learn history and food culture, add to my cooking knowledge and eat fabulous noms. This particular class was pure enjoyment. We met new people, heard tales of the New Orleans food scene from its inception, cooked crawfish and alligator and generally had an excellent time together.

I love my memories from this NOLA class. We laughed as I embarrassed my partner by adding extra wine to everything in a style a la Julia Child. For those of you who are familiar with her, you know our Julia also added extra butter or cream but in NOLA you don’t need to worry about that. We brought back the phrase “Fat tastes good” from this class; NOLA proves it.

Cooking may seem like a chore sometimes, but on vacay it can be a joyride. We can bring our style with us, experience something new AND bring a little of the exotic back with us when we leave. Not only that, we get to enjoy our experience once on vacay and after we get to repeat it again and again whenever we want.

In the kitchen, I feel invincible. I am suddenly confident and expressive. My anxieties melt away as I release them by the handfull into my soup pot. I want to take this feeling with me on vacay, meeting myself where I know myself best. And if I’m honest, new ideas and epic experiences are the BEST souvenirs.

Big Love & Happy Travels, Brett Jenae, The Anxious Girl