Back in the 19th century, young English aristocrats would take a Grand Tour of continental
Europe as a means of furthering their education. Only the wealthy could do this of course,
as tourism for the common man was still beyond the means of most. A common itinerary might
include the cities of Paris, Rome, Venice, Naples, and Vienna. The experience of meeting new
people and different customs was a rite of passage and an initiation into the cosmopolitan
world of the English gentleman. As the Industrial Revolution created wealth for the middle
classes, the alluring nature of the Grand Tour attracted more and more young English men and
women. This was, in part, the birth of modern tourism.

    In today's world, food tourism is quickly becoming the equivalent of the Victorian Grand
Tour. This is an industry that has really exploded in the past decade, creating big bucks
for entrepreneurs with the initiative and capital to dive in and create memorable food
experiences for foodies and chefs alike. Somehow, American cuisine no longer has the cache
of the cuisines from other countries. It has become as sign of reverence and respect for
American chefs who have war stories to relate about their time in Italy or France. If you
know anything about Mario Batali, you know all about the time he spent honing his craft in
Italy.

    If I were to take a culinary Grand Tour, I would skip Italy and France. 6 months in the
Italian countryside? A tour of a dark French prep basement spent as a semi-slave? Not so
much - I recognize the importance and even appeal of a culinary education based on these
paramount cuisines, but my thirst lies for the knowledge of ports less acknowledged and more
exotic. I did my time in cooking school endlessly hammering out the classic five mother
sauces of Escoffier, yet the seven classic moles of Mexico hardly received five minutes
mention. And that's a mistake that I want to rectify.

If I ever have the money to take a Fantasy Food Grand Tour, here's where I would go:

1) Tunisia. My Tour would start in North Africa. David and I spent a year at home eating
nothing but North African food (the Maghreb plus Egypt). This was probably the best year of
eating I have spent in my whole life. If I had I had single out one region's cuisine I
revere above all others, it would be North Africa. The highlight of the year was probably
the Moroccan dishes I made. But Morocco is familiar - in 2008, every city of any size now
has at least one Moroccan restaurant you can frequent. Try finding a Tunisian restaurant in
the U.S. though. Tunisian cuisine is in some ways similar to Moroccan, but often spicier.
Harissa, a fiery red pepper condiment, permeates almost everything edible. Tunisians eat couscous,
like Moroccans, but theirs is different. Tunisians eat tagines, like Moroccans, but theirs
are very different. One of the fun but often perplexing things about eating North African is
that terms often have more than one meaning. Moroccan tagine - stew. Tunisian tagine - baked
egg dish. Some of the Tunisian dishes I made during our year were casse-croute, brik,
t'fina, chakchouka, and mechouia; trying these dishes in their native land would be a great
experiment to see how my versions differed. Tunisia is one the world's great producers of
couscous and olive oil. I definitely think an olive oil tasting would be in order, as well
as an excursion to the fascinating island of Djerba. For an introduction to Tunisian
cuisine, read Claudia Roden, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food.

2) Argentina. 2nd stop, South America. David and I also spent a year eating nothing but
Arentine food at home as well. Argentine cuisine gets a bad rap. I think there's a
perception that it has nothing to offer except grilled beef and empanadas. But what grilled
beef and what empanadas! If that perception were true, I would still be content to travel
the country to see how the empanadas of Cordoba differ from the empanadas of Mendoza from
the empanadas of Buenos Aires from the empanadas of Patagonia from the empanadas of Salta
from the empanadas......Our year of Argentine food, of course, did include much more than
grilled beef and empanadas. Argentine cuisine is highly influenced by Italian and Spanish
cuisines, modified of course by the local bounty. So we also ate pasta and pizza, but pasta
and pizza that portenos might eat. My ham and blue cheese fugazzetta (stuffed pizza) might be
one of the crowning culinary achievements of my lifetime - I wonder if I would find the same one
in the back streets of Buenos Aires. Argentine cuisine is woefully underdocumented in English, but
one place you can start is Maria Baez Kijac, The South American Table.

3) Mexico. My vote for the world's most underappreciated cuisine. 99 % of Americans have no clue
what Mexican cuisine is really like. It is not cheesy enchiladas slathered in canned red sauce. It is
not mildly spiced chicken chili. Think instead Jan Brady - masa, masa, masa! (Wow, that was cheesy.)
Do you know what huitloacoche is? Wonderful earthy corn fungus. Have you ever had squash flowers?
Rarely served in American Mexican restaurants. Do dried shrimp sound disgusting to you? Try them in
pozole. Want to read more? Diana Kennedy's My Mexico is not really introductory material,
but it is a mouth-watering read. And though a good read is important, but I would much rather spend
several months down there. Bonus: I hear you can get a tan in Mexico.

4) American South. No, it is not foreign or even an exotic port of call, but if any American
region has a distinct and identifiable cuisine, it has to be the South. Yes, I am going to
New Orleans next month, which puts never-ending ants in my pants, but the Creole and Cajun
influences in New Orleans seems somewhat distinct  from Memphis barbecue or the slow-cooked
collards of Alabama. Hmmmmm, barbecue - I'm tired of only reading about the differences between
Carolina barbecue and Memphis barbecue. Reading is not visceral, reading cannot fill your
stomach to the point of orgasmic explosion. Not that I think all Southern cooking is
gut-busting and coronary-inducing. I suspect there is a subtlety to Southern cooking that is
a well-hidden secret from most of America. It is a shame that Paula Deen has become the face
of Southern cooking. I'm sure she is a nice woman and well-intentioned, but Food Network has
transformed her into a two-dimensional cartoon character. I doubt that Memphis barbecue is a
cartoon - time to find out if it is rather Dostoyevsky. I recommend David Martin Taylor's The New
Southern Cook.

5) Indonesia. Last stop on my Tour. Not that I can't think of other uncelebrated countries
or regions I want to Tour, but I have to stop the Tour somewhere. David and I also ate
Indonesian food at home, but circumstances prevented us from lasting a whole year on that
adventure, ending it after two months instead. What a wonderful and educational two months
that was. Indonesia, like other Asian countries, uses a whole different set of ingredients
than what Western cooks normally use. I found that you can't just start in using these
ingredients and expect instant success every time. I was just starting to familarize myself
with my new pantry when our experiment ended, but I have a whole new list of ingredients I
want to play with: palm sugar, tauco, blachen, candlenuts. Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)was one
of my favorite discoveries from cooking school, and I was more than happy to get re-acquainted
with it. I suspect my stabs at Indonesian-style creations would have been laughable to a
native. I suspect I would need several years there to even begin to gain a mastery of the
cuisine. But even a few weeks as a food tourist would help sate my curiosity. James Oseland's
Cradle of Flavor is one of the best-written cookbooks ever. Check it out from your
library or go buy it.

I am now accepting financial contributions to my Grand Tour. Contact me through this site.