Culinary connoisseurs assemble, this one’s for you. If, like us, you spend the months, weeks and days before a holiday thinking about the smorgasbord of savoury and sweet treats that’ll pass your lips and waft beneath your nose from the second you arrive, you’re in the right place. Eating and holidays go hand in hand – literally. In fact, it seems almost criminal to walk around the winding cobbled alleyways of Bellagio without a gelato cone; or indeed tackle the sights and delights of Paris without a pastry and café au lait in each hand (à la Audrey Hepburn). That’s the thing about food. It doesn’t just represent cultures and myriad generations of tradition; it is what binds them. The most tangible essence of a nation and the hardest to replicate, it’s probably one of the reasons why locals insist we take a taster home. If you’re as passionate about food as we are, read on to discover the best holidays for foodies…
New Orleans, USA
New Orleans knows how to throw a party. And as any good host knows, food should always take centre stage. The first thing to know about New Orleanian cuisine, is that it rarely follows a recipe. Instead, it chooses to playfully infuse its Caribbean, African and European influences into dishes like alligator cheesecake, crawfish boils and fried rabbit with fiery red beans. ‘Big Easy’ cuisine is rarely in a rush either. So, take a seat and patiently await the plates of braised, boiled and stewed slip-off-the-bone black angus beef. What really distinguishes New Orleans from other culinary capitals, however, is its restaurants. Steeped in history and representing the city’s most fabled dishes, you’ll be spoilt for choice as wafts of ‘Johnny’s Special’ po’boys spill into the French Quarter’s streets and Café du Monde’s freshly baked beignets (the city’s signature pastry thanks to its early French immigrants) make their way into the hands of early risers. As they say in Louisiana, it all makes for some serious eatin’.
Oaxaca, Mexico
The saying goes ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’ While we don’t believe it’s the only way, it appears that Mexico has taken the saying and run with it. Cue the flurry of makeshift stalls of steaming tamales, tacos and flautas (fried tortillas stuffed with meat) that line Mexican city streets and you’ve got the first cuisine to ever receive UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. In Oaxaca it’s no different. However, there is something about the vibrant state that puts it in a league if its own. It probably has something to do with mole (meaning ‘sauce’) – the area’s most famous and lusted-after national dish. Made with fruits, nuts, chilis and chocolate, mole is an Oaxacan staple which is generously poured over poached and roasted meats, and often served with rice. Making mole is no easy feat though. Some Oaxacan moles require over 30 ingredients and take six hours to make. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the sacred sauce rhymes with olé…
San Sebastian, Spain
If Spain was a meal, San Sebastian would be its main course. Sitting among elegant Belle Époque architecture in a sheltered bay just off the Bay of Biscay, this laidback Basque town has long been a foodie fiend. Yet, despite boasting more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere in the world – as well as two of the top 50 restaurants in the world – it is the city’s penchant for gastronomic variety that makes it one of the best holidays for foodies. Whether it be inside one of the 100 pintxo bars crammed into the Parte Vieja or during a 20-course tasting menu of roast octopus and txuleta (grilled ox) at haute hillside restaurants, San Sebastian’s gastronomy never misses a beat. Spend a few days learning about why food plays such a central role in Basque culture and tasting all the signature dishes and we guarantee San Sebastian will become a foodie destination that’ll leave you hungry for more.
Hoi Chi Minh City, Vietnam
The best holidays for foodies include a pinch of tradition, a dash of eclectic street food and a whole lot of flavour. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is no exception. High-octane and chaotic yet utterly charming, you’ll find yourself dodging the whirr of a million mopeds as you attempt to eat your body weight in cơm tấm (fluffy broken rice with grilled pork chops) and wash it down with a couple of cold Saigon street beers at Ben Thanh market. Like every other foodie city, HCMC has its fair share of gastronomy (look up Quince, L’Escale by Thierry Drapeau and Blanc if you’re after Michelin-style opulence). But where the city truly shines is in its street food. Take a wander down Vĩnh Khánh Street (Seafood Street), past stalls selling grilled snails and crab claws, stop at Bánh Xèo 46A in District 1 for skillet-fried sizzling pancakes of the same name, and treat your yourself to traditional phở in kitchens that are miniature in size but mammoth in flavour.
Lyon, France
If Paris is known as the city of love, then Lyon is the city of food. Equidistant to the vineyards of Burgundy, the fisheries of the Mediterranean and the mountains of the Rhône-Alpes, it was as though the city was always destined to become a haute cuisine hot spot. Now home to 4,000 restaurants (17 of which have Michelin stars under their name) as well as myriad dishes that are strictly Lyonnaise, we can attest that a long weekend in the historic and epicurean city makes for one of the best holidays for foodies. Treat your tastebuds as you eat your way through the outdoor food markets of Saint-Antoine and Salengro, give toasts over quenelles de brochet (pike dumplings served with creamy crayfish, lobster and mushrooms) in busy bouchons and become fascinated by the finesse that goes into a Burgundy Beaujolais. And if that’s not enough, an afternoon spent sampling brandy-soaked epoisse and creamy saint-marcellin cheeses on the Rhône is sure to have you falling head over heels for France’s gourmet capital. Eat your heart out Paris.