How to Find your Favorite Ethnic Bites Anywhere

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Are you as daring an ethnic food dinner at home as you are when traveling?  According to a recent TopDeck Travel survey, travelers are more and more motivated notably to experience the local cuisine while traveling but to actually travel to seek out the best dish of its kind.

An Indian picnic with friends and family sharing regional dishes

The same rules sent to us apply at home, even experimenting in your own kitchen at home.  And we have found that the closer to home cooking ethnic can be, the better it tastes.

Here are some of our favorite finds from 2017 with using Topdeck Travel Tips to Experience Authentic Food Culture Around the World (or At Home).

Follow the locals:  Wander away from the touristy areas and find the restaurants where locals eat. If a spot is flooded with locals enjoying each other’s company, it’s likely that this restaurant offers authentic cuisine.

Practice food customs: Respect is key when visiting a new place. Whenever you travel somewhere new, take the time to learn about local meal etiquette. This will make you a more respectful guest and a less invasive tourist.

Ask for advice: Locals and well-seasoned travelers are the best sources of advice when it comes to finding exceptional food. Ask about the best places to eat and the best dishes to try — your tastebud guide will likely not disappoint.

Attend festivals and events: Food festivals offer an exciting array of local cuisine, and most of the time, you’ll be surrounded by cultural music and crafts as well. These types of events are great to wander with friends or simply get lost in the crowd.

Taste mindful: Once you actually bite into a new dish, slow down and engage all of your senses. Take the time to enjoy the flavors, as it might be a completely new tasting experience. This moment might be among the most memorable of your trip.

Learn what you like: Even the most adventurous foodies don’t like every single food they try. Remember that just because something is popular does not mean that you will like it. Being honest and critical is how you develop a palette.

And after the meal, even though there was no rug to roll up, the family started line dancing and invited us to join!  A priceless, lifetime memory experience!  

This holiday season was invited to an Oaxacan New Year’s Eve feast.  After hesitating because it was in a somewhat dangerous part of town, we went anyway and had the perfect introduction to 2018.  We also were also treated to the extraordinary Mezcal (below).

Our beautiful hostess prepares a fruit and yogurt dessert

Try a little of everything! Rice, pasta, chicken, pork, and mole.  Everything tastes so different when cooked at home.

My favorite turned out to be pasta, which I rarely eat, with roasted grasshoppers!

Everything is more tasty in a group!

Pasta with fried grasshoppers with flavor and a unique crunch! 

Ask for advice: Locals and well-seasoned travelers are often more reliable sources of for finding exceptional food.  And they usually love to share their “finds.”

We discovered a fisherman who owns Fisherman’s Daughter Seafood at a local farmer’s market.  He had just returned from a fishing outing on the Bering Sea (!) and very excited about sharing his catch with us!  He was a wealth of information on wild, fresh and varieties of salmon.

We also invited to a rare experience at a picnic where friends and family shared their timeworn, most popular recipes.

Cooking Indian regional dishes for friends and family, even better tasting outdoors.

I add:  Don’t be afraid to ask questions.  I learned the most this year from hearing answers to questions asked by people I thought were experts.