Most of us intrepid travellers have spent sleepless hours screenshotting friends’ Instagrammed dinners, making secret Pinterest boards devoted to Gambas Pil Pil and recieved so many unsolicited recommendations lists it’s almost too overwhelming to actually refer to. After all, holidays are great, but the food on holiday is even better. So cut the fat (if you pardon the pun) and book your next trip based solely on the food it has produced - after all is there a more apt marker of greatness?
Aperol Spritz in Padua
Don’t listen to the basic b*tches, Venice is not the home of the Aperol Spritz, Padua is. The cerebral little brother to its tourist-riddled, bigger brother, might only be a 25-minute train ride away, but the difference in vibe couldn’t be starker. Yes, there are ornate churches, most ceilings are frescoed and there is even the odd canal, but Padua is a University city, so unlike Venice, the throngs are made up of students rather than retired couples from Pennsylvania. But whether you’re old or young, sitting in the bustling Piazza Della Frutta or down a sleepy side street the unifying drink clasped in everyone’s hands is a tumbler of burnt orange nectar. We’ve all had an Aperol Spritz, but in Padua this popular cocktail tastes like how you’d imagine it would if you were in a film by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) on a later summer evening in the first bursts of youth and romance.
You may well wonder at the history of the now iconic tangerine prosecco, soda water and Aperol-infused cocktail. Well, the story goes that when Padua was under the control of Austro-Hungarian empire in the 1800’s, Italian wine was too strong for the Austrian soldiers who watered down their beverages with a splash (spritz in German) of water. As the years went by the recipe mutated to include fizzy water, which was then added to liquor and eventually to Aperol, which was invented in 1917 by brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri.
Where to drink: As mentioned, you can drink Aperol Spritz anywhere in Padua and they’re usually pretty interchangeable but if you’re looking for a multi-sensory experience then head to Entotavala Pino in the historic Jewish quarter. This trendy bar serves refined Aperols with a side of mouth-watering seafood. Order the deep blue risotto made with black cuttlefish, spirulina algae and topped with gold leaf.
Or for more variations of Aperol Spritz than you could possibly imagine, head to La Yarda. The laidback bar is slightly tucked away from the crowds in the tree-lined Piazza Capitaniato and boasts a menu of over 30 different types of Spritz, but the locals actually come here for the “Igor”, which, while still appealingly crimson, doesn’t feature any aperol at all and is made from vodka, tonic and bitters. Just be careful, it’s deceivingly strong.
Paella in Valencia
After your first taste of paella it can be difficult to return to eating plain, boring rice, or in fact, ordering anything in a restaurant that isn’t ceremoniously served on a metre-wide, spherical dish. Paella is essentially a type of risotto and typically considered Spain’s national dish, but Spaniards would argue it is very much a product of Valencia.
The eastern-Spanish city is one of the original rice producing regions in the country, after rice was introduced by sea-faring Arabs who traded across the Mediterranean Sea during the heyday of the Ottoman Empire. It is thought that the first paella was concocted by Valencian farmers looking to cook anything they could get their hands on after a long day’s hard labour. The original paella was made from rice, tomatoes, onions and typically rabbit or snails. You may baulk at the idea but to this day a traditional Valencian paella is still made with a combination of chicken and rabbit meat, mixed with green beans and lima beans and of course saffron and sweet paprika. The seafood paella we have come to associate with the dish, is in fact, a very recent iteration and not considered particularly traditional.
Top tip: don’t turn your nose up at the socarrat, otherwise known as the burnt bit at the bottom of the paella where the rice has caramelised and stuck to the pan. It is widely considered the most delicious part of the dish and typically saved for the patriarch of the family. Boo.
Where to eat: For a taste of properly authentic paella you have to go to Casa Roberto in the arty Ruzafa district near the old town. Opened in 1986, the paella’s follow the original recipe, snails et al. Or for a smorgasbord of different flavours head to award-winning La Riua, with black rice paella, seafood paella and even duck, mushroom and foie gras paella on the menu, it’ll be near impossible to tighten your waistband after.
Margaritas in Mexico City
The tequila-based cocktail has seen many iterations and dare I say it bastardizations over the years, but you can’t go too far off course in the capital of the country where it was invented, Mexico City. As with most classic tipples there is much dispute over its exact origins and parentage, most of them involving barmen inventing drinks for fussy women invariably called Margaret. But the most pervasive origin story seems to be that a restaurateur called Carlos (Danny) Herrera invented the cocktail in 1938 for a beautiful showgirl called Marjorie King, although some swear it was made for Rita Hayworth during her theatre tour of Tijuana during the 1940’s. Either way, it caught on.
Now, it’s slightly cheeky to suggest that Mexico City is the best place for margarita as Oaxaca is actually the home of mezcal, which is made from the same ingredients as tequila but uses a slightly different part of the Agave fruit and distillation process. But for the unrefined palate both spirits taste interchangeable, so just remember when you order a margarita in the capital you’re getting a mezcal margarita unless otherwise specified. Either way, if you’re in the market for a margarita you are in the right place, wander down any tree-lined street in Condesa or though the buzzy neighbourhood of Jaurez and you’ll stumble across at least one mezcaleria every few metres selling goblet-sized portions of the salty, limey drink for pennies.
Where to taste: There are so many authentic, vibey bars in Mexico City it’s almost impossible to pinpoint just a couple, but if you’re looking for an intimate drink in a trendy dive bar then La Clandestina should be on your list. Tucked away in a hidden backstreet in hip Roma Norte the bar attracts young creatives looking for low lighting and quaffable margaritas. But if you’re in the mood to dress up and splash some cash head to Licorería Limantour, there’s usually a queue but it’s worth it for the expertly poured cocktails and sense of occasion.
Sticky Toffee Pudding in Yorkshire
This historic northern county is the birthplace of not one but several British delicacies. The Sunday roast for one, was invented in the area during the reign of Henry VII as a post-church treat. Fast forward 500 years and the tireless Yorkshiremen brought forth the duly named Yorkshire pudding, a perfect accoutrement to their Sunday feast. But, savoury food is not Yorkshire’s only speciality, it is also where the Sticky Toffee Pudding, king of deserts first reared its delicious head.
As always its exact origins are dubious and fiercely contested, some say the Gait Inn in Millington were the alchemists who first whipped together dates and bicarbonate of soda to bring us this thing of joy. While other sources swear that owners of Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel in Cumbria, Francis Coulson and Robert Lee invented the pub menu staple in 1970.
Nowadays it seems impossible to envision a world without the treacly, stodgy dessert but for those unfamiliar it’s made with medjool dates and served with a butterscotch sauce and sometimes with an additional scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Where to eat: Any pub worth its salt will have a sticky toffee on its menu and to be honest it’s difficult to go too wrong, the only cardinal rule of thumb being don’t scrimp on the sauce. The Shibden Mill Inn is a picture-postcard 17th century pub in Halifax, the chef Will Webster’s mouthwatering menu is inspired by traditional Yorkshire food and has won several awards. Whatever you do though, come here for the sticky toffee pudding and stout ice cream, it will leave you dreaming of dessert for days on end.
Pierogi in Kraków
You may not have heard of pierogi, but these little parcels of cheesy, meaty joy are having a hipster makeover, much like mortadella back in 2020. London, stay tuned pierogi are already all the rage in New York and beloved by Brooklyn scenesters au fait with the Polish dumplings, washing them down with a shot of cherry-infused vodka.
But where did the stodgy little dumplings come from? Well, it’s thought that they washed up on Baltic shores from China in the 13th century, where they promptly received an Eastern-European re-working, essentially ditching spices for mashed potato. Nowadays the crescent moon shaped delicacy is made from unleavened dough, which is usually boiled and sprinkled with deep fried onion. The most popular fillings are Pierogi Ruskie, which are a delicate mix of cheese, mashed potato and onion, or Pierogi z miÄsem (literally just translates as Pierogi with meat) and are usually stuffed full of ground pork or beef and sometimes come with onion, garlic or sauerkraut.
Where to eat: The Southern Polish city of Krakòw has become a byword for stag do’s partly thanks to its cheap pints and Bavarian-style bars, but it’s also an absolute haven for dumpling aficionados, but be warned the portion sizes are huge. For fuss-free pierogi head to one of the Bar Mleczny (Milk Bars) that dot the city, they’re sort of the equivalent of Mexico’sTaqueria Orinoco or a British caf, just with pierogi and a cup of tea rather than a full English. For something a little fancier, head to Pod AnioÅami, which translates as “under the angels”, this rustic restaurant is located in a mediaeval cellar and the pierogi are to die for. Order a platter of the nobleman’s dumplings to try a few different flavours, including venison and spinach and ricotta.
Ceviche in Lima
The capital of Peru has a culinary reputation that precedes itself, voted the culinary capital of South America by The New York Times, while Peru was proclaimed the “World’s Leading Culinary Destination” at the World Travel Awards in 2021, a title it has held for the last nine years. Nine!
Peruvian cuisine has influences from all over the world from the indigenous Inca population to Spanish, Italian, West African and Japanese cooking. Immigrants from these countries brought over their own recipes and modified them based on the ingredients available, like sweet potatoes and quinoa which they paired with rice and cured meats. But nowadays the four pillars of Peruvian cuisine are still beans, corn, potatoes and grains like quinoa or araminth, popularised in the UK as staples of the wellness movement.
But you can’t talk about Lima without talking about ceviche. The cured fish dish has become something of a staple across South America and is typically composed of white fish that has been cured in lime juice and salt and sometimes tiger milk and is then served with macerated coriander and red onion.
Where to eat: With its abundance of Michelin-starred chefs, Lima has one of the most dynamic restaurant scenes in the world and without the constraints of stiff institutions or limited fresh produce, the vibe and dishes are experimental and decidedly cool. For a seriously refined take on ceviche head to Lima institution Central. Or for something decidedly more hearty, head to Canta Rana, an authentic restaurant filled with eclectic art lining every wall in the hip neighbourhood of Barranco. It’s always packed with locals tucking into ceviche de pescado and sipping cold Cusqueñas.
