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New England World Summit Travel Options

We've been contacted by many of you in New England expressing your interest in attending the World Summit. You're concerned about travel costs and saving money on registration. We are here to help. KEEPING TRAVEL COSTS DOWN You've been concerned about a relatively high airfare (about $580 from Boston to Halifax) and wondered if there is a cheaper way to go. Yes there is. We're taking a list of names of people who might be interested in 1) traveling in a pre-arranged World Summit motorcoach with a group of other delegates; or 2) carpooling with other delegates (the drive is about 11 hours to Halifax from Boston). If you are interested in either, please email stacey@culinarytourism.org and state whether you: ____ I would be interested in riding in a pre-arranged World Summit motorcoach ____ I would be interested in sharing a ride (including tolls, gas, and possibly the driving, etc.) but not with my car ____ I would be interested in offering space in my car to others who would share the travel expenses (if so, please ALSO state HOW MANY people you can accommodate in your car) Please reply ASAP with your interest and CONTACT DETAILS so that we can begin matchmaking for our New England delegates. KEEPING REGISTRATION COSTS DOWN Budgets aren't great right now, but can you really afford to miss this opportunity since it is in your back yard? Our first suggestion is to register by July 31 and you will save $90 instantly (off the regular registration price). We're also offering an incentive. New England residents only can save an extra $50 by using the code "NEWENGLAND2010" during the checkout process. This code will work at any time while online registration is open but why wait when you can reduce your expenses by an additional $90 if you register before July 31? CONTEST FOR TWO COMPLIMENTARY REGISTRATIONS We're offering two complimentary registrations, along with with 2 complimentary mobile workshops, worth almost US$1000 each. Contestants please submit a maximum 400 word essay on why you should win and what you hope to learn from attending the culinary tourism summit. Travel to, and lodging in, Halifax are the responsibility of the winners. To enter please email your entry to: worldsummitcontest@culinarytourism.orgno later than August 15, 2010. Winners will be announced on the World Summit website at http://www.culinarytourism.org/link.asp?ymlink=271088&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eculinarytourismworldsummit%2Ecom See you in Halifax in September.

	Erik Wolf President & CEO International Culinary Tourism Association FoodTrekker.com (+1) 503 750 7200 4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd #440 Portland, Oregon 97214 USA

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World Summit: You're Invited!

World Summit High Visibility Opportunities

View the High Visibility Opportunities Press Release

June 2010 Food for Thought Newsletter

May 2010 Food For Thought Culinary Tourism Newsletter

Sommet du Tourisme Culinaire

Industry Report Names Louisiana as a Top Culinary Destination

Culinary Tourism in South Korea

Diario Los Andes (Argentina)

On Demand Webinars Now Available

ICTA Forms New Strategic Partnership with the STAA

Board Member Harlod Partain Shares Thoughts on Culinary Tourism in "Capitalize on Culinary Tourism"

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Travel Industry’s Only Certified Culinary Tourism Professional Program Launches

Travel Agent Magazine: Have Food? Will Travel

Peter Greenberg: An Olympic Guide to Food in Beijing

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Tales from the Road: Korea

Korea may not be first on your list of culinary destinations to visit. China and Japan are always popular choices for American and European travelers, as are Thailand and Bali (Indonesia). Yet Korea has some wonderful culinary delights and really, truly different culinary experiences, that will delight Western culinary travelers.

Once you get past the barrage of Western chains in the Seoul airport (if you arrive into Seoul), which you are unlikely to see much of after you get outside the airport, you are cast out into a beautiful countryside reminiscent of the Northwest coast of the United States. Yet something is very different: the language. There is enough signage in English so you can get around during your stay, but a pocket electronic translator does come in handy. If you don’t speak much English, then we suggest you bring a translation guide from your language into English, if you cannot find one from your language into Korean.

I was fortunate to be the guest of Mr William Jeong, a professor of tourism at Keimyung University in Daegu. Daegu is the 3^rd largest city in Korea. It reminded me of a very small San Francisco with a modest range of mountains encircling the town. Daegu is quite pretty, and of a manageable enough size that you can easily get around on the subway or very affordable taxis. Mr Jeong is passionate about culinary tourism and proud of his city of 2.5 million, which also has the distinction of having the highest number of restaurants per capita in Korea. In fact, Daegu is home to not one, not two, but three separate dining districts. The districts are reminiscent of the Las Vegas strip, but with various kinds of restaurants as far as the eye can see in both directions.

In Korea, dining is so much more than just about the food. First, there is the ceremony of the meal. Upon entering a restaurant, you remove your shoes and are shown to a table that rises just about ¼ meter off the floor. You are giving a refreshing moist towlette, as you may have experienced on an international flight. Then you place your order and an endless array of foods adorn your table. The first night we went to a “tuna shop”. Don’t let the simplistic name fool you. This was a type of restaurant that serves only the highest grade tuna, along with all of the accompaniments, including kim-chi, salads, noodles and egg soup. Diners are given a very small bowl with a bit of salt in the bottom. Then sesame oil is poured over the salt. My favorite Korean tradition is to dip the meat (not just tuna, but wonderful Korean beef too) into the salty sesame and quickly raise it to my lips. Be ready for the wonderful medley of flavors that coat your tastebuds. At the moment, Koreans favor Australian and local Korean beef, as opposed to American beef. You may have heard about some of the riots in Seoul against the import of American beef. It is a heated issue and one American visitors are advised to avoid (you will be asked).

Chopsticks are the utensil of choice here. However, Koreans, unlike other Asians, also use long-stemmed spoons with their meals. Forks and knives are uncommon, but the spoons are stored in a box with the chopsticks right on the table. I was very grateful for the spoon, as I was not terribly adept at the use of chopsticks when I arrived. But rest assured, a few days in Korea will cure even the clumsiest of diners of the inability to use chopsticks, as I found out by the end of my stay.

Korea is known for its local wines, but not wines like we know in the West. Plum wine is the most common, and other fruit wines exist as well. If anyone has ever tried a fruit wine from the United States, you are used to fruit wines of irregular quality probably also a bit thick and syrupy. However, Korean fruit wines are fresh and refined, almost like flavored sake, and a delicious accompaniment to your meal. I also tried a ginger root wine, which I was told is a costly delicacy with curative properties.

Koreans appreciate beauty in their cuisine. Excitement grows at the table as beautiful dishes are presented at the table in all their glorious color. Fish is sliced and stacked in neat little rows. Kimchi and other vegetables are presented in small, manageable bowls. The bulgogi (typical Korean meat dish) ingredients are stacked artfully high before they are cooked right before you. Then the act of cooking at the table, with all the wonderful smells and sights, heightens the overall culinary experience even more.

Despite the proliferation of sesame oil and red meat, Korean cuisine is healthy by Western standards. Koreans eat much more fish than we do in the West, and they also eat many, many more vegetables than does the typical American. There is also something of a health tradition in Korean food. Many of the recipes evolved over centuries of experimentation. For example, one afternoon Mr Jeong took me to a restaurant in Daegu known for its “healthy chicken soup”. The soup was quite tasty and in addition to including the chicken bones (healthy protection against a cold, as you may have heard), plenty of healthy roots with curative properties are also are found in the soup. The restaurant, whose name I cannot transliterate, is located in the district where the herb/health stores are found. There is also a museum of Korean medicine, which shows how herbs, roots, animal parts and even minerals and metals, have been used over time to cure all kinds of diseases. Unlike in the West, herbs in Korea are prescribed by doctors and the locals know they work.

Mr Jeong and his students were wonderful hosts. I left Korea with a strong respect for, and appreciation of, Koreans and their cuisine. I’m already planning my next trip (really, I am).

Tales from the Road: New Orleans

Visit louisiana.foodtrekker.com to learn more about any of the culinary treats mentioned below, read and write reviews on your favorite food establishments, or to plan your own customized culinary itinerary in New Orleans or elsewhere in Louisiana.

Photo: Lionel Key of Uncle Bill Spices hand-making gumbo filé

SAVORY

Perhaps better than anything else, Louisiana is known for its Cajun and Creole cuisines. There's no space here to go into detail about how they differ and their interesting histories, but take our word for it, the dishes are wonderful. We recommend: red beans and rice; a shrimp po-boy (sandwich) with Cajun remoulade sauce; gumbo; crawfish etouffee; and jambalaya among other local favorites. Try Mother's on Poydras for an authentic selection of po-boys and other goodies. Their specialty is a "debris" po-boy. Debris is roast beef topped with the roast beef drippings from when the beef is roasted and used as a condiment on many of Mother's sandwiches. If you like spicy, a staple around here is Tabasco brand hot sauce. Be sure to apply liberally to everything you eat. There are many kinds of hot sauces, which you will soon discover, but Tabasco is the original. If you have time, make the effort to visit the Tabasco visitor center on Avery Island (just over an hour away by car).

If you like olives, try a muffuletta sandwich, which was invented in New Orleans. It's a thick, fresh French roll filled with marinated green olives, herbs, olive oil, capers, celery, minced carrots and cauliflower atop layers of hearty Genoa salami and mortadella and/or provolone cheese. Some muffulettas are made with more olives and others are made with more vegetables, so you have to experiment to find who makes the one you like best. Try Central Market grocery in the French Quarter before you try any others because theirs is considered the original and the standard by which others are measured.

Brennan's is an institution in the city, but breakfast for two will set you back about US$80 - before drinks! Palace Café, on the edge of the French Quarter, offers a more affordable alternative and equally as tasty dishes.

Palace is famous for its crabmeat cheesecake - and with good reason. Try Beignets foster or the Cajun Eggs Benedict - all tasty. You can try many of their best items as appetizers, thereby saving strain on both your tummy and your wallet.

If you like jazz, try dining in one of the cities restaurants that features jazz while you dine. Such establishments are easy to find but the Palm is a popular choice. Unfortunately, the sound of jazz no longer echoes through Bourbon Street as it once did so if you want jazz, you'll have to seek it out.

SWEET

If you're like us, you want to try every food that New Orleans is famous for - and that's a lot. Start the day with beignets and café au lait at Café du Monde. While the staff may have changed after the hurricane, the coffee and beignets offer the same flavors and are quite filing. Be sure not to wear anything fancy as the powdered sugar gets all over everything. Those with a sweet tooth will notice signs for pralines all around the city. Authentic pralines are made with brown sugar, butter, cream and pecans. If you are a purist, be sure to read the ingredients before buying. Some pralines are made with artificial colors, preservatives and high glucose corn syrup. For example, soft, chewy pralines must be made with glucose syrup as well as sugar. If you like soft, chewy pralines, try Southern Candymakers on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. They also offer the widest variety of praline flavors we've seen in the city.

New Orleans is home of the cocktail. You'll find walk-up daiquiri bars everywhere in the city. If you get outside the city, you'll even find drive-thru daiquiri bars - a Louisiana anomaly. Hurricanes are a popular cocktail, but try the Sazerac, also invented in New Orleans. A Sazerac is chilled bourbon supplemented with flavors of various bitters and typically preferred by men.

SOUVENIR

Of course a box of pralines would always be welcome back home, but could melt in your luggage on the return trip. A safer bet might be Slap Ya Mama seasoning mix (pictured above) or a bottle of Arnaud's Cajun remoulade, available everywhere throughout the city.

If you want a more distinctive culinary souvenir, had over to New Orleans Silversmiths off Toulouse St. They offer a wide variety of silver culinary tools and kitchen accessories, such as cocktail shakers, salt and pepper shakers, napkin rings, and so on. Non-US visitors should come prepared to shop, as Louisiana has a tax-free shopping program for international tourists.

Another great way to fill your mind with wonderful memories is through a culinary history tour. New Orleans Culinary History Tours will give you the scoop on who did what when in this city's rich culinary history. If you prefer to be driven, ask at your hotel for a guide and driver. Beware, however, that many of the local cab drivers speak English as their second language (French Creole being their first).

SUMMARY

If for some strange reason you are not impressed with the food in this culinarily rich city, remember, there is nothing a cocktail and a stick of butter can't fix!

One interesting thing we noticed is that people here tend to say "Have a good time" rather than "Have a good day", perhaps an indicator of their propensity to enjoy life. So prepare for a good time, for you will feast and drink well in this historical and culturally fascinating American city.

Visit louisiana.foodtrekker.com to learn more about any of the culinary treats mentioned above, read and write reviews of your favorite food establishments, or to plan your own customized culinary itinerary in New Orleans or elsewhere in Louisiana.

Peter Greenberg: Culinary Travel: Eat Like a Local, Even If You’re Not One