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Laila Hassaballa is an avid foodie and traveler, as well as the co-founder of Egypt’s very first specialized food tour company, Bellies En-Route. She decided to start the company along with her business partner Mia Nezar to finally bring culinary tourism to Egypt and help people get to know the culture while enjoying some fantastic, authentic, good food.

1. What foods is your city known for?

There’s so much great food here for people to enjoy, both fully Egyptian, as well as food that has been influenced by all the countries we were influenced by during our long history. The Egyptian national dish is Koshari, which is an awesome (but strange) mix of rice, macaroni, lentils and vermicelli, covered in thick tomato sauce, topped off with chickpeas and thin, fried onions. It’s delicious, nutritious and very affordable, not to mention that it’s available on every corner of Cairo. Koshari is not the only food though, fava beans and taamiya (also known as falafel) are huge staples, along with lots of other delicious food.

2. What neighborhoods should people visit when they come to your city?

There are a couple of parts of the city which are really interesting, and they’re all different styles. Our favorite is Wust El Balad (Downtown), not only are the people you meet there diverse, but the food also comes with a lot of history, with small restaurants owned by expats who have lived here since the 50’s, as well as restaurants which are 70+ years old. Street food is widely available and the architecture is a blend of European styles. Zamalek is also a great part of the city if you’re more into the modern scene. It’s an island in the middle of the Nile in Cairo, and it hosts countless numbers of restaurants and great places to eat foods from all over the world. Finally, we’re not all about the pharaohs, Islamic Cairo is not only a huge part of our history, but also a great part of our city. It also includes restaurants dating back to the early 1900’s, and some of the best Egyptian grilled food you can have.

3. What is the best time of year to visit your city?

Since the summers are pretty hot in Cairo, your best bet is to visit right before or right after summer. The weather is usually great starting September/October, there’s a fresh breeze and the sun still shines, but it’s not as scorching as it is in July. December is also great if you’re planning to do sightseeing, but not a good choice if you’re heading out to the beach cities. You also have the option of visiting from March to May, but April is a bit risky with a few very windy days carrying red dust which could easily ruin your sightseeing plans.

4. Are there any events foodies should plan their trip to your city around?

Even though the food culture is huge here, we don’t have a lot of public events focusing on food, however, most of our religious holidays have food as the main factor though. In the Eid Al Fitr (right after Ramadan, which changes every year based on the Hijri calendar), we eat a lot of Egyptian Kahk, which is a small cookie with nuts or a type of sugary paste inside, topped off with loads of powdered sugar. For Eid Al Adha (a few months after that), we eat a lot of food made of beef/lamb/mutton, using almost every single part of the chosen animal, so vegetarians might want to skip that time. It’s not advised to visit in Ramadan, since most restaurants would only be serving food only at sunset everyday, not before that. Other than that, we’re really a city that appreciates food, and you’d always be able to find food, no matter what time of day it is.

5. What can people expect on your food tours?

People can expect to eat very locally-rooted authentic foods, and get stories about the food as well as its history, and a brief about what it’s made of. We also like to incorporate cultural aspects on our tours, so we choose the locations accordingly. Finally, we really value a connection with the locals, so we’re very open to having open conversations with people we’re touring with, and encourage them to also connect with other locals during our tours.

Keith Fogarty is a 20-year veteran of the restaurant industry in both Boston and Orlando and spent 10 years in operations in the travel industry working for Smart Destinations. Keith also spent several years in the craft beer industry in New England, specifically with the Brooklyn Brewery. It was on a business visit in Miami when he took his first food tour and thought this would be something really neat to start in Orlando. Introducing Celebrate Food Tours!!

1. What foods is your city known for?

If you don’t live here, one may think of the food scene in Orlando as turkey legs at theme parks (I do partake in one occasionally) and chain restaurants. But the Orlando food scene has been evolving spectacularly both in the local farm to table with our multitude of great chefs and in the celebrity chef restaurant offerings. Ok, you want specific foods. Gator tail, conch, rock shrimp, key lime pie and of course our Florida oranges are the usual delicious suspects.

2. What neighborhoods should people visit when they come to your city?

Well of course Celebration and Winter Garden because of our food tours but there are several others where you’ll feel miles away from the theme parks if that’s what you choose. Winter Park feels a bit like Boston, historic Sanford on the St. John’s River and Thornton and College Park really speak to the word neighborhood to name a few. Each are distinctly different and offer not only diverse dining options but have a neat historical past.

3. What is the best time of year to visit your city?

From a local’s point of view, Fall is the best time to visit as the summer crowds have shrunken a bit. But please remember, our perspective of the “slow season” may be skewed as 65 million visitors annually visit Orlando! The weather is a bit cooler around mid October which makes walking the “City Beautiful” much more enjoyable. It’s also the time of the EPCOT’s International Food and Wine Festival as well as tons of local food events.

4. Are there any events foodies should plan their trip to your city around?

The aforementioned EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival runs from mid September through mid November and the Annual Strawberry Festival in Plant City which is halfway between Orlando and Tampa, is the 1st 2 weeks of March. Both include great concert lineups to compliment the great food.

 

5. What can people expect on your food tours?

We are brand new and started running our Taste of Celebration tour in August. Celebration is a Walt Disney inspired All-American town just minutes from most of the theme parks. It’s beautifully designed around a town center which has a plethora of great restaurants. Our tour stops at 5 of them and is almost a progressive lunch tasting which includes a bit of history, architecture, culture, and fun facts.Tastings include a Spanish restaurant, a New England Seafood Tavern, a boutique hotel, a wine room and of course dessert. But honestly our main goal is lots of fun and laughs!! Coming soon is the Taste of Winter Garden Tour.

Mariana Kavroulaki is experimental archaeologist- food historian & founder of Greek Culinary History and Cooking Adventures. GCH&CA explores the evolution of Greek cuisine throughout the centuries and the relationship between food and art as participatory performance with socio-historical focus. Her work takes many forms, including pop-up dinners, experiments, lectures, historic cooking courses, edible installations, and food walking tours. On the walking tours, the participants do not only eat but also explore the tales behind the foods and the preparation of each food item. She is the author of a Gourmand award-winning cookbook (The Language of Taste) and the founder and organizer of the biennial Symposia of Greek Gastronomy (conference).
 
 

1. What foods is your region known for?

The edible wild greens (horta) and the edilbe weeds play a vital role in the Cretan diet. Chania boast many varieties of them.  According to the season, they are eaten raw or boiled, put in pies or stewed with meat or fish. Don’t miss askolimbrous (Scolymus Hispanicus) and stamnagathi (Chicorium Spinosum). Blanched or raw, with extra virgin olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice, they can make your salad a luxury item. Cooked with lamb or octopus and egg-lemon sauce, they make delicious dishes. With a bitter flavor, the young shoots of avronies (black byrony) pairs very well with octopus or eggs. Horta Yahni, a stew of wild greens with chopped onions, wild fennel and lemon juice is another tasty dish based on greens. Octopus and cuttlefish fresh from the Cretan sea are incredibly tasty, boiled or grilled and drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice or cooked with wild fennel and green olives.
 
Askordoulakoi or vrovioi are actually the bulb of a tassel hyacinth, the muscari comosum. They are boiled and then pickled or preserved in olive oil. They are thought to stimulate the appetite.
 
The ever-popular dakos is known by regional names throughout Crete. What is it? Barley rusks lightly soaked in water to soften them and topped with grated fresh tomato, black olives and mizithra, the local creamy sheep or/and goat’s milk cheese. They are drizzled with virgin olive oil and dusted with salt and oregano. The highly aromatic bitter orange is a favorite of Chania’s cuisine. Its peel can be candied, is used in sweets, pies and salads and is turned into a typical spoon sweet (neratzaki glyko). Its juice is used as preservation for olives and gives a unique flavor to one of most popular legume dishes: chickpeas cooked with onion, olive oil and bitter orange juice.
 
Snails have been eaten since ancient times. In Chania they are cooked in many different ways but you definitely have to try the hohlioi boubouristoi which means snails with their heads looking down. They are sauteed in olive oil with sea salt, rosemary, garlic and are simmered down with wine vinegar.
 
Apaki is an excellent salt, vinegar, and smoke –cured pork meat. The final product tastes of the fresh herbs which were used to smoke it. As the name ‘gamopilafo’ hints (gamos means ‘wedding’ in Greek) this rice dish is traditionally offered in many regions of Chania as the main dish of the wedding feast. Nowadays you will find it also in many tavernas of Chania. It is a pilaf prepared in a rich broth that you make from simmering goat and hen or rooster. Lemon juice and local butter are added before the pilafi is completely done.  Its taste relies especially on the high quality of the local meat and on the aroma of the local butter used (stakovoutyro).
 
Staka comes from the separation of butter (stakovoutyro) from the milk solids by adding a little flour during heating the creamy skin that forms on the top of the fresh goat’s or/and sheep’s milk. It is eaten still warm, sprinkled with lemon juice.
 
Chania is well known for its pies. Tourta is a very rich pie used to be eaten only at Easter although now you can find it all year round. Tourta has pieces of lamb – or a whole lamb- between layers of local cheeses and phyllo.
 
Boureki is also a pie. The word derives from Turkish but the Chaniotiko Boureki is a speciality of Chania. There are many variations of it so it can consist of layers of zuchini or pumpkin, mizithra (local fresh cheese) and mint. It can be made with or without tomatoes, with or without a layer of phyllo dough.
 
Kalitsounia are small pies. They can be round, semicircular, rectangular or triangular; they are made up of phyllo and are filled with local soft cheese or greens or a mixture of them. They can be sweet or savory and are fried, oven baked or baked on “satsi” which is a domed metal piece that sits over the fire.
 
One type of pie, the Sfakiani pita, isn’t found only around Sfakia but even in the city of Chania. It looks like a pancake with soft cheese kneaded into the dough and is served with thyme honey.
 
Wild fennel pie, Marathopita, also looks like a pancake filled with chopped fennel and onions. Bougatsa is the iconic food symbol of Chania. It is made with crusty phyllo pastry and filled with fresh soft cheese. It is served cut up into small pieces, sprinkled with sugar and optionally, cinnamon.
 
Chania is famous for its cheeses. Graviera is made with sheep’s milk and resembles Swiss gruyere; its best quality is aged in caves in the White Mountains for at least six months. You can have it as a snack with a piece of bread or paximadi (rusk), in salads, fried, with fruits (especially with fresh figs and grapes) or sprinkled with good quality honey. Mizithra is a soft, creamy, white cheese. It is made with sheep’s and/or goat’s milk. It is consumed on the table, as a spread on bread and rusk, in salads, over pasta, in sweet and savory pie fillings, as a filling in rabbit and chicken dishes.
 
One very unusual cheese is malaka (=soft). It is white, very milky and elastic – sort of like mozzarella. It is mainly eaten in Easter pies. The mixture of mizithra and malaka is used in tourta and Easter kalitsouni. Apart from sfakiani pita and bougatsa, another dessert to snap up is xerotigana, etherial pastry ribbons that are coiled around a fork as they are deep fried. They come dipped in honey syrup and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
 
 

2. What is the best time of year to visit your city?

T he best time to visit Chania is in late spring – early summer, because it’s the very beginning of the touring season and nothing is crowded. Also, it’s just after the rainy season, and the gardens are bursting with flowers!
 
 

3. Are there any events foodies should plan their trip to your city around?

Agricultural August is an annual event taking place for the last 13 years in Chania. It is organised to promote the agricultural food- products of the region. Visitors can taste and buy a lot of local products.
Crete has a long sardine fishing tradition so sardine festival is as popular with Chania visitors as it is with locals. It is celebrated each year in early September on Nea Chora beach, just a short walk from the Venetian harbour of Chania.
Chania has 4 weekly farmer markets (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) at different locations. They are great places to buy fresh locally grown fruit and vegetables, cheeses and herbs from small producers at low prices but even if you don’t buy it will give you a glimpse of local life. The markets run from early morning until around 14.30.
 
 

4. Who are some of the chefs in your city that we should keep an eye on?

Yannis Tsivourakis, the executive chef at the five-star Minoa Hotel, modernises traditional Cretan cuisine. He is one of the few chefs who uses olive oil almost exclusively as the main ingredient for his dishes. Also, he is very fond of humble and underestimated ingredients. Iosif Petrov, executive chef at the restaurant of Serenissima hotel, creates avant garde dishes combining local ingredients and recipes with french techniques. South of Chania, in the small traditional village of Drakona, Stelios Trilirakis, chef-patron at Ntounias, honours traditional Cretan cuisine and the methods of Slow Food.
 
 

5. What can people expect on your food tours?

They can expect tasty food tastings, food history, politics and culture. Since Arabs, Jews, Venetians, Ottomans, Greeks from Asia Minor and immigrants have passed through Chania, adding their flavors to the local cuisine, they will follow their trail. Therefore, they will experience a multisensory food event and a short lesson in ancient cooking, they will be treated to historic foods made according to ancient and medieval recipes and will taste delectable delicacies from one-of-a-kind specialty food shops while enjoying the opportunity to understand better the culinary history of the city.

Andre Arriaza is passionate about sharing food, simply because it has giving him so much about cultures and people, there has been always something new and great to learn and try, and moreover to connect with. So far, according to Andre, food unites and thats unique in nowadays world, a fact that is now he exercise every week with the curious foodie who joins Barcelona Eat Local Food Tours. We asked him a few questions…
 
 

1. What foods is your city known for?

Pa amb tomaquet (bread with tomato). An art on itself and an identity to Catalan people. Bread rubbed with garlic, tomato, olive oil and a pinch of salt in that very same order Escalivada. Eggplant and Bell Peppers cooked in ashes served with a generous amount of olive oil are the ingredients of this perfect pairing to Pa amb Tomaquet Crema Catalana. Burned cream recipe unique to Catalonia as the custard is flavored with orange zest and cinnamon, and the sugar caramelized under an iron boiler. Catanies. Locally grown almonds which are toasted and covered by caramel, white chocolate and powdered black chocolate. A perfect pair with cava or coffee. Vermut. Indispensable drink if you want to go for tapas in Barcelona. It is basically a type of fortified wine flavored with herbs. Pair it olives or clams and anchovies.
 
 

2. What neighborhoods should people visit when they come to your city?

All of them! Why, because each Barcelona neighborhood is unique. Nevertheless to answer your question, I give you my favorite ones and the reason why i choose them: – Sant Antoni and Poblesec. This is where I got to know Barcelona 12 years ago. These are two neighborhoods that have been always flying below the radar, the place that is close to Barcelona bustling center which is not invaded by massive tourism and where the locals just live and enjoy life at their own pace. Moreover, the gastronomic offer has been always amazing, and more these days with famous chefs settling their restaurants there. Unique! – Barceloneta. Beyond the noise of the city center, this is the place that turns its back to Barcelona and reveal itself on a distinctive atmosphere linked to its past as a fisherman village. I really love strolling around its windy narrow streets, smelling fish and seafood based recipes prepared everywhere and getting the first glimpse of what the Mediterranean sea has to offer us. Amazing! – Left side of Eixample. This is the side, close to the city center, that is glamorous and concentrates most of Barcelona top restaurants within a distinctive representation of day to day life in the city. I really love the trendy places that share their offer with the old renowned eateries that didn’t see time passing by. Superb!
 
 

3. What is the best time of year to visit your city?

Funny question, Barcelona host a fantastic weather all year long. Even in winter some people go into the sea, and moreover its proximity to the Pyrenees makes it a top attraction during winter (sky during the day, sleep by the sea at night), and no comments about spring and summer – we all like wearing flip flops and t-shirts day and night.
 
 

4. What can people expect on your food tours?

Barcelona Eat Local Food Tours celebrates people that are passionate about food by providing customers a culinary and cultural experience in fascinating neighborhoods of this city, exposing them to the way locals eat, source their food and embrace its culture in a sustainable way. Did you hear about the famous Mediterranean diet? well, that´s showcased in our food tour! We provide a remarkable experience to taste the local life through best Barcelona restaurateurs and business owners who are part of the districts history, and moreover, the ones making this adventure feasible.These eateries and specialty stores which use locally sourced ingredients and fresh products, a represent the most environmentally and nutritionally responsible choice to make while choosing tasty and healthy food.

Midgi Moore is food writer and blogger living in Juneau, Alaska. She owns Juneau Food Tours, a culinary walking tour highlighting wild Alaskan seafood.
 
 

1. What foods is your city known for?

Juneau is a small, land-locked city. With the ocean to the west and the mountains to the east, we have an abundance of delicious food offerings. We are most known for our wild Alaskan seafood. In the southeast Alaska area, we have all five species of salmon, dungeness crab, rockfish, halibut, spot prawns, and the luxurious sable fish. Diners in Juneau are treated to some of the best seafood one can imagine, prepared by gifted and creative chefs.
 
 

2. What is the best time of year to visit your city?

Typically summer is the most popular time to visit Juneau. Our visitor season is May – September, when many of the attractions are ope for example, sport fishing, whale watching, and flight seeing. Juneau Food Tours operates a walking tour during this time, with six tasting locations and eight tastings total. We focus on the seafood, but also include locally produced charcuterie, as well as locally brewed beer. We also offer a winter option from mid-December to the end of March. This is a progressive dinner with a prohibition theme. It has three courses, each at a different location, and three cocktails, because it’s prohibition! Most of our popular restaurants are open year-round, so finding a great meal isn’t too difficult. Juneau is only a two hour flight from Seattle, so any time of year is a great time to visit.
 
 

3. Who are some of the chefs in your city that we should keep an eye on?

We are so proud of our local chefs. Chef Lionel Uddipa, chef de cuisine at SALT is a local boy who has lived here since he was two years old. He studied at Cordon Bleu in Atlanta. From there he honed his craft interning (stodging as it’s known in the restaurant world) in James Beard award winning restaurants such as Tru and Next in Chicago and the three-star Michelin rated Alinea, also in Chicago. He brings a sophisticated avant garde flare to the dining scene and we are fortunate to have him. SALT is favorite stop on our summer and winter tours. Another chef on the rise is Chef Beau Schooler, who, with his business partner, Travis Smith, owns and operates four eateries: The Rookery Cafe, Taqueriea, In Boca al Lupo, and Panhandle Provisions, which is featured on our summer tour. Chef Beau is creative talent in the kitchen and has been nominated twice for James Beard Rising Star. He is a nose-to-tail chef, which means he uses all of the animal. In 2015, Chef Beau won the Great American Seafood Cook-Off with his nose-to-tail salmon. This dish included a salt made from the ground fish bones, as well as his trademark salmon chorizo. if you’re looking for a truly unique dining experience, The Rookery is the place to go. The third chef to keep an eye on is Vienetia Santana of V’s Cellar Door. V is a fusion chef who blends earthy flavors of Latin and Mexican food with spicy and rich flavors of the Asian and Korean cultures. Her must have dish is her fusion nachos, which blends these two flavor profiles into one amazing dining experience. For our summer tour, V provides halibut fusion nachos. They are a guest and a local favorite.
 
 

4. What can people expect on your food tours?

People can expect the best of Alaskan food and Juneau. We pair the tasty side of Juneau with the fun and colorful side through sharing history and fun facts. The walk isn’t too far, only 1.2 miles because all the great places are close to one another. We don’t feel like you need to walk all over town to get great food and to experience Juneau. Each tour is guided by a local resident, who lives in Juneau year-round. Our tour isn’t a “touristy” tour, we take you where we go, where we eat, where we have a beer with our friends. It’s off the beaten path of where most visitors tread.

Latest Podcast Episodes

 

Dwight Furrow, the author of American Foodie: Taste, Art, and the Cultural Revolution, talks about the philosophy of food. We discuss everything the impact of everything from automobile to Alice Waters to the Slow Food movement have shaped the way Americans think about food.
 
 
 
 

 

Inbal Baum, the Founder of Delicious Israel, joins us to talk about where foodies should eat when they travel to her country.

• Shakshouka is a popular dish in Israel
• Israeli Breakfast is a distinct and important meal
• The modern cherry tomato has roots in Israel
• Tel Aviv and Jerusalem top the list of cities you should visit
• Beach season runs from April to October
• Rosh Hashana is a great time to visit Israel
• When you visit Tel Aviv, go to the Carmel Market, the Levinsky Market
• Try the date syrup, Silan

 

 

Food for Thought

• Q: After pita bread, what is the most common food used to “wipe” humus?
• A: Raw onion.

 
 

Out of the Frying Pan

• Favorite Spot for Outdoor Dining: Milgo & Milbar
• Favorite Place to Buy Spices: Cafe Arma in Levinsky Market
• Herbs to Try: Za’atar and Hawaij (in Yemenite Coffee)
• Favorite Winery: Sphera
• Favorite Place for Dessert: The Malabia
• Favorite Food Experience for Kids: Max Brenner
• Chef to Watch: Eyal Shani
• Dish to Try at Different Places: Shakshouka and sabich

Bennet Jacobstein, author of The Joy of Ballpark Food: From Hot Dogs to Haute Cuisine, talks to us about what foodies can find at different baseball stadiums around the country.

• Hot dogs and sausages are not the same thing.
• The quality of ballpark food was elevated in the 90s as new stadiums were built and food television shows took off.
• Stadiums have highlighted regional foods.
• Gordon Biersch‘s founder Dan Gordon introduced garlic fries at Candlestick Park in 1994.
• The song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was written in 1908.
• The Yankees replaced Cracker Jacks at one point, but brought it back after a public outcry.
• 

  San Francisco Giant Gordon Biersch Garlic Fries

  Veggie Happy spearheaded the movement to get veggie dogs sold at ballpark stadiums.

• Andrew Zimmern has a stand in the Minnesota ballpark.
• Rocky Mountain Oysters are bull testicles.
• “The Big Six” are the food companies that service the major ballparks.
• As you go from ballpark to ballpark, try the hot dogs at each to see how they’re done differently.
• Proceeds from Bennett’s book go to Second Harvest Food Bank.

 

Food for Thought

• Q: In what year were Cracker Jacks first served at a baseball game?
• A: 1896 in Atlantic City.

 

Out of the Frying Pan

Here’s what Bennet recommends you try at each ballpark:

• Yankees Stadium in New York City: Chicken and Waffles.
• Fenway Park in Boston: Lobster Roll and a cuban sandwich.
• Wrigley Field in Chicago: Chicago-style hot dog with Vienna beef.
• Turner Field in Atlanta: Boiled peanuts.
• Marlins Park in Miami: Cuban dishes.
• Safeco Field in Seattle: The Ivar’s hot dog (with fish) and cream cheese hot dog.
• Nationals Park in Washington D.C.: A cauliflower hot dog and presidential cupcakes.
• 

  Chicago White Sox Chicago-Style Hot Dog

  Busch Stadium in St. Louis: The BBQ.

• Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles: Tommy Lasorda Spumoni ice cream.
• AT&T Park in San Francisco: Crab salad, lamb sausages, and Gordon Biersch garlic fries.

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