Real deal ... fine dining in the Greek isles. Photo: AFPEATING well is one of the great pleasures of travel. Often, it is emotive and sensuous — the thing we remember most about a holiday: a delicious breakfast of fresh cornetto and cappuccino in Tuscany; the briny indulgence of ozone-fresh fruits de mer eaten at a beachfront table in Nice with the setting sun in your eyes, salt in the air and a chilled glass in your hand.
We like to feel that we are relishing a cuisine that is rooted in a different landscape, climate and tradition.
Evening alfresco, Ibiza, Spain. Photo: Getty ImagesBut, although your chances of finding a family-run taverna, or trattoria, or brasserie serving a decent, good-value menu are high in the Mediterranean, truly "authentic" local cuisine can be elusive.
Much depends, of course, on what you think of as authentic. This year, the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants awards — fast gaining credibility as "the chef's Oscars" — is featuring a new category: most authentic Italian restaurant. Among the criteria are that ingredients must be "of certified origin" (a reference to Italy's Byzantine system of DO, DOC and DOCG labelling); that chefs should show a "respect for traditions" even when creating new dishes; that restaurants must be "welcoming, relatively informal and give space to conviviality and to honest conversation"; and that the chef-patron must be present.
A Paris market. Photo: Getty ImagesYet there is an irony. Even as we become more food-literate, weaned on a diet of TV cooking programs, exotic supermarket imports and cosmopolitan restaurants at home, mobility, globalisation and the march of Identikit fast-food outlets across Europe have diluted regional cuisine and made it harder to find. More to the point, travel – the very thing that enabled our pursuit of culturally distinct food in the first place – is largely responsible for the demise.
"On the harbour front in Paphos, 80 per cent of the dishes are omelet and salads because that is what people want," says Noel Josephides, the managing director of Sunvil, a specialist Britain-based tour operator. He says that 150 restaurants have closed in the Cypriot resort as fast-food outlets flourish and holidaymakers opt for "safer" all-inclusives.
At the other end of the scale, there is an increasing demand from those who travel to eat well. For them, there is no shortage of specialist holidays to choose from. New this northern summer are a Majestic Line cruise of the Inner Hebrides, where guests can enjoy Argyll smoked prawns, estate venison and sweetheart cabbage "in a convivial dinner-party atmosphere" on a restored wooden vessel; a tour of "the culinary delights of Northern Ireland" (move over Tuscany); and a "Discover the Tomato" break in Alicante, with a farm visit, tomato-themed dinner and photographic exhibition, The Lost Flavour.
In Sicily, guests can stay at one of 60 agriturismo properties where the owners not only cook the food but produce their own cheese, wine and durum wheat.
"No two make the same sauce," says Aldo Bevacqua, the Sicilian who is developing the program, Sicily Today. "In villages only three miles apart, the caponata – like a ratatouille but with a lot more flavour – will taste completely different, even though the ingredients are the same. Such variety has to be brought to the attention of the traveller."
It's an indication of how arcane and rarefied this kind of tourism can be. As our knowledge and pursuit of good food has increased, tour operators have provided evermore absorbing options to satisfy our obsession. In competitive times, such innovation also helps them stay ahead.
However, there is a long way to go. Data provided by Livebookings, Europe's biggest online restaurant reservation service, shows that its most popular client in Paris is the Blue Elephant – serving Thai food rather than French. The second is Dans le Noir?, where bland international cuisine (scallops, veal, ravioli, artichokes) is served in the dark to replicate the experience of blind people and intensify the sensory experience. The third, Le Telegraphe, is a fusion restaurant; and the fourth is the Hard Rock Cafe.
Data crunching also reveals that diners pay more for local food compared with other cuisines, which flies in the face of conventional wisdom (local food is meant to be cheaper). Only in Italy and The Netherlands is it more affordable to eat local, while the wider European premium averages 8.7 per cent.
It's yet another reason most tourists opt for international cuisine – but if you want the full-on regional food experience, how can you best find it?
Guidebooks are often outdated and create a different kind of tourist trap where everyone has the Lonely Planet guide in their pocket. Personal recommendations can be unreliable, especially from hotel staff, who might be receiving backhanders or who simply do not understand your needs.
Finding and enjoying authentic food abroad is not an exact science but there are some basic principles to follow. Here are my tips:
Italy
It is rare to find a truly terrible restaurant in Italy, so the choice of venue is less important than the choice of food. Because there is no single, homogenised Italian cuisine, only micro-cuisines, look for fresh, local produce cooked in the regional way. You can get a good sense of this by visiting markets.
Avoid tourist crowd-pleasers such as fresh salmon – few Italians would eat a fish from extreme latitudes alien to their waters, though the smoked version does appear in traditional Italian recipes. Another exception is baccala (salted dried cod from the Atlantic), used in authentic dishes from Naples to Venice.
Be wary of menus covering all bases: sugo alla bolognese (bolognese sauce) from Emilia-Romagna, risotto alla milanese and osso buco (braised lamb shanks) from Lombardy, pizza and pasta sauces (marinara, puttanesca) from Naples and other sauces (all'amatriciana, arrabiata) from Rome/Lazio. That is pandering to tourists accustomed to eating "Italian" back home.
Resist such Americanisms as spaghetti and meatballs. In Italy, pasta is eaten as a primo (first course), meat as a secondo. An authentic menu will list antipasti (hors d'oeuvres), primi (soup, pasta, risotto), secondi (meat, fish) accompanied by contorni (vegetables or a side dish), and dolci (dessert). Only in the most formal ristoranti do Italians go the whole hog.
In a family-run trattoria or osteria, you can have just a pasta dish followed by a dessert. To savour Italy's super-local nuances, stay at – and tour between – agriturismo properties where meals are home-cooked and representative.
France
Like Italy, France has distinct regional cuisines– about 30 in total – but with globalisation and pan-European transport links, boundaries are becoming blurred. Toulouse sausage, for instance, is common on menus across the continent.
The most authentic regional food is often found in small, family-run bistros rather than formal restaurants. You can't go wrong with the "prix fixe" menu, with perhaps three freshly prepared options for each course (ask for "le menu" and you will be given this, not the full a la carte).
Brasseries, the next step up, offer less region-specific dishes (steak frites, fruits de mer, fish) and fewer local specialities. Routiers (roadside cafes) and auberges (inns) are a good bet: dishes are likely to be home-cooked but quality isn't guaranteed.
To avoid the uncertainty of taking pot luck, consider self-catering and picnics. In most French towns, markets sell fresh produce (peaches, plums, tomatoes) alongside cooked foods such as roast chicken, coq au vin, bouillabaisse and tielles setoises (spicy squid tarts from Languedoc) to take away, as well as bread, sausage, cold meats and cheeses.
Tinned food is excellent, too: it's hard to get more authentically Breton than canned mackerel or more redolent of the south than rillettes (shredded, salted duck).
Nobody wants to self-cater all the time, so how do you pick a restaurant? The habit of dining on terraces and at street tables helps, since you can see what people are eating and check that they are locals – always a good sign.
Spain
The best way to eat authentic food in Spain is to follow local dining rhythms. Spaniards are big lunchers, starting at 2pm and finishing about 4pm, but they pay less attention to evening meals.
By snacking at lunch and expecting your main meal in the evening, you will miss out on a host of discoveries.
Paella, for instance, is only eaten at lunchtime – especially on Sunday. Avoid any restaurant with a big, cartwheel-size pan from which portions are docked, since this will not be fresh. On chalkboards and menus, look out for the words "para dos personas" (for two people), the minimum size practical for paella cooked to order.
True Valencian paella contains chicken, rabbit, duck, snails, ferradura (green beans) and garrofon (white lima beans) as well as rice. On the coast, seafood paella is acceptable and you will see paella mixta (seafood and meat) on tourist menus but Valencians regard this as heresy.
Dinner happens late in Spain (after 10pm), and is often a series of raciones (portions) – not to be confused with tapas (bar snacks, early in the evening). Venture out at this time and you will see what places are popular with locals. Before about 9pm, even the best restaurants will be bafflingly deserted. Spain has a stronger regional food culture than France, so you are pretty much guaranteed authenticity away from the tourist resorts, especially inland. In resorts, look for places tucked away in the backstreets.
Portugal
Gastronomic tourism is young in Portugal, with themed holidays to inland regions such as the Alentejo (famous for its wines, cured meats, cheeses, olive oils and classic dish of pork with clams) becoming available only this year. The secret of eating authentic food here is to head for the agricultural heartland.
In the Algarve resorts and much of downtown Lisbon, restaurants cater for tourist tastes with Italian, Indian and even "Mediterranean" menus (but this, remember, is the Atlantic). Touts are common, a sign that a restaurant cannot survive by word of mouth alone. Avoid these even if they appear cheap.
There are a few gems in Lisbon, of course – such as the beautifully tiled Casa do Alentejo (www.casadoalentejo.pt), which doubles as a cultural centre for people from that region. It is hard to eat more authentically in the capital.
On the Algarve coast, opt for seafood – but of the hardy, robust Atlantic type rather than Spanish-style grilled prawns or squid rings. Bacalhau (dried salted cod) is a national institution and a reliable choice everywhere. Other popular species are mackerel, corvina, dorada and octopus (in a hearty stew).
In restaurants, don't skip dessert; it is often the best thing on the menu. Try arroz doce ("sweet rice"), tarte de requeijao (ricotta cheesecake) or sopa dourada ("golden soup") made from egg yolks, cinnamon, bread and almonds.
Traditional cake shops (confeitaria) are a great place for local specialities: not just pasteis de nata (custard tarts) but all manner of sugary, eggy treats.
Greece
Every Greek village has its taverna, packed with locals at lunchtime, so taking pot luck in rural areas rarely disappoints. Order a number of mezedhes (appetisers) to share, followed by a main course of your own. Often the mezedhes prove so filling you won't want a main – and that is acceptable.
Grilled meat is the safest bet, since casseroles such as moussaka (lamb and aubergine) and stifado (rabbit or hare with red wine in the most authentic places, though beef is often substituted) are made in the morning and kept lukewarm all day, raising food-safety issues. In busy places with a quick turnover, it's fine to try these classics – but perhaps avoid them in low season.
In places where there are many tavernas to choose from, how can you tell a good one? The most authentic won't have a menu. Locals simply ask the waiter what the day's specials are, or trek en masse to the kitchen to see.
Another good sign is fish displayed in a fridge or ice-filled drawer. When choosing your own, check that the eyes are clear and the gills bright red.
Avoid any place with laminated menus in 12 languages sporting national flags. Don't be put off, though, if the menu is in Greek and English. Most are.
Always ask about local cheeses, which people don't associate with Greece. Look out for those labelled PDO, made in the traditional way. Batsos, ladotyri (from Lesvos) and metsovone are among the more pronounceable names.
No comments:
Post a Comment