How Cooking Has Satiated My Wanderlust In The Pandemic
I’m about to let you in on my biggest secret when dealing with insatiable wanderlust. I believe the kitchen is the greatest tool to inspire travelers either about to jet away, curious to learn about a culture, or longing to return to a destination. And considering so many of us right now are unable to even consider vacations and upcoming explorations (… thanks Covid…), I’m here to encourage you to get into the kitchen to reconnect with that free spirit once again.
Whether you’re an expert chef or a complete novice when it comes to cooking, there’s something magical about taste.
The very scent of garlic in olive oil sends me into a whirlwind nostalgia for Italy. A whiff of a sweet singe of pastry dough hitting a waffle iron makes me long for classic Pennsylvania diners. One morsel of chewy soup dumpling makes me have flashbacks of hot, steamy nights in Taipei’s street markets. Food has a magical quality of making us feel connected.
I use the kitchen to reconnect to those far off places I’ve explored already and to get a greater connection to those on my bucket list. Food traditions are an incredibly important aspect of culture, history and understanding the practices, care and perspectives of people around the world. In taking part in the process of researching, learning and creating foods at home (especially right now!), I feel that rush of excitement I get when traveling. Who’s with me on this?
Food-driven travelers, I encourage you to use your resources right now and learn about the recipes and food practices you fell in love with abroad.
I’ve written extensively about my personal feelings about cooking to inspire more meaningful future travels when the world is safer on Be My Journey’s February issue, which you can read here!
Personally, I’ve been hungry (pun intended!) to find a space online that connects the food and travel worlds. I hope that my blog and the Roaming Italy project will connect travelers to their kitchen while given the chance to learn food traditions, history and recipes.