12 Nov Make Food Part of Your Adventure!
After a day of kayaking Portugal’s Douro River with Natural Habitat Adventures, Bob Messner gets a pour of port from local host Vitor Ventura at Nossa Senhora de Ribeira winery. Photo: Wendy Redal
When I kayaked Portugal’s Douro River with Natural Habitat Adventures, I was enchanted by this narrow, scenic river valley that lies between stony mountains dotted with olive and almond orchards. Each day’s paddle took us 10 or 12 miles down the languid river at a pace that allowed us to drink in the beauty of the Mediterranean landscape, to gaze up at raptors soaring overhead, and to watch bucolic scenes of a centuries-old farming culture in the vineyards that flank the steep mountain slopes. But truth be told, I was here just as much for the food and wine as I was for the kayaking.
After each exhilarating day’s paddle we would retreat to a quinta — one of the Douro region’s historic wine estates — to enjoy locally produced vintage ports and fine table wines, along with a huge repast of homemade dishes that are an elemental part of rural Portuguese culture. We feasted on salted cod in cream, roast lamb, and feijoada, a rich pork and bean stew, and main courses were complemented by crusty bread with quince jam or spiced peach preserves, green olives and farm-produced olive oil, fresh-picked oranges and figs, and artisan sheep’s cheese, among other delectable sides. Fortunately we were on the river for another five hours the next day, hoping we could out-paddle the calories we’d consumed the evening before.
Oranges from the farm at Quinta do Barracao da Vilarica, drizzled in housemade organic olive oil and dusted with fresh garlic and sea salt. Photo: Wendy Redal
This combination of active adventure accented by regional culinary experiences is sought by a growing number of adventure travelers, according to the new report “Taste the Adventure” just out from the Adventure Travel Trade Association. While an active vacation – kayaking, cycling, trekking, sailing or another physical pursuit — may attract travelers on its own merits, the study finds participants are often keen to enhance their adventure with an immersion in local food culture, too.
The report, which includes the results of survey research conducted with adventure travel companies from 54 countries, indicates that 71 percent of adventure itineraries have an experiential food focus of some sort. From cooking classes in Morocco to distillery tours in Scotland to market walks in Vietnam, food and drink have become an integral part of the tourism experience, and it’s a trend that’s largely consumer-driven, according to the study. The report credits “a rising consumer consciousness about food quality and sourcing, in addition to the environmental and health effects of food systems” that has resulted in “a growing desire for local and natural food products,” both at home and while traveling, with a special interest in organic and sustainable culinary options.
Adventure travel companies are responding, making food a more important element of many itineraries. Backroads’ collection of Active Gourmet Tours in Tuscany, Provence and the California wine country combine countryside walking or cycling through famed agricultural regions with numerous food- and wine-focused activities. Guests prepare home-style meals alongside renowned chefs, sample honey from bees kept by monks, learn to toss pizza dough for the perfect crust, take a guided tour through a village farmers market, sampling cured olives and fresh goat cheese along the way, and savor private wine tastings with local vintners.
Walk through coffee plantations and learn how the beans are grown, harvested and roasted on GeoEx’s Flavors of Colombia adventure. Photo: Colombia Official Travel Guide
GeoEx’s Flavors of Colombia tour combines hiking with a focus on coffee, exploring the country’s cultural epicenter known as the Coffee Triangle, a region of verdant hillsides and rolling plantations. Guests learn about how coffee is grown, harvested and made during visits with local farmers, then hike among the bamboo forests and towering palms of Valle del Cocora National Park before flying to the Caribbean coast for seafood and a cooking class.
Guests aboard Lindblad’s Columbia & Snake Rivers Journey taste the region’s terroir in the form of delectable fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, wines and craft beer. Photo: Lindblad Expeditions
Lindblad offers a Pacific Northwest cruise up the Columbia and Snake rivers that showcases the region’s famous bounty from fields, orchards and sea. Highlights include fruit tasting at a family farm and a winery tour in Hood River. Aboard ship complimentary Willamette Valley wines and Oregon craft beers are served, as well as natural meats, local dairy products and fresh produce from Washington and Oregon farmers. Lindblad even includes an overview on its website of the regional cuisine featured on the trip, including the names of the providers from which it sources its menus.
And lest you think culinary indulgences can’t happen in remote, wild places far from civilization, O.A.R.S will make you think again with its Salmon River Wilderness Gourmet raft trip, which features free-flowing Class III whitewater on Idaho’s Main Salmon River and impressively prepared cuisine paired with regionally sourced wines and microbrews. Guides make magic happen with fresh, often organic ingredients using primitive camp cooking facilities, sharing tips and demos for how to pull off gourmet fare deep in the wilderness. The trip also includes a look at the history and food traditions of the indigenous people and early settlers who traversed this area, relying on rich salmon runs, plentiful wildlife and abundant berries for sustenance.
Dining al fresco at Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater Lodge with a view over the caldera is almost as thrilling as a game drive among the animals on the crater floor…almost. Photo: Micato Safaris
Even when food isn’t a main dimension of a trip, it’s often a highlight nonetheless, as with high-end African safaris, small-ship cruising or even on the edge of Hudson Bay at the Tundra Lodge, where guests stay in wild polar bear habitat around the clock. This mobile rolling hotel, which resembles a set of train cars, has a resident chef who prepares gourmet meals featuring dishes such as prime rib with roast fingerling potatoes, cider-brined chicken with root vegetable mash, eggplant schnitzel with capers and lemon, and specialty breakfast fare like leek and spinach frittata with roasted yams and ham.
The ATTA report notes that food and adventure tourism are complementary niche markets within the travel industry that can have a positive impact on local economies, cultural preservation and the conservation of natural and agricultural landscapes. By adding a culinary dimension to adventure travel, the report asserts, tour companies can provide travelers with a broader set of active and experiences to connect them to the identity and culture of a place.
Since 2010, UNESCO has recognized the importance of iconic food and drink experiences as “intangible cultural heritage” on par with its list of World Heritage Sites. Many of these designated culinary products or traditions are becoming part of the adventure traveler’s wish list, and more operators are including these immersive encounters on their itineraries. Among those included on UNESCO’s list are:
- French gastronomy
- Traditional Mexican cuisine—ancestral, ongoing community culture, the Michoacán paradigm
- Turkish coffee culture
- Mediterranean diet (Cyprus – Croatia – Spain – Greece – Italy – Morocco – Portugal)
- Ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri winemaking method
- Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year
- Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea
- Lavash, the preparation, meaning, and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia
Fresh prawns and mussels — a delicacy along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. Photo: Wild Atlantic Way
Travelers can even follow “gastronomic routes” such as Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, a coastal touring route designed to highlight adventure travel activities as well as distinct culinary offerings from six Irish regions. Use the interactive map to choose your activities — the route includes biking, hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, whale watching and more — and nourish yourself along the way with stops at cafes, pubs, farms, fish smokehouses, cheese makers and gourmet restaurants.
When the two sectors of food and adventure travel come together, the ATTA report observes, they provide “in-depth small group experiences that respect and focus on a preserved culture and environment,” bringing financial gain directly to host communities while shoring up traditional, heritage-based components of the local economy.
Sounds to me like a win-win all the way around. So next time you contemplate which adventure to book, think about giving your palate some adventure, too. And if the trip you’ve chosen doesn’t happen to foreground food, there’s nothing to stop you from doing a little taste-adventuring of your own during your travels — we’ve even published a list of 25 intriguing national dishes to get you started.
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