By Saurabh Srivastava
Vice President Marketing and Product Strategy, ixigo
Good food and travel are an irresistible combination and I was smitten by the former ever since I can remember. My love for food goes a long way. Noted American humourist Erma Bombeck, once proclaimed, “I am not a glutton. I am an explorer of food,” and that’s absolutely true for me too.
I love exploring food that takes me places. Having been born and brought up in one of the most popular cities for delicious food in India, Lucknow, I have always relished kebabs — chunks of meat marinated in rich spices and chargrilled to perfection. A Lucknowi sojourn can never be complete without enjoying the much acclaimed kachchi and pakki biryani — marinated with spices and flavored with yoghurt, the end result is an explosion of colours and heavenly aroma. The famous galoutis and shirmal (aromatic sweet bread) are delicacies I grew up on.
Having set the backdrop, here are some of my favourite places around the worldjust because of the food they offer:
McLeod Ganj: From a rich assortment of Tibetan delicacies like momos, bakleb and the absolutely delicious thukpa to scrumptious Italian fare at throwaway prices, this place offers a range of world cuisines to pamper your tastebuds. If you love Italian food, I recommend visiting Nick’s Kitchen, which serves wholesome Italian meals like pasta, pizza and gnocchi for years now. For authentic Japanese food, visit Lung Ta, which changes its menu every day.
South-east Asia: Singapore is a true melting pot of flavours with popular cuisines being Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan. With halal Malay, South Indian vegetarian dishes, Cantonese dimsums and Chinese extravaganza including Peking duck, hokkienmee (fried noodles), chilli crabs, Laksapulao and popiah (spring rolls) available across open air food centers and sit-in diners, Singapore is a paradise for gourmands. Kuala Lumpur, on the other hand, has the sumptuous oporrusuk (slow-cooked beef ribs), rendang kambing (beef curry) and lamb shoulder cooked in an infusion of spices. In the island towns of Krabi, Ko Samui and Ko Lanta, some of the Thai dishes I relish are tom yum goong (a masterpiece soup) and gang keow wan (popularly known as Thai green curry), which I never seem to get enough of.
Europe: Strasbourg in France has German influences in its food, as the people use sauerkraut, goose liver and river fish as ingredients. Baeckeoffe (a mixed meat dish with potatoes) and flamenküche (a thin pie made up of onions, cheese and lardon or pork fat) are the ones you will really enjoy. With its cobbled lanes dotted with upscale cafes and elegant diners, Paris is always exploding with gastronomical delights. There’s a famous saying about the Belgians: “The Belgians cook their food with the finesse of the French, but serve it in generous German size portions.”
Antwerp and Bruges always lure me because of the Belgian chocolate and beer along with street side waffle and chips. The best way to enjoy European food is to use Luxembourg as the pivot (place to stay) owing to its strategic location, and then travel around.
India: I love the many eating options in Mumbai where I go often for business; for instance, there’s Mahesh Lunch Home and Trishna for some amazing seafood, Bade Miyan for late-night gastronomic attacks and Café Mondegar to just flow with the pace of the city. Ahmedabad, where I spent a couple of years during my post-graduation stint, cannot be missed for the aam ras and some great roadside Indian-Chinese food. That reminds me, I am getting late for a dinner appointment at the oriental eatery, Monk, again one of my absolute favourites in Gurgaon, the place which is my abode now.
Feedback: saurabh@ixigo.com
