Travelers have a special relationship with food by default. With a natural inquisitiveness and desire to learn about new people and places, most of us also really enjoy getting to know a new place through its cuisine. Whether it’s a national dish or a new-found local favorite, getting food tips from local residents, sharing a meal, or cooking with fresh ingredients are wonderful ways to not only discover new food favorites, but to make new friends as well. Through our Food for Thought series, we continue to learn more about other travelers’ journeys, and the role food plays. This week we chat with Jason from Forking Tasty, whose blog gets to the root of how people are brought together through food. With our shared connection to the marketing world and tapping into how people create and share memorable experiences, we find his perspective particularly interesting!

Meet Jason

Jason Anello is all about tasty. As he and his brother, Anthony, live, explore and travel they are never that far from their next meal. Although the core of their stories is what they eat, tasty doesn’t just reside in the food. As part of a huge Italian-American family, the brothers’ life has always revolved around eating. One important lesson in their upbringing was that the food is only part of what makes eating an amazing experience. Who sits around the table, how the food was made, where the food came from and how it made them feel are all equally important parts of any meal.

Now, as adults, they’re on a mission to bring back family dinnertime. To that end, their travels intend to uncover hidden gems and charismatic characters giving you a hit list of people and places to visit. Bringing their travel experience home, Forking Tasty’s monthly events hope to replicate the ambiance and excitement they had growing up and discovered afar so they can share it with their dinner table guests. You can usually find the brothers in the kitchen our in some new land making friends for their next meal.

Food for Thought

The underlying idea of the “Food for Thought” series is that to truly experience a culture you must taste it. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

We strongly agree. All of our travel adventures are lead by food. This is not to say that’s all we travel for, just that it’s the gateway that lets us discover people, places and things our destination has to offer. Many times the food leads us to a person (or people) that then shows us the underground, off-tourist, destinations their city or town has to offer. We love that!

What food do you identify with “home?” Does it reflect something about your own culture or upbringing?  Do you crave it while you’re away?

For me it’s Pizza. For Tony, my brother, it’s a burger. We were recently in Peru. Not the best country for pizza BUT we discovered a burger joint that rivals burgers we have here in the states. From the meat, ALL VEAL, to the toppings, to the sides, it was a killer display of reinterpreted, American classics. Tony was much at home. So much, we visited Papacho’s twice.

How has travel affected the way you think about food?

Traveling gets you close to the terroir. Before this gets too pretentious, or French, let me explain. The earth of a place is the thing that’s existed the longest. Because of that you can trace much of a city’s culture back to it. The stone used in the religious monuments, the place the political buildings were built, the bohemian neighborhood seemingly out of place and time, all can be traced back to the ground on which they sit. This of course is true of the food as well. When we think about a places food there is always an interesting story as we trace it back to the people, places and ways it developed.

Do you have a technique to try and understand local cuisine? (ie: Attending cooking classes or food tours? Hunting the best street food?)

Get in a cab. Let the meter run and ask the driver to take you to his favorite food neighborhood. Eat there. Get in another cab and repeat.

Tell us about a memorable meal that was so special it is forever ingrained in your memory. Where was it and what set it apart? What was served, and who shared it with you?

Berlin, 2006. Berlin Sankt Moritz. A small restaurant tucked inside a house in a residential neighborhood. They served a 12 course tasting meal with wine pairings. My first time there I was with two friend/colleagues. I was able to focus hard on every bite and sip. They paired together perfectly. The presentation of the courses was amazing. Sometimes courses came out at the same time on elegant split plates and you’d find yourself with two fresh glasses of wine in front of each side of the plate. It redefined German food for me in a way I never thought possible based on my idea of traditional German fare. The second time I was there was only 2 weeks later. This time I took a group of 16 people. It ended with single malt scotch and cuban cigars. I think that explains enough.

What food have you tried in your travels that some might find shocking or surprising? Would you eat it again?

Balut (fetal chickens) in the Philippines. Yes, it’s their delicacy BUT get the adobe spiced version.

Puffin in Iceland. Like a steakie bird. Much like Ostrich or squab. Prepared well it’s awesome.

Cow udder in Peru. Let’s just say it was worse than the guinea pig. A truly awful offal.

We could go on. Here’s a list of our weird food resume.

Puffin in Iceland

Bear, Wild Boar, Elk in St. Petersburg Russia

Reindeer – Finland

Alligator, kangaroo, and emu in Australia

Horse in Switzerland

Ostrich in New Caledonia

Bull penis in Saigon

Grubs in Northern Vietnam

Goat in India

Wild Boar in Italy

Balut in Philippines

Roasted pig in Madrid

Beef lungs in Malaysia

Grass fed steaks in numerous restaurants in Argentina

Dog in Vietnam

Cow udder in Peru

And just for fun, if you had to choose one country’s cuisine to eat for the rest of your life what would it be?

We’re asked this all the time. It changes with every trip but our go to is Italy. It’s in the name. What can we say? Although, we might swim over to Spain a few times a year to eat at Cal Pep and get some Jamon Iberico.

All images provided by Jason from Forking Tasty.  Connect with him via Facebook,Youtube, Instagram and Twitter.