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Calabrian Food Guide – What to eat and where to eat it in Southern Italy’s spiciest region. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Calabrian Food Guide – What to Eat and Where to Eat It in Southern Italy’s Spiciest Region

Calabrian food is one of Italy’s most distinctive cuisines, having endured centuries of invasions and colonisers and immigrants that have included Greeks, Romans, French, Arabs, and Spaniards, all of whom have had an influence on the spicy Southern Italian cuisine.

Every region of Italy has its own signature dishes and local ingredients that give something like pasta a regional bent, and none more so than Calabria, the southernmost region of Italy, which forms the sole and toe of the boot-shaped country.

Discovering Calabrian food is a highlight of a trip to Calabria. While there are many dishes that are ubiquitous across Italy, such as pasta and obligatory appearance of pizza, nearly every Italian dish can be traced to a region of Italy, and the food of this southern Italian region is some of the most distinctive.

Calabrian Food Guide – What to Eat and Where to Eat It in Southern Italy’s Spiciest Region

Cucina Povera

Central to Calabrian food and other cuisines of Italy’s south, is the notion of cucina povera or ‘peasant cooking’, where you make do with what you have, from making pasta from chestnut flour to utilising every bit of an animal that is slaughtered – which explains the popularity of dishes with tripe.

As with many great cuisines, the inventiveness borne from the necessity of nose to tail cooking, along with preserving, has made Calabria’s hearty and spicy cuisine distinctive from that of neighbouring Sicily and regions to the north, while all the time remaining quintessentially Italian.

This apparent simplicity disguises the creativity that the Calabrians have applied to Calabrian food, as well as just how healthy the Mediterranean diet is, with its fantastic olive oil and fresh vegetables and fruits as key components. But at its soul, Calabrian food is, above all, rustic, hearty and honest.

Foreign invaders have had a huge impact on Calabrian cooking, as well as the cooking of Sicily, just across the water. The Arabs brought spices, some fruits, and some argue, pasta, to the area. There are also traces of French, Jewish and Spanish influences evident in the cuisines of Calabria and Sicily.

Herbs, Spices and Chilli

The main thing that sets Calabrian cuisine apart is the use of spices and herbs. Aniseed is used to flavour desserts and liqueurs. Capers, preserved in brine or salt are staple ingredients. Fennel is used in cooking and to flavour sausages, as are black peppercorns.

Chillies – red, green and yellow chilli peppers – are eaten fresh, chopped up and tossed into salads, while peperoncini (hot red peppers) is ubiquitous. Every household has a good supply on hand.

Local chillies come in various shapes and sizes, but are generally very spicy. They’re used fresh, dried or preserved in olive oil, and flavour everything from cured meats to pasta sauces, and make a brilliant chilli oil.

While the sausages are hot, nothing quite compares to ’nduja, a fiery pork sausage paste generally spread on toasted bread with a drizzle of olive oil – it’s not for those who don’t like it hot. It’s also used in pasta sauces and spread on pizzas – often used sparingly as a little goes a long way.

The Bounty of the Sea and Land

Given Calabria’s long coastline, fish from the sea, typically swordfish (spada) and tuna (tonno), dominate plates in the region, from carpaccio to preserved and pickled in jars, tossed in pasta, or eaten simply grilled or as a ‘steak’, fish is on almost every menu.

Anchovies also feature, often used directly from the jars where they’ve been preserved in the wonderful local olive oil. Even fish roe is preserved and bottarga (dried tuna roe) is a specialty served as an appetiser or in pasta. Drying fish to preserve them is very popular and you’ll see dried cod (baccalà) on menus, often in pasta or as part of a salad.

The slaughtering of a pig is traditionally a big occasion in Calabria where throughout the region’s history famine was a constant companion. As a result, what can’t be eaten is preserved, either made into sausages or into types of hams.

Along with the usual cuts, soppressata, a dry cured pork sausage is a specialty, as is the Calabrian version of guanciale, made from cured pork cheek and pepper. It’s traditionally used in pasta dishes.

Aubergines or eggplants (melanzane) are omnipresent – once again preserved, as well as grilled and stuffed – and are a feature on nearly every menu. This is only matched in popularity by the onions of the Tropea region, which are sweet and tasty. Legumes such as beans and chickpeas are used for hearty soups and pastas.

Vegetarians can eat well in Italy, with menus featuring plenty of pizzas and pastas that don’t contain carne (meat) that are just as tasty as those that do. Grilled vegetables and salads, as well as bean dishes, are readily available and are delicious, however, vegans will find it harder going.

Preservation and Pickling

While Calabria is all sunshine and smiles at the beach during summer, for the farmers of the region it is a harsh place to grow crops. The unforgiving climate means that nothing goes to waste when nature is kind, so preserving food here is an art form.

The shelves of delicatessens in Calabria are crammed with jars of vibrant preserved peppers, olives, eggplants, dried tomatoes, red onions, capers, and fish such as tuna and anchovies.

One of the reasons these taste so fantastic is the local olive oil used to preserve them, however, ask any Calabrian and they’ll say the best preserves are the ones made by their mothers, but you’ll need to score an invitation to try those.

Calabrian Cheeses, Sweets and Desserts

Cow cheeses are wonderful, such as the delicious caciocavallo, which is excellent fresh, but also fabulous grilled. Figs and nuts feature heavily as well, as do all types of melons.

Calabrian desserts also feature local figs, as well chestnuts. Don’t miss Calabria’s gelato as well as its famous tartufo – chocolate and hazelnut gelato sprinkled with cocoa powder, with a chocolate fudge or sauce centre. Also look out for fried pastries and baked biscotti-style biscuits abound, such as ’nzudda.

The Most Delicious Calabrian Food Destinations

Camigliatello Silano’s local specialties include mushrooms, particularly the local truffles and porcini mushrooms, which come in all forms, from truffle pastes and oils, along with smoked cheeses, prosciutto, preserves, and Calabrian wine. The town is home to a 50 year-old October wild mushroom festival, Sagra del Fungo, held in October each year and one of Calabria’s finest restaurants, La Tavernetta in Camigliatello Silano, which serves up a tasting menu of heavenly truffles and porcini mushrooms during the season.

Along with beautiful beaches, the unique local cuisine and great dining scene are reasons to linger in Tropea, if you don’t make it your base for exploring Calabria, that is. No other town has so many superb restaurants, from cheap family pizzerias with rickety wooden tables set up in the alleyway, to more elegant trattorias serving freshly caught swordfish and other exquisitely prepared regional specialties.

In the hills above Tropea, you can learn how to cook authentic Calabrian food with Marianna in her charming country home, a few minutes from town, and then enjoy eating the meal you’ve cooked washed down with local wine. Hotel pick-up and drop-off included. See www.initalytours.com.

Catanzaro is not short of eateries – there are numerous trattorias and pizzerias (several set in gardens) along the waterfront, oodles of gelato places, and countless café-bars – there’s just nothing that is outstanding, and many offer up the same unadventurous menus.

Being by the sea, fishing has always been a mainstay of the economy at Amantea and foodies will love Amantea’s fantastic shops specialising in preserved treats, such as anchovies in different types of olive oils.

Altomonte and the surrounding fertile valley has become an important centre for agriturismo and farm stays. Make sure to buy some of the award winning olive oil and wine from here, both of which are fantastic and are easily among Italy’s best.

The northern Tyrrhenian seaside town Diamante has a grey-sand beach and grand pastel-coloured buildings and a weekend market that sprawls along the pleasant waterfront. Diamante is famous for its spicy peppers and sausages and the stalls here sell delicious preserves in jars. Also popular with the locals is a van selling hot panini with spicy aniseed-tinged sausages, potatoes and mayonnaise.

Calabrian Food Guide – Where to Shop, What to Buy and Where to Feast

Shopping and Markets

Compared to the rest of Italy, Calabrian food markets are bit more modest, but you’ll still find Calabrians are frequent shoppers of local markets and also like to pick up fresh produce at a roadside stall or their favourite local fruit and vegetable shop.

There are superb delicatessens and wine shops, especially in popular destinations such as Tropea, where you’ll find wonderful local wines and specialty products.

Preserves and wines make the best gifts and souvenirs and are the least likely to cause problems with overzealous customs officers on your return home – unlike the delicious cheeses and cured meats, which can be a problem.

Calabrian Food Souvenirs – What to Buy

Peperoncini or chilli peppers are a typical product of which all Calabrians are justifiably proud and you’ll see handicrafts markets bearing the red chilli pepper, from vibrantly painted ceramic plates and chilli-shaped ceramic salt and pepper holders, to extravagant Murano-like glass chandeliers dripping with tiny red peppers and decorative bunches of red glass peppers.

If there’s one Calabrian souvenir you’ll see all over the region it’s that of a ceramic figurine of a Calabrian woman in a long traditional skirt covered in red peppers, holding a red pepper-shaped plate upon her head as she might have held a basket. It makes a cute memento.

The best Calabrian souvenirs are without a doubt the edible ones, and all over region you’ll find fantastic shops specialising in Calabrian products. Look for shop signs that say Prodotti Tipici Calabresi.

These include vegetable preserves (sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and peppers), peperoncini (dried, preserved in olive oil, and in paste and sauce form),’nduja (Calabria’s unique, spicy, chilli sausage paste), red Tropea onions (hanging in pretty bunches, or as a jarred relish or mousse), fungi porcini (Porcini mushrooms), miele (honey), biscotti (typical crunchy Italian biscuits), and of course, dried pasta.

You’ll also see radice di liquirizia (raw liquorice), which is liquorice in its natural form – it looks like a bunch of small dried twigs – as well as Amarelli’s famous flavoured pastels in retro tins, liquorice syrup-centred chocolates and liquorice liqueurs. While many shops sell Amarelli’s delicious products, the gift shop at the factory and museum in Rossano has the widest range of liquorice products.

Other alcoholic souvenirs include Greco di Bianco, a famous liqueur made from the Greco grape from Bianco near Reggio di Calabria, Passito Moscato, a very sweet dessert wine, and Limoncello, which is more typically associated with the island of Capri and the Amalfi coast.

The citrus fruit bergamoto or bergamot is another Calabrian specialty that comes in many different forms, including bergamot-flavoured cake and biscuits (berghiotti), Bergamot liqueur, and of course, Bergamot perfume. Look for the classic Bergamot cologne in the retro packaging – it’s an old-fashioned fragrance in the style that our grandmothers used to dab on their wrists.

Calabrian Food Souvenirs – Where to Shop

The narrow cobblestone streets of Tropea and Pizzo are crammed with shops overflowing with these delectable goodies. The best in Tropea, if not the region, is Pane e Sale meaning Bread and Salt (Via Stazione 1).

The knowledgeable English-speaking staff will offer you tasty morsels to try of some of the most mouthwatering and most interesting treats you’ll find in Calabria including biscotti flavoured with pepper and chocolate and fragrant honey scented with pepper, acacia or Fiori della Calabria (Calabrian flowers).

In Pizzo, the shelves of Museo del Peperoncino (Via San Francesco) are crammed with similar typical products, as is the tiny shop in Reggio di Calabria called Pizzimenti (Via Giulia 13) and in Morano Calabro, Sapori e Gusti Mediterranei (Via Martiri della Liberta 2/1).

In Camigliatello, the long main street is dotted with shops selling preserves, wines, cheeses and cold cuts, the latter of which you’ll find vacuum-packed for safe transportation home. Rossano, Gerace, Cosenza, and Crotone are also terrific places to shop.

Harvest and Seasonal Gastronomic Festivals

As you’d expect in a region that is agriculturally rich and where food is such an important part of everyday life, seasonal gastronomic festivals to celebrate the harvest of a certain crop – called sagre in Italian – feature heavily on Calabria’s calendar.

Seasonal festivals celebrate every kind of produce, from mushrooms to potatoes, swordfish to strawberries, and also celebrate the slaughter of an animal. Following the slaughter of pigs in January, for instance, many towns celebrate La Sagra di Maiale, the Pork Feast, where families prepare whole roasted pigs and other pork-based dishes that the village community enjoys together.

During Calabria’s seasonal harvests even the sleepiest villages come alive with food festivals, community celebrations and street processions.

Calabria Food Festival Calendar

Calabria’s calendar is crammed year-round with festivals, as well as other traditional holidays and events. While summer is the busiest time for the region, when the beaches are crowded with Italians taking advantage of Calabria’s splendid beaches, it’s also a great time for food festivals.

Dates can shift and events can be postponed from one year to the next, so check with the town’s ProLoco tourist office before planning a trip around an event.

January

Sagra del Maiale (Festival of Pork), a Bocchigliero

February

Sagra della Salsiccia e delle Polpette (Festival of Sausage and Baby Octopus), Acri

April

Pasqua (Traditional Easter processions), Catanzaro, Gerace

Sagra della Sguta (Festival celebrating Sguta, local sweet pastries), Siderno

May

Sagra delle Arance (Festival of Oranges), Trebisacce

Gran Fest del Pane (Festival of Bread) Altomonte

July

Festival della Birra (Festival of Beer), Marina di Gioiosa Jonica

Pasta Festival, Vibo Valentia

Swordfish Festival, Bagnara

August

Festival del Nduja (Festival of the Spicy Sausage Paste), Spilinga

Sagra della Cipolla Rossa (Red Onion Festival), Tropea

Sagra del Pesce Azzurro (Blue Fish Festival), Cirò Marina

Sagra del Pesce Spada (Swordfish Festival), Bagnara Calabra

September

Festival del Peperoncino (Festival of Peperoncino), Diamante

October

Festa del Cioccolato (Chocolate Festival), Cosenza

Sagra del Fungo (Mushroom Festival) and Chestnut Festival, Camigliatello Silano

Sagra dell’Uva e del Vino (Wine Festival), Donnici

November

Potato Festival, Camigliatello Silano

If you’re planning to experience more of Calabria than its food, see our Calabria itineraries and our posts on Calabria road trips, Calabria national parks and Calabria’s hilltop towns for ideas.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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  1. Mauricio Reiswig says

    July 15, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    Complimenti bravo continua cosi!!ottimo lavoro Grazie!!

  2. Terence Carter says

    July 15, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    Grazie!

  3. Maria says

    January 26, 2023 at 10:30 pm

    Bellissimo lavoro,complimenti,alla prossima

  4. Lara Dunston says

    January 27, 2023 at 10:14 pm

    Molto grazie!

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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

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#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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