My resolution? To eat like I’m traveling

My Resolution? To Eat Like I'm Traveling

If there's one thing I adore more than food, it's travel. So much so, that I gathered the courage (and my savings account) and spent most of 2019 traveling. From Bali to Barcelona and a dozen places in between, 2019 was my Eat, Pray, Love year. (Heavy emphasis on the eating.) In the wake of 2020, I deeply miss the journey and the flavors. So this year, I resolved to eat like a wanderer, even while trapped in my home.

I will whip up the coconut scented rice dish known as nasi lemak, which includes a generous scoop of spicy sambal to bring me back to the warmth of Southeast Asia. This fish curry from Thailand will be my layover, as I travel west to Africa, to tuck into a comforting lamb tagine on a winding side street in Marrakech, Morocco (aka my sofa), using only my hands and freshly torn pieces of fluffy, warm khobz for scooping up this cinnamon-spiced braised meat.

Then I'll take the ferry ride north to Spain for a bit of tapas at a standing-room-only bar in Barcelona, where crispy patatas bravas are served alongside manchego cheese, cured meats, crusty bread, and romesco sauce for dipping. If it's the weekend, I may even try my hand at this octopus and potato tapa in order to break out the "good" olive oil I brought back from Seville.

Later, in Florence, Italy, a bitter orange negroni cocktail serves as the perfect apéritif before, arguably, the ultimate of comfort meals: a potato gnocchi smothered in creamy tomato sauce. A generous scoop of tiramisu and a small pour of homemade amaretto liqueur will round out this lingering meal. With the right amount of Dean Martin streaming in the background, it's practically a stamp in my passport.

But, I'll also be scheming and future-trip planning for when the world re-opens. With a dozen TripSavvy tabs open on my laptop, I'll be plotting my route through India and biding my time with every pinch of chaat masala spice blend (a real treat on everything from your eggs to a green salad). And full North Indian dinners of creamy prawn curry, chicken korma, and the little sweet, fried bites known as gulab jamun for dessert.

I encourage you to take your own food-driven journey this year (why not start with breakfast?). And, one day soon, when it's safe again, I hope we cross paths in a busy airport terminal on the way to our destinations.

- Kristin Stangl
Food Editor, The Spruce Eats