If you’re like me, traveling always means having culinary adventures along the way, tasting foods you may never have even heard of before. However, sometimes I get stuck on one thing: Every time I visit Thailand, the words “green curry with chicken, please” come out of my mouth at every meal.
But I do know that’s silly of me, when there are so many tastes to be explored in new places; it truly is a huge part of the fun of traveling. Even more fun is when you land smack-dab in the midst of a special “food time of the year” in a place you’ve never been. That’s when everyone around you is eating something that is only found there at a limited time of the year - and you get to dig in, too.
Here’s a guide to some of the coolest places and the key times of the year that you should jump on a plane so you can join the locals to savor something very special.
White Asparagus in Germany (April to June)
The whole nation of Germany tucks into big fat white asparagus spears every spring, usually smothered in Hollandaise sauce and often served with boiled potatoes and ham. It’s also popular as a soup, as well as wrapped in bacon, and is often served with German Pinot Blanc wine. You can even try it as white asparagus ice cream!
Known as spargel in German, it’s the same veggie as green asparagus but is grown underground so that it never turns green. Sweeter and softer, it’s so popular in Germany that special gourmet “spargel routes” allow tourists to roam from Baden Wuerttemberg to Brandenburg discovering the history, dating back almost 500 years, of people revering the delicious vegetable every spring. There’s even the Lower Saxony Asparagus Museum to explore. Time it to experience at least one Spargelfest (the town of Schwetzingen has a famous one), where everyone is out in the streets celebrating the myriad preparations of white asparagus and the return of spring.
Note that the last day for white asparagus across Germany is June 24, when the country celebrates the nativity of John the Baptist, the long-accepted date for the season to end — you won’t find it anywhere the next day!
Alba White Truffles in Italy’s Piedmont (October to December)
Visiting Italy’s Piedmont region at any time of year is a place akin to paradise for any food-and-wine lover. Tasting its famed Barolo, Barbaresco and Moscato wines paired with Tajarin pasta, Fassona (lean beef from the region) carpaccio and Castelmagno cheese is a sublime experience. And then, in October, the Alba white truffles arrive and everything gets even better.
Yes, they are truffles (technically known as tuber magnatum) but in a world of mostly black truffles, these are extra special. Truffles are fungal tubers, in that like potatoes and yams, they grow underground. Usually more golden than white, Alba truffles are unlike any other with a nutty flavor (in the Piedmont, they often grow under hazelnut trees, another famed food from the region). They are not cultivated, only found in the wild, and the sublime taste of them shaved over a housemade pasta in a small trattoria in the Piedmont cannot be adequately described. You’ll need to go there to discover this brilliant taste on your own.
As an added bonus, Porcini mushrooms also come into season in the Piedmont at the same time, so we’d advise ordering a pasta that begins with Porcinis and ends with the friendly proprietor (or waiter) shaving Alba white truffles over that dish for you. Expect your eyes to roll back in your head at the first bite.
Whitebait Fritters in New Zealand (September and October)
It’s spring in New Zealand in September and October, which means it is whitebait season, too. Whitebait are a very small fish that live in freshwater rivers. Those months mark the only time fishermen can net them; this makes whitebait a national delicacy that marks the beginning of spring.
Anyone and everyone who can get a taste of a whitebait fritter jumps at the chance during the season. The fritters are done in a frying pan using a small school of the tiny whole fish, along with beaten eggs, lemon juice, salt, pepper and butter (no flour), which creates a dish closer to what Americans would call a tiny, succulent omelet, rather than a fritter.
But “you say potato, we say ‘potah-to’,” - no matter what you call this little delightful bite, it was made legendary by Stephen Donald, a player on the famous All Blacks national rugby team. Seems he was a “maybe” to make the team in the Rugby World Cup about 10 years ago, so he went whitebait fishing instead to make some fast cash. When the team needed him, they couldn’t contact him! But he came off the fishing trip in time to score the winning kick, so now he is the most famous whitebait fisherman in the country. Every Kiwi will tell you they love both whitefish fritters and Stephen Donald.
Crawfish in Louisiana (March to May)
If you’ve never watched a New Orleans native boil up a giant steel pot full of crawfish, put that on your bucket list. It’s an unforgettable experience in Louisiana’s spring season, a time in the Crescent City that enfolds both the French Quarter Music Festival and the famed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest.
Making friends who do home crawfish boils and invite you to join in is actually pretty simple in the always-friendly Big Easy, but there are plenty of other ways to pick crawfish during the season in Louisiana. Just be ready to get messy, as eating crawfish boiled in traditional spices (along with potatoes, corn, andouille sausage and the other things that get thrown into that big boiling pot) means using your fingers to pull one little crustacean after another apart to find the meat inside.
While restaurants put boiled crawfish on their menus, there’s a food booth at JazzFest that hands over a cardboard boat filled with them. Don’t miss the annual Crawfish Festival with piles of the little guys that happens in between the two weekends of JazzFest. They pair those Louisiana beauties with incredible NOLA live music to make a memorable day-into-night foodie experience.
Marroni in Switzerland (October to February)
The story of marroni began in Ticino, Switzerland’s southern canton, where chestnut trees are plentiful and the chestnut itself is the symbol of the region. For over 700 years, the Swiss have been roasting and selling sweet chestnuts throughout the fall and winter. Known locally as marroni, they are sold from little stalls and huts, in big cities like Zurich and all the way to tiny towns.
The small bag filled with hot chestnuts are perfect for keeping hands and belly warm in the winter; look closely and you’ll see that Swiss chestnuts are roasted over charcoal after being cut with a cross on the flat side of the nut. Notice that the bag has two sides, one filled with the chestnuts and the other to be used to discard the shells.
If you’re feeling fascinated by these popular treats, head to Ticino and take a guided hike on the Chestnut Path found there. It meanders through five villages in the Alto Malcantone region there and is full of informational moments along the way. Bring a full marroni bag along and crunch as you wander in the woods along all or part of the nine-mile trail.
Mangoes in Fiji (September to December)
Visitors to Fiji might think that the luscious mangoes that grow there are easy to eat at anytime of year in this tropical paradise, but mango season in the Southern Hemisphere archipelago only lasts from September to December (the summer season there). This short season means the fruits are prized by both citizens and tourists for their sweet, juicy wonderfulness.
Mangoes are especially beloved by the Indian population that has been settled in Fiji since the British government brought in an indentured labor force from India in the 1880s. Today, native Fijians and those Indian immigrants agree that the country’s mangoes are unsurpassed.
Expect to encounter mangoes in season in curry dishes, mango-avocado salad, sorbets and (especially at island resorts) in frozen drinks like margaritas and daiquiris. Fijians even make pickles out of mangoes and serve them for a breakfast treat. But once the season is over, finding a perfect piece of mango is next to impossible, so mango lovers should always plan Fiji travel in-season.
Pomegranates in Oman (August to October)
The mostly desert landscape of Oman, the small sultanate on the southern Arabian Peninsula, means most of the farmland is found in the centrally located Hajar Mountains. More specifically, the Jabal Akhdar Mountains (Green Mountain) is where the country’s beloved pomegranates thrive.
Those superfood fruits have grown here for generations, and their ripening is a cause for celebration, including a new Rummana Festival held in Jabal Akhdar, recently created to highlight the arils that pop out of the ripe fruit. Kids, adults and visitors from around the world delight in this new agrotourism event that celebrates all things pomegranate.
Even the luxurious Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort joins in the revelry, offering up a “Rummana Escape” that includes tickets to the festival and a pomegranate-filled breakfast. They also have pomegranate treatments in their spa and menus filled with the fruit in their restaurant to complete this exotic local experience.
Wild Chanterelles in Saskatchewan (September and October)
They’re bright orange, prized for their beauty and unique taste, and they’re a limited delicacy that Canada’s Saskatchewan province adores during the short season in which they appear. That’s the wild Chanterelle mushroom, with its apricot scent and incredibly peppery, slightly earthy taste.
It’s no wonder that everything revolves around the Chanterelle harvest as it happens, for foragers head out to find and pick these special treats that are dependent on the region’s weather. In Saskatoon at Hearth Restaurant, owners Beth Rogers and Thayne Robstad do their own foraging and then create menu items that highlight the mushroom.
With climate change affecting the timing and yield of the harvest, getting an opportunity to experience these beauties makes a visit to Saskatchewan during the season a must-do. Plus, there’s the Northern Lights to see, 94,000 scenic lakes (seriously!) to explore and the largest dark sky badlands preserve, Grasslands National Park, to discover in this Canadian gem.
Huckleberries in Montana (July to September)
For a delightful tasty treat that’s full of antioxidants and other good things, head to Western Montana in the summertime to find huckleberries.
These little flavor bombs are not the easiest berries to encounter for three good reasons. First, they only grow wild in shaded forest areas, so they must be found and foraged. Second, they are best cooked, which brings out their sweet flavor; to eat them raw, be certain they are fully ripe. Third, bears love them, so watch for that competition while picking!
Make Kalispell home base, as staying in this small northwest Montana town means you are at the gateway to both Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake and in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Stay at B&B Clark Farm Silos and you’ll be sleeping in a real silo converted into a cozy cabin; from there during huckleberry season, explore the numerous trails with a plastic bucket in hand.
To enjoy huckleberries the easy way, take the whole family to Norm’s Soda Fountain and indulge in huckleberry milkshakes. For adults only, gallop over to Glacier Distillery to tipple their flavorful huckleberry gin and sweetly delightful huckleberry liqueur. Find huckleberry pie and other creative desserts at Freestone restaurant and savor huckleberry bread pudding at Sykes Diner, a seasonal staple there for over 50 years.
Black Winter Truffles in Tasmania (June to September)
When black winter truffle season arrives in Tasmania, everyone on that pristine island in Southern Australia sits up and takes notice. The yin to Italy’s truffle yang, black truffles thrive in Tasmania’s legendary clean air and verdant soil as they grow in the foothills of the Great Western Tiers mountains.
There’s much to see and do in Tasmania at anytime of the year, but a winter visit lets you actually join in with the truffle dogs and hunt those lumpy pieces of black gold at The Truffle Farm. They were the first truffle growers in Australia, beginning the tradition that has spread to the creation of numerous Tasmanian truffle farms and resulted in the islanders overwhelming love of eating fresh black truffles in the wintertime.
Find the truffles at Hobart’s finest restaurants, including Aloft, where Chef Christian Ryan offers them “shaved over an amazing Tasmanian duck breast.” In Launceston at Stillwater, Chef Craig Will likes “a generous shaving of truffles on native proteins like wallaby, bringing out the beautiful savory notes of both ingredients.”
Venison Ragout in Austria (August to October)
When deer hunting season opens in and around the Austrian Alps, it’s a tradition to go into the woods to bag a buck. Those hunting trips lead to the traditional dish that everyone makes from the venison, both at home and in restaurants, as Culver City’s award-winning LUSTIG restaurant owner-chef Bernhard Mairinger (and Austrian native) explains.
“Venison ragout, made with dumplings, braised red cabbage and Brussels sprouts, is the seasonal dish that is on all the menus in all the restaurants, especially those near the Alps,” he explains, “and that’s most of the country!”
Austrians love the rich, hearty stew served during the fall that foreshadows the coming cold winter months. Visitors will discover with every bite the historical significance of the dish known as hirschragout, which has been served at this time of year for countless generations. Sip an Austrian Zweigelt red wine with the dish, which will evoke a Pinot Noir yet is made with that different grape varietal and pairs perfectly with the ragout.
-Jenny Peters