Planning guides: what is in season, which region to choose, and how to get there.
How an Istanbul cooking class works: make a meze spread, fold mantı dumplings, shape köfte or a kebab, and pull filo for baklava, often after a Spice Bazaar or Kadıköy market shop - then eat it with rakı or çay. What you cook, prices, and how to choose.
Döner vs shawarma vs gyros: all three are meat roasted on a vertical spit and shaved, but from different cuisines - Turkish döner, Levantine shawarma and Greek gyros differ in meat, spicing, bread and sauce. How to tell them apart and where to eat döner in Istanbul.
What is a Turkish breakfast (kahvaltı)? The huge shared savoury spread of cheeses, olives, honey with clotted kaymak, menemen eggs, simit and endless tea - what's on the table, how to eat it, the weekend serpme, and where to try it in Istanbul.
A flexible 3-day Istanbul food itinerary across two continents: the Spice Bazaar and Eminönü and a food tour, Kadıköy on the Asian side for the market and street food, and Beyoğlu for meze and rakı or a Bosphorus cruise. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
What to eat in Istanbul: balık ekmek fish sandwiches, İskender and Adana kebabs, lahmacun, midye dolma, a full Turkish breakfast, and künefe and baklava - the dishes to order, the street food, and where to eat, with çay, Turkish coffee and rakı.
A flexible food-first day trip to Lake Como from Milan: a direct hour-long train to Varenna, a hands-on cooking class making fresh pasta, a lakeside lunch of perch risotto and missoltini, and a ferry to Bellagio for the afternoon. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
What is missoltini? Lake Como's signature dish - agone shad salted, sun-dried and pressed in tins, then grilled and served with polenta and vinegar. What it is, how it's made, what it tastes like, and where to eat it around the lake.
What to eat on Lake Como: missoltini (sun-dried lake shad), risotto with perch fillets, lavarello whitefish, and the Valtellina classics pizzoccheri, bresaola and polenta, with Nebbiolo and Franciacorta to drink. The dishes to order and where to try them.
A flexible 4-day Rome food and wine itinerary: three days for the city's food - the four Roman pastas, Trastevere and Testaccio, a cooking class - plus a day in the Castelli Romani hills for Frascati wine and a country lunch. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
A flexible Croatia food and wine road trip from Istria to Dalmatia: white truffles, olive oil and Malvazija and Teran wines in the north, then peka, black risotto, Plavac Mali reds and the islands from Split through Hvar to Dubrovnik. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.