Foodies can find local treasure on the road

Aimee Cebulski loves taking public transportation when she's visiting another city. Whenever she sees people getting on with shopping bags filled with food, she makes sure to jot down the stop and return there.

"Those areas have hidden food markets," she says.

Cebulski, a San Diego resident and freelance writer and publicist, has traveled to 43 countries to profile women who are turning 40 around the world. Trying out the local food, she says, is one of her favorite parts of the experience.

If she's got time, she'll sign up for a cooking class to learn how to make local dishes. "It might give you confidence to try cooking the same dishes at home," she says.

Many restaurants tout their use of local ingredients, and frequent travelers say sampling local food is one of the joys of taking a trip. Some try to learn how to recreate local dishes, even at their hotels. They can take that knowledge home so they can relive vacation memories.

Jennifer Raezer, a New York resident who writes for Approach Guides, a series of travel and wine guidebooks and apps, says discovering local food, especially when traveling internationally, is a big focus for her.

She always asks staff members at her hotel where they eat. But she doesn't immediately expect a useful answer. "Their first instinct is not to tell you where they eat with their families, but rather restaurants that cater to tourists," she says. "But once you do get an answer, you will be greatly rewarded with a delicious and very local experience."

That means seeking advice not only from the concierge, but the person who delivers your luggage to your room, a bus boy or the doorman, several road warriors say. When you're out, ask your cab driver or a store clerk where they like to eat.

Also make sure to wander off main thoroughfares. Even walking a few blocks from a touristy area could land you at a delicious restaurant where the locals eat.

"In stepping away one or two blocks, you can get a better meal with locals for less money," says Betsy Talbot, who has been traveling with her husband around the world since 2010.

Raezer consults local food guides, even if they're in another language. In Italy, for instance, she says there are several guides that highlight the best local restaurants. It just takes some translating.

Raezer also tries to befriend local families. One of her most memorable meals was with a family in Uzbekistan.

"We helped prepare the dinner over an open fire in the middle of the courtyard of their traditional home, and then proceeded to spend the evening with them enjoying the food and sharing stories," she says.

Research before arrival

To celebrity chef Eric Ripert, owner of Le Bernardin in New York City, traveling always involves trying the local food.

"I try to never eat food that is not typical to the region in which I'm traveling, except sometimes when I order room service," he says.

He thinks about what he's going to eat before he travels. "I Google, research, ask some friends," he says.

Kathy Bechtel, the Newburyport, Mass.-based owner of Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine, which offers food tours in Italy, finds out what food her destination is known for before she sets out on her journey.

"Identify any dishes you must try — a porchetta sandwich at the open-air market — and any you may want to avoid," she says.

Donkey stew was one Italian dish she opted not to try.

Jackie Newgent, a nutritionist and author of 1,000 Low-Calorie Recipes, maps out restaurant choices in her itinerary. She visits the websites OpenTable.com, Yelp.com and Zagat.com to get ideas for good restaurants.

Once Newgent lands at her destination, she likes to walk as much as she can and study the restaurant menus that she passes. "Let your senses actually guide you," she says.

She doesn't always stick to restaurants. She'll occasionally pop into a bakery or health food store to get a sense of what the locals like to eat.

Many USA TODAY Road Warriors, frequent travelers who log millions of miles a year combined, say that tapping into social networks such as Facebook and Twitter can produce suggestions. Simply asking friends the old-fashioned way also works. Local newspapers and magazines often have restaurant reviews and listings. Learning who the respected local food bloggers are can give you great ideas.

Shel Horowitz, a green marketing consultant from Hadley, Mass., who has been to 35 countries and 48 U.S. states, will try street food if it looks as if the conditions are sanitary.

"If it's a country where it's medically advisable, I'll sample food from street vendors and open-air markets," he says.

Eating local food doesn't have to mean sitting down for an elaborate meal, he says. He'll often buy fruit, vegetables, cheese, bread, chocolate and beverages from an open-air market and make a picnic.

One of his most memorable meals was in Mexico. He found a perfectly ripe avocado and bought some warm corn tortillas straight from a tortilla-maker and ate under giant poinsetta trees of a national park. Total cost for two people: 75 cents.

Many cities have companies that offer food tours, during which you can meet with chefs to learn how to recreate dishes back home.

"Culinary walks led by locals in the know who have been able to develop close relationships with the traditional food-makers found along the walk's route are one of the best and easiest ways to learn about a city's authentic cuisine and also about how its culinary culture shaped its soul," says Yigal Schleifer, co-founder of CulinaryBackstreets.com, which offers food tours of Istanbul, Shanghai, Athens, Barcelona and Mexico City.

Even if you're on your own, Schleifer suggests looking for restaurants that serve regional cuisine. "Most likely, these are the places that, rather than tourists or the well-heeled, cater to local folks who are hungry for a taste of home and expect their food to be made just as it's supposed to be made — using ingredients that may be particular to that region," he says.

Cooking for yourself

Some Road Warriors say they like to rent hotel rooms with kitchens so they don't have to eat out every night or rent apartments. That gives them the opportunity to try to recreate meals they've had at local restaurants. When they go to a restaurant, they ask the chef to explain how a particular dish was made.

But Bechtel, who offers food tours, says you should try to keep it simple.

In Italy, for instance, she picked up local cured meats and cheeses, some melon and tomatoes, and served them with a simple green salad dressed in a local olive oil. Then she cooked fresh pasta she found at a gourmet store.

"A nice bottle of wine, and you've got a simple, perfect meal," she says.

Talbot, the full-time traveler, and her husband often try to rent an apartment or house-sit for a local so they can have a kitchen.

They get a lot of their cooking tips at local outdoor markets. "You'll easily find the ingredients in the market, because everyone else is cooking it, too," she says."As you shop, you can ask the vendor how to prepare the items you buy."

She, too, believes food stands can be great resources. She can see how the cook is making her meal and ask him or her questions.

Recently, while in Mexico, her husband grilled meat and made pozole, a corn dish typical of the country. Talbot can eat out all the time if she wants to when she travels. But that home-cooked meal, she says, was one of her "favorite foodie memories."