eat smart culinary travel

Eat Smart Culinary Travel

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EAT SMART CULINARY TRAVEL (Madison) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Eat Smart Culinary Tours — Curated culinary tours around the world

Looking for a small group to explore a new destination? Our tours are an intimate way to discover the country. And lots of great food! Our tours are set up for people who want to see the sights, be in a small group, and eat.

Joan Peterson is the publisher of the EAT SMART series of guidebooks designed for travelers and cookbook lovers. She has written guides to the cuisines of Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Morocco, Sicily, India, Peru, and Norway. ​

Join us in getting to the heart of the culture through an exploration of its cuisine and regional specialties. Learn the secrets of local dishes by participating in cooking classes. Our tours provide talks on culinary topics and visits to bustling markets to learn about the herbs, spices and condiments that are prevalent in regional cookery.

Eat Smart Culinary Travel has been on the forefront of culinary tourism since 1993.

I have been so fortunate to be Joan Peterson's business partner and daughter! My mom was ahead of the game in culinary travel when she published her first travel guidebook dedicated to the cuisine of Brazil in 1993. We now have 14 culinary travel guidebooks in our award winning series and lead culinary tours around the world.

We lead culinary tours around the world. Join culinary travel expert, Joan Peterson, and get to the heart of the culture through its cuisine!

Hi Susan, thanks for sharing your tour company with Travel Massive. Very impressive that you’ve been operating for so many years!

What’s been the biggest changes you’ve seen over the past few years in terms of a) guidebooks and b) culinary tours?

Thanks, Ian. We stopped publishing new guidebooks in 2017. Too much information can just be found online, so our market is really those wanting to deep dive into a country's culinary history in a book format. Our culinary tours continue to be very popular, but we have faced the pandemic, natural disasters, and political conflict. We are leading 5 tours in 2024, which is about all I can handle with my busy travel advisor business.

looks fantastic

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Eat Smart Culinary Tours

Curated culinary tours around the world

Tasting trip

Eat Smart Culinary Travel launches new tour to Jordan

by Allison Geyer

February 8, 2018

The Eat Smart group tries southeastern Turkish cuisine at the Akdeniz Hatay Sofrası restaurant in Istanbul during a 2015 trip.

To Joan Peterson and Susan Chwae, the mother-daughter team behind Madison-based food tourism company Eat Smart Culinary Travel , the best way to understand and experience a different culture is by tasting it.

“Food is like a common language,” says Peterson, who launched Ginkgo Press in 1993 to publish educational guide books about the cuisines of different countries. Initially she and her husband traveled the globe conducting culinary research for the books, and eventually they decided it would be fun to lead a tour. Peterson’s favorite country was (and still is) Turkey, making the Middle Eastern country a natural fit for her first tour in 1998.

Over the years, Eat Smart began offering additional tours to places like Italy, Morocco and Indonesia, but Turkey remained the company’s signature trip, offered annually up until 2016, when Turkey’s political situation became dangerous and travelers started having difficulty obtaining visas, Peterson says.

The U.S. State Department on Jan. 12 issued a “Level 3” travel advisory for Turkey, citing “terrorism and arbitrary detentions.” Peterson and Chwae say they’ve always felt safe traveling Turkey and hope to resume the tour as early as 2019. But for this year, they’re debuting a new tour to nearby Jordan, which offers similar flavors and culture.

“The food in Jordan gets its influence from an area called the Levant — North Africa, the Middle East, Persia, the Mediterranean,” says Chwae, who first visited Jordan last year while traveling with family. Culinary staples include internationally famous foods like hummus, tahini and falafel, plus regional dishes like kibbeh (meat patties with bulgur and minced onions), zarb (Bedouin barbeque), mansaf (lamb in fermented dried yogurt sauce, the national dish of Jordan).

The State Department also has a travel advisory on Jordan , citing terrorism and the ongoing armed conflicts in neighboring Iraq and Syria, but as of Jan. 10 the warning is only at Level 2 — “exercise increased caution.” The culinary tour tries to play it safe by sticking to major tourism centers like the Dead Sea, Petra and Wadi Rum .

“The culture is so friendly and easily accessible,” Chwae says of Jordan. “Restaurants are well set up for tourists, and owners welcome [guests] with open arms.”

Eat Smart tours are intimate affairs, ranging from eight to 12 guests. Prices range from $2,500 to $3,500, which includes meals, accommodations, transportation (excluding airfare), professional guides and cultural activities. The trip to Jordan, which runs Nov. 1-9, sold out two weeks ago, but Peterson says she would consider offering another this year if enough people are interested.

“It’s really nice to be in the smaller group,” Peterson says. “We can all sit at one table. We really become a family at the end.”

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2018 Primetime Emmy & James Beard Award Winner

A History of Moscow in 13 Dishes

Jun 06 2018.

War, hunger, and some of the world’s great doomed social experiments all changed the way that Moscow eats.

Moscow, the European metropolis on Asia’s western flank, has always been a canvas for competing cultures. Its cuisine is no different. The ancient baselines of winter grains, root vegetables, and cabbage acquired scaffolding from both directions: eastern horsemen brought meat on sticks, western craftsmen brought pastries, and courtly French chefs came and drowned it all in cream.

History has a place on the plate here, as well: war, hunger, and some of the world’s great doomed social experiments from Serfdom to Communism to Bandit Capitalism all changed the way that Moscow eats. So in the spirit of all of those grand failures, we—a Russian chef and an American writer—will attempt here to reduce the towering history of this unknowable city to 13 dishes, with some Imperial past but a special emphasis on the more recent decades of culinary paroxysms as Moscow emerged from its Soviet slumber.

Olivier Salad

To visualize the long marriage between French and Russian cuisines, picture Peter the Great, on a diplomatic sojourn to Paris in 1717, a “ stranger to etiquette ”, meeting the 7-year-old boy-king Louis XV and lifting him in the air out of sheer elán. These things were simply not done, and yet, there they were. Peter’s joyful (and often envious) fascination with all things French took hold, among other places, in the kitchen. He brought French chefs back to his palaces, and then the lesser nobility followed suit, and when the first restaurants emerged in Moscow, they also spoke French. The Hermitage Restaurant, which was open from 1864 until history intervened in 1917, had a Francophone Belgian named Lucien Olivier as a chef, and he made a salad that was a perfectly unrestrained combination of French flavors and Russian ingredients: grouse! Veal tongue! Proto-mayonnaise! The ingredients now tend toward the pedestrian—boiled beef, dill pickles, various vegetables all bound with mayonnaise—and it has become a staple of Russian cuisine, especially on New Year’s. And yes, if you’ve ever seen the lonely Ensalada Rusa wilting behind the sneezeguard of a Spanish tapas bar, that is supposed to be a successor to the Olivier. But in Moscow, you should eat Matryoshka ’s version, which is not the original recipe but has some of that imperial richness: crayfish, quail, sturgeon caviar, and remoulade, all under a translucent aspic skirt, for 990₽ ($16).

There’s a type of expression around bottling things—bottled lightning, summer in a jar, etc.—that feels very apt here. What exactly is bottled with vareniye (jam)? A lot more than just fruit. These jams, which tend to be thinner than western varieties—with whole berries or fruit chunks in syrup—are bottled with a lot of Russian identity. There’s the Russian love of countryside. Deep dacha culture of summer cottages and personal orchards. Traditional naturopathy (raspberry vareniye taken with tea will fight fever). And above all, friendship is bottled here— vareniye made from the overabundance of fruit at one’s dacha is the most typical Russian gift, real sharing from real nature, even in the often-cynical heart of Europe’s largest megacity. Visitors who are short on lifelong friendships in Moscow can pick some up fine vareniye at any Lavka Lavka shop (we recommend the delicate young pine cone jam) or, curiously enough, at many Armenian stores.

Borodinsky Bread

The clinical-sounding title of Lev Auerman’s 1935 classic Tekhnologiya Khlebopecheniya ( Bread Baking Technology) doesn’t promise scintillation. But Auerman’s recipe for rye bread changed Russian bread forever. An older legend had it that the bread was baked dark for mourning by a woman widowed in the battle of Borodino in 1812, but the real birth of the bread came from Auerman’s recipes. A modification on sweet, malted Baltic breads, Auerman’s Borodinsky bread was 100% rye and used caraway or anise. The recipe has evolved a bit—today it is 80% rye and 20% wheat high extraction flour and leans more on coriander than caraway. But its flavor profile (sweet, chewy) as well as its characteristic L7 mold —a deep brick of bread—has made it easily identifiable as the traditional, ubiquitous, every-occasion bread of Moscow. You can buy it everywhere, but the Azbuka Vkusa high-end markets have a reliably good sliced version.

Buckwheat Grechka

Look closely at those Russians who have followed their money to live in London, or are vacationing in Cyprus or Antalya. See the slight melancholy that not even cappuccinos or sunshine can erase. It’s not because Russians are gloomy by nature; it’s probably because there is no real grechka outside of Russia and Ukraine, and that is devastating. Buckwheat grain and groats— grechka (or grecha in Saint Petersburg)—are deep in the culture. It’s a wartime memory: May 9 Victory Day celebrations feature military kitchens serving buckwheat like they did at the front. It’s a little slice of Russian history that lies somewhere between oatmeal and couscous. In Moscow, eat it at Dr. Zhivago with milk (180₽/US$2.90) or mushrooms (590₽/US$9.50), and rejoice.

Mimoza Salad

This fantastically expressive egg-and-canned-fish salad is a testament to Soviet ingenuity—it’s the ultimate puzzle to make a drastically limited food chain sparkle—and the universal human thrill of layering foods. The geological creation starts with a base layer of fish, then layers of grated cooked potato, mayonnaise, shredded cheese, grated carrots, sweet onion, diced egg whites and then capped with a brilliant yellow crumble of boiled egg yolk. It sits there on the plate, dazzling like the flowering mimosa tree it is named after. The taste? Well, it’s comfort food. Pick some up to go at any Karavaev Brothers location —the excellent deli chain sells it for 650₽ (US$10.40) a kilo.

It seems odd, almost impossible, to imagine a time in Russia before shashlik. It’s meat on a stick, something that all humans should have had on the menu since at least the time of Prometheus. But shashlik as we know it know—cubes of marinated meat cooked with vegetables over a mangal grill—didn’t really take off in Russia until the early 1900s. And due to a lack of suitable meat in much of the Soviet era (there were no meat cattle herds, only dairy), we’re starting the clock on shashlik in the late Soviet period. Despite its relatively recent (re)appearance, it is now the ubiquitous grill phenomenon of Russia, a welcome ritual of summer.

Much of Russian cuisine has borrowed heavily from Central Asia and further east over the millennia ( pelmeni anyone?), but plov is a striking example of an entire eastern dish making its way directly into Russian households. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and upheaval in many Central Asian Soviet Republics, mass economic migration to Moscow took off in the late 80s and early 90s. Central Asians today are the lifeblood of the Moscow labor force (part of up to 10-12 million Central Asian migrants living in Russia), and plov—rice steamed in stock with meat and vegetables—has jumped from the migrant communities to the homes of Muscovites everywhere. It has developed an unfortunate reputation for being a food that even finicky kids will eat, so there is a lot of harried domestic plov being made. But you can get a fully expressed Uzbek version at Danilovsky Market, online at plov.com , or at Food City—the surf-and-turf Tsukiji of Moscow.

The Big Mac

So many of the difficulties in American-Russian relations come down to one foundational attitude problem: The Americans (that’s half of this writing duo) were incredibly, distressingly smug through the entire fall of the Soviet Union. We mistook Soviet failure for an American victory, and that made all the difference. What does that have to do with a Big Mac? Well, when Russia’s first McDonald’s opened on Pushkinskaya in 1990 and 5000 people turned out to wait in line for the first taste of America, we back home in the states mistook it for culinary and commercial superiority. But there was something more complicated happening: Russians had been denied Western goods for so long and with such force that any outside identity was much-needed oxygen. And the long-term victory, as McDonald’s has continued to thrive in post-Soviet Russia, really belongs to the local franchise, which used higher-quality ingredients than in the U.S. and created a chain that was successful not because of its American identity but because of its Russian modifications. We wouldn’t recommend eating at any McDonald’s, especially not when there is Teremok for your fast-food needs, but having a soda in the original location is one way to sit and ponder the sin of hubris. And to use the free toilet and Wi-Fi.

The crown jewel of Levantine meat preparations, perhaps the single greatest street meat in the world: Shawarma. It first came to Moscow with a shawarma joint across from the Passazh mall, opened in the early 90s by Syrian cooks who dazzled masses with their sizzling, spinning, spiced meat emporium. Lines that stretched into the hundreds of people weren’t uncommon in those heady early days. And even though the original spot closed many years ago, Moscow shawarma only grew from there, mutating into the beast it is today, where you’re likely to find chicken, cabbage, mayo and a thin tomato sauce all combining to make the Levant a distant memory.

Fish Tartare aka Sashimi

One result of the aforementioned American smugness is that the West seemed surprised at how rapidly 1990s Russia assimilated some of the most hardcore capitalist traits, including but not limited to conspicuous consumerism. Moscow’s new elite was very, very good at that. What could be more conspicuous that recreating a restrained, exclusive seafood cuisine from Japan in the chaotic, landlocked megacity of Moscow? The very improbability of high-end sushi and sashimi in Moscow fueled much of its allure, and even though the trends have moved on from sushi, you can still tell the emotional attachment that the oligarch class has to those formative wastes of money. Sumosan restaurant started in Moscow back in 1997 and has since expanded to Monte Carlo and Londongrad , where they serve a dish that they call Fish Tartare, among others, in their restaurants and through their private jet catering service.

Blue Cheese roll

If the early elite sushi restaurants in Moscow were the frivolous edge of a food phenomenon, then Yakitoriya , a chain which started in the late 1990s, democratized it with affordable sushi rolls geared to local tastes. The Blue Cheese Roll, available now on their menu, seems like the apex (or nadir) of the Russianized roll: salmon, smoked eel, cucumber, cream cheese, Blue Cheese sauce. It might not be Jiro’s dream, but a true Russian middle class, one that can work honestly, earn meaningful salaries, and have a freaky sushi roll at the end of the week just like the rest of us—that’s something worthing dreaming for. Blue Cheese Roll, Yakitoriya, 417₽ (US$6.70)

If you’re American, have you ever wondered why tacos took over middle America but sopes remain virtually unknown? It’s curious how a country can assimilate some foods from their neighbors and but remain blissfully ignorant of others. That may explain what took place two years ago in Moscow, when the city seemingly discovered, as if for the first time, the bagged awesomeness that is khinkali , a soup dumpling from Russia’s southern neighbor Georgia. It became very trendy very quickly, and khinkali joints sprouted across Moscow like griby after a rain. But it wasn’t just that dish: what they were serving was a bit of the imagined southern, sybaritic lifestyle of the Caucasus, as promised in restaurant names like Est’ Khinkali Pit Vino ( Eat Khinkali Drink Wine ). Your best bets are at the stately Sakhli , around 100₽ (US$1.60) per soft, fulsome dumpling, or the more modernized Kafe Khinkalnaya on Neglinnaya Street , 100₽ (US$0.80) a dumpling.

We have named burrata—yes, that Italian alchemy of cheese and cream—the Perfect Dish of Moscow 2018, if only because it is the Dish of the Moment, ready to be enjoyed at the height of its faddishness now, and equally ready to be replaced when the city decides to move on. Read Anna Maslovskaya’s masterful breakdown of why—and where—to eat burrata in Moscow.

Top image: Olivier salad with chicken. Photo by: Kvector /Shutterstock

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The Perfect Dish: The Moscow Burrata

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Amazing entertainment experience!!! The... - Culinary Studio CulinaryOn

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Me and my gf visited Culinaryon this summer. That was really great. Nice food, chef and the hole... read more

The visit to CulinaryOn was a highlight of our Moscow trip. The place is located on the top floor... read more

Amazing entertainment experience!!! The most unique place I've ever been!

I went to to Culinarium for a birthday party. I will never forget this experience. Starting from aprons, music, wine, gorgeous design, to the guidance of the chefs which were great, funny, and didn't let anyone get bored even for a minute. It's very fun to eat with friends and eventually eat all together, especially when theres a special ethnic food from all around the world. Also, the children loved it !!! for a moment we have not heard "I want to go home" as usually. Can not wait to go back there again! :-)

This is a great way to have some time together with you colleagues or friends. I haven't participated in any public events, only in private ones and my experience was great. Culinarium provides everything - great cooking experience, opportunity to chat with friends or chef, wonderful and very friendly atmosphere. It's not just a cooking place, it's a place where you can experiment or do something for fun to feel yourself like a 5-year old (just look thru the photos and you'll see it). As for cooking - you'll get very precise directions, attention from chef (even when there are a lot of people participating). Everything you need will be provided.

I visited an Italian class mostly tailored for families with kids. From the very start it felt relaxing and welcoming with lot's of comfortable space for kids to play around. The bar was serving excellent and quite creative non-alcoholic cocktails. There were three chefs involved and especially fun was chef Vincenzo. We made several kinds of pizza, prepared pasta dough and rolled out fresh fetuccine. The chefs then prepared carbonara sauce and served the pasta to us. The food was tasty and both adults and kids seemed happy with it. Conveniently located both for drivers and for those who travel by metro.

I've been there with my family, it s amazing place, best cooks, very friendly for kids, nice and really professional staff!!! We like it!:)

It is a nice and a really interesting place. Here you can 'spend an evening with friends, meet new people, learn to cook. The level is extremely high. I've been there several times and we'll be back again.

Very good and interesting place, where you can try to cook Italian, Spanish or Russian and etc. cuisine and at the same time have fun and pleasure. Warm atmosphere, professional stuff are waiting you there. It is suitable for all ages. Yesterday we celebrated my mom's birthday. All our guests had really great fun and remember it forever. This is something new in entertainment. You cook under "control" ) of the most famous Russian, Italian and others chefs. And after you eat what you have cooked. You can drink wine, you can relax. This time will bring you unforgettable memories.

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We love our city and are ready to share with you our in-depth knowledge of Moscow, this old but very dynamic and amazing city. We will be glad to provide context and fun in equal measure opening up your eyes to Russian history, culture and art.

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My family’s from the Greek island of longevity, where people often live to 100: The 12 foods we always eat

On Ikaria, the Greek island where people "forget to die," as one centenarian told longevity expert Dan Buettner , is one of a handful of Blue Zones around the globe where people live an inordinately long time. 

In 2009, Greek physicians and researchers found that 13% of Ikarians in their study were over 80, compared to about 1.5% of the global population and about 4% in North America and Europe. People on the island were 10 times more likely to live to 100 than Americans .

I have deep family roots on Ikaria, and for almost two decades, I've been running a cooking school out of the kitchen and garden of my village home. My pantry is culled from the traditions of the Mediterranean: chock-full of all the things that have long given food its flavor in this part of the world.

Here's what's in an Ikaria-inspired pantry:

Beans and legumes

These are among the seminal ingredients of the Ikarian way of eating. Adding them to your everyday meal plan is proven to increase longevity and can help you phase meat out of your diet. Try:

• Broad beans (aka, fava beans)
• Gigantes (giant beans)

I couldn't imagine my life or kitchen without garlic! It's the ultimate flavor-packing, health - providing natural ingredient. There's a virtual pharmacopeia of goodness in every clove.

Modern-day Ikarians swear by it. My daughter makes a preventive infusion of raw garlic, mountain or sage tea, ginger, and honey, which she consumes when the temperature drops or she feels a cold coming on — advice taken from our friend, Yiorgos Stenos, 91.

Garlic makes almost everything taste better. It sweetens up as it softens and cooks, lending an almost caramelized flavor to so many different foods.

Whole grains are an integral part of the Ikaria diet. Here are a few different types to keep on hand:

• Pasta, especially whole wheat pasta and gluten-free, high-protein, bean-based pastas, such as chickpea and lentil pastas

On Ikaria, myriad herbs grow wild and most of us can grow a few pots of fresh herbs at home, even if it's just on the windowsill. I use herbs with abandon in many of my recipes.

Most families have a cupboard packed with dried herbs, the therapeutic qualities of which are contained in the knowledge passed down from generation to generation. Basic dried herbs include: 

Nuts are an important ingredient in many of my plant-based recipes and traditionally are an important ingredient in Greek regional cooking. They grow abundantly throughout the country.

Here are a few of the most popular — and healthiest:

• Sesame seeds and tahini

Olives have been a staple in the Greek diet since prehistoric times, and they're one of the many preserves I always keep stocked.

In Greece, they're traditionally eaten on their own or in salads. I love to pair them with pantry staples like beans or pasta and other grains.

Olive oil is the defining food of the Mediterranean diet and an absolute must in the pantry. 

Many of the health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet, and, by extension, the Ikaria diet, are attributed to the health properties of olive oil . I only use extra virgin oil, which simply means the oil is unrefined.

On Ikaria, many people, myself included, use sea salt that collects in the small natural salt basins that have formed along the island's rocky coastline over eons. It tastes better than regular table salt, which comes from mines and is heavily processed.  

This is one of my personal favorites. Consuming honey daily is one of the longevity secrets of the islanders. Honey is antibacterial , rich in antioxidants including flavonoids , and — unlike white sugar or artificial sweeteners — helps the body to regulate blood sugar levels . Many people here eat a spoonful every morning . 

You can add a liberal drizzle to your tea or a breakfast smoothie bowl, or whisk it into dressings.

Dried fruits

Figs and raisins are two dried fruits I always have on hand to use in all sorts of savory dishes, especially in salads and rice dishes.

Yogurt is a fermented food that has been part of the culinary tapestry of the Eastern Mediterranean for thousands of years. The traditional yogurt on Ikaria is produced with goat's milk and has a delicious sour flavor and creamy texture.

If goat's milk yogurt isn't to your liking, you might prefer the Greek yogurt commonly found in American supermarkets, which is similarly rich in probiotics.

Feta and similar cheeses

Almost all the cheese Ikarians make and eat is produced with goat's milk or sheep's milk, like feta. Much of it is naturally fermented.

Over the years of teaching mostly Americans who come to my classes, I've had many guests who are lactose intolerant but are able to enjoy the island's traditional goat's milk cheeses and even a glass or two of fresh goat's milk without a problem.

Diane Kochilas is the host and co-executive producer of " My Greek Table ," runs the Glorious Greek Cooking School on her native island Ikaria, and is the author of 18 books on Greek cuisine, including most recently, " The Ikaria Way: 100 Delicious Plant-Based Recipes Inspired by My Homeland, the Greek Island of Longevity ."

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From " The Ikaria Way: 100 Delicious Plant-Based Recipes Inspired By My Homeland, the Greek Island of Longevity ," by Diane Kochilas, Copyright © 2024 by the author, and reprinted with permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.

I've traveled to 9 out of 10 countries in Southeast Asia. Here are the 5 biggest mistakes I made along the way.

• I've traveled solo to nine countries in Southeast Asia.
• I've made many mistakes, from traveling during monsoon season to forgetting to bring enough cash.
• Travelers should make sure they plan ahead and research each country's culture.

Over the last two years, my journey as a travel enthusiast and Business Insider's travel reporter in Singapore has brought me to almost every country in Southeast Asia.

In total, there are 10 countries in Southeast Asia , and I've traveled to nine of them — Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, and Brunei. Myanmar remains the only country in the region I have not visited, and while I am keen to explore it, I have held off on visiting because of the country's ongoing civil war.

I've watched the sun rise in Angkor Wat in Cambodia and cared for elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I've explored the Bornean jungle in Brunei and crawled the Cu Chi Tunnels in southern Vietnam.

But it hasn't always been easy. I've made several mistakes traveling across the region , especially as a solo traveler. Here are five mistakes I made and how to avoid them.

1. Going during monsoon season and not planning for the weather.

In July, I traveled to Thailand on a reporting trip to cover the budding cannabis industry . There, I was met with heavy rain nearly every day. In Bangkok, I was staying in a hostel in Chakkrawat , a district with narrow, meandering streets, which made it difficult to walk anywhere in the pouring rain.

I didn't plan for the weather, so I didn't have an umbrella or poncho with me and had to rush to get one at the last minute. I also had a packed itinerary with a lot of travel between meetings, which was a hassle in the constant downpour.

Before traveling to Southeast Asia, make sure to avoid two seasons — the monsoon season, which often comes with strong typhoons in countries like the Philippines, and the burning season, where farmers burn land for fertile soil. This is a common occurrence in countries like Laos, Thailand, and the island of Borneo, which is shared between Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

When I traveled to Laos in April last year during the burning season , most of my plans — including a hot air balloon ride — were canceled because of the thick smog. I also didn't have an N95 mask with me, and I ended up with a sore throat.

If you do plan to come during these seasons, make sure to pack accordingly and plan a flexible schedule.

2. Traveling during Ramadan and expecting the same practices everywhere.

Having grown up in Singapore, I'm familiar with the practices during Ramadan , the holy month for Muslims, where they fast for most of the day. I studied Malay for seven years, and in school, I often fasted with my Muslim classmates and ate only in private.

Still, in many cities in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia , non-Muslims are free to dine in public, so long as they do so respectfully. But on my trip to Brunei in April — at the height of the burning season and in the middle of Ramadan — there were more practices I needed to observe.

Most restaurants were closed, and diners weren't allowed to eat there even if they were open — only take-out was allowed. Eating in public was a major faux pas even for non-Muslims, and if you want to drink some water, you can only do so when nobody is around.

It wasn't easy, especially as Brunei was sweltering at 100 degrees Fahrenheit on some days. I made do by returning to the hotel for lunch and grabbing a big dinner with the locals at the night market after they had broken their fast.

3. Not packing enough modest outfits when visiting temples and mosques.

Southeast Asia is pretty liberal, and you can wear whatever you want in many places. In popular destinations like Phuket, Thailand, and Bali, Indonesia, lots of tourists walk around in bikini tops and shorts, and locals mostly tolerate it.

But there are certain places you do need to cover up, like places of worship, which include temples and mosques. When I visited Angkor Wat — the famed temple complex in Cambodia — in February last year, I found some tourists being told off by the local tour guides for wearing shorts and tank tops — "Tomb Raider" style.

I've learned to err on the right side of caution and bring a sarong wherever I go. It's an easy way to cover up and make an outfit more modest when you need to.

4. Forgetting to pack medication, especially when I plan to eat street food.

Southeast Asia has some of the world's most flavorful food. In every country, you can find food that is cheap and delicious, and that includes Singapore , the world's most expensive city. In countries like Malaysia and Vietnam, street food dishes can cost as little as a dollar.

I eat mostly street food when I travel in Southeast Asia, so medicine for tummy-related illnesses is a must. I've only gotten sick twice from eating street food — and it was the same dish both times— and unfortunately, those were the few times I didn't have medicine with me.

I'm a pretty adventurous eater. I've eaten everything from pufferfish stew to frog porridge and dishes made with intestines off the street. I've learned to wash the utensils provided before digging in and make sure the food is cooked to order and heated up before being served.

5. Relying on my card and not bringing enough cash with me.

In Singapore, I don't really use cash and often use Apple Pay, mobile payments, and cards. But I've found that many stores in other countries in Southeast Asia only accept cash.

For example, on my third trip to Vietnam, I spent an hour trying to make payment via bank transfer after the staff at a luxury perfume shop — which was selling items priced upwards of $200 — informed me at the last minute that they didn't accept card or contactless payment.

I've also found the majority of street vendors in the region only accept mobile payment — which is limited to local banks — or cash. I've learned to change a considerable amount of money before leaving the airport and keep whatever I didn't use for my next trip.

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You’ll flip for these burgers — and more.

A trusted travel guide brand has named the best fast food restaurants in America — and the list contains some delicious surprises.

Fodor’s writer Geena Truman compiled the list , reportedly based on a year of extensive travel.

“Visions of golden-fried cheese curds, succulent smash burgers, and cheese-topped fries distracted me from the rolling scenery of America’s backroads,” confessed Truman, an unabashed fast food lover.

And while many of us might just pull into the nearest familiar-looking chain, the intrepid eater said she sought out regional and less obvious options, from New England to the Pacific Northwest.

Here are her picks — do you agree?

1. Culver’s

Calling the Wisconsin-based butter burger and frozen custard chain “the most delicious fast food pit stop in America,” the author couldn’t speak highly enough of the homespun Midwest favorite that’s now located in 26 states (and hopefully more to come). Truman gives a nod to the restaurant’s famed side of fried cheese curds, noting that Culver’s “gives the outer appearance of fast-food but outperforms all others in taste.”

2. Shake Shack

Admitting that maybe she’s a little biased towards frozen custard purveyors — honestly, can we blame her — Truman talks up Danny Meyer’s still growing burger and sweet treat chain, which, incidentally, was modeled after the Midwestern stands of Meyer’s St. Louis childhood.

A whopping 25 states now have their own Shack, with more to come.

“The perfect meal? A coffee custard shake, a simple all-American Angus Beef hot dog with cheese dipping sauce, and a smash burger,” Truman writes, giving her appreciation to the “real food with real ingredients” that’s worth the extra money you pay.

3. In-N-Out

“If you want a *cheap* fast-food burger with fresh toppings, a classic Americana malted milkshake, and cheesy fries with just a dash of salt, this is the place for you,” Truman said.

She notes that the food feels fresher than at other fast food chains, saying that she “can eat a Double-Double Burger animal-style with a heaping pile of fresh onions, cheese fries, and a chocolate malt shake” and still walk out feeling good. Millions of West Coasters would agree.

The Southern California institution has been expanding in recent years, to Oregon, Colorado, Texas and soon, Tennessee and perhaps elsewhere in the Southeast.

4. Whataburger

What In-N-Out is to Calfifornia, the home of one of fast food’s biggest burgers (at least measured across) is to Texas. Truman calls out the chain’s “spicy ketchup, taquitos, honey-butter chicken biscuit, well-battered onion rings, Green Chile Burger, and oozing patty melt.”

However, she says that eating here is more about the size of the food than the quality, saying that it’s “not a mind-blowing eating event.”

The chain has expanded to states like Arizona and now, Nevada, where a sparkling, giant-sized branch that would make Texans jealous recently opened at the foot of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. (Talk about an interesting pairing.)

5. Raising Cane’s

Georgia has Chick-Fil-A. Louisiana has Raising Cane’s. Truman appears to prefer the latter, ranking them ahead of the Polynesian Sauce purveyor.

Here, however, the menu is even simpler — chicken fingers from fresh-never-frozen birds, served with crinkle-cut fries, creamy coleslaw, thick, buttery Texas Toast and sides of remoulade-style Cane’s sauce. “Raising Cane’s perfected the recipe,” Truman says of the chicken fingers.

The chain has spread across the country, even making inroads right at the heart of NYC, with locations in Times Square, Harlem and the East Village.

6. Five Guys

“While the burgers are tasty and completely customizable…it’s really the fries that shine,” Truman opines of the popular and pricey chain that’s located all over the country and increasingly, the world. (Five Guys Barcelona, anyone?)

“Hefty bags of Idaho potatoes are literally stacked for all to see in the hallways of their restaurants. Freshly cut daily into “boardwalk-style” slivers and fried up in peanut oil (nut-allergists beware) Five Guys also offers them “Cajun-style” for travelers who want a little spice in their life,” Truman says.

7. Chick-Fil-A

Appreciating their “juicy deluxe chicken sandwich and tasty breaded nuggets,” Truman has less to say about the wildly-popular (and fast-growing) chain, referencing the “hype” and the long lines at newly-opened franchises.

8. Dave’s Hot Chicken

This celeb-backed chain — he fastest-growing fast food concept in America, the author writes — takes a concept that’s still typically found at trendy one-off spots and markets it to the masses, quite successfully.

So maybe it’s not Nashville-level great, but Truman calls a Dave’s meal the “perfect road trip snack.”

Choose from the “chicken tender slider (topped with smoky cheese and very California kale slaw) or a couple of the extra large-sized chicken tenders,” Truman suggests — urging diners to pair whatever they order with the restaurant’s creamy mac and cheese.

9. Kelly’s Roast Beef

Noting that this Boston-area institution inspired Arby’s, Truman raves about the “their “25-day aged beef knuckle roast, cooked in-house to the perfect medium rare, sliced to order, and placed delicately on a bun with a rich BBQ sauce and melty white cheese.”

The pride of Revere Beach is harder to find than most of the brands on this list, but it’s growing — and it could definitely beat Arby’s if it grew enough.

10. White Castle

Reminding readers that the spiritual home of the slider predates McDonald’s — true fact — Truman says that she didn’t tap the classic chain because of 1920s nostalgia or the restaurant’s place in the American pantheon.

“It’s the sliders,” she says, noting that there are now 12 differnet kindsto choose from, including fish, chicken and waffles and plant-based meats.

11. Dick’s

Dick’s is easily the In-N-Out of the Puget Sound, and though we’d have chosen the quirky and delicious Taco Time NW to represent that region, a trip to this basic and delicious burger drive-in is something akin to a cultural experience, essential to any road trip that includes the Seattle area.

Touting their “delicious beef burgers, salty fries, and thick old-school shakes served from walk-up windows,” Truman also gives them cred for treating their employees well and their community spirit, too.

The Seattle native also shouts out another regional chain, Zips, for their “huge tubs of crinkle-cut fries, behemoth burgers with three sizzling meat patties and sliced ham, country-style chicken strips, and freshly fried and battered fish filets pad the monster-sized menu.”

12. Jollibee

The top fast food chain in The Philippines — with a cheerful bee as its mascot — is increasingly showing up all over America, and Truman is definitely into the idea, saying there’s “no other fast food chain quite like it in America.”

Go for “crispy fried chicken, beef patty steaks with gravy, spicy tuna pies, and their trademark sweet-sauce-topped spaghetti meals,” she says, calling the chicken — when executed correctly — “better than KFC.”

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