To travel your body needs fuel – it needs food. Again, there are many travelers who travel for the sake of food alone. Our ancestors traveled far and wide, in search of more fertile lands that could sustain them and the generations to come. And today, hundreds of years after man’s mastery over food, food continues to evolve and amaze man with its sheer possibilities.
Here we have complied a list of five different places around the world that will hold the most awesome food festivals in November. It is time to lace up your shoes and book your tickets to these destinations just in case you are feeling especially indulgent this November.
1. Salon du Chocolat, Beirut (6-8 November, 2014)
Chocolate lovers have somehow, always seemed to make up a huge deciding chunk of the food lovers demography. These lovers of chocolate have been known to finish off sinfully large chocolate cakes without a trace of embarrassment or a thought for their fellow eaters. The sight of the rich crusted chocolate moulded into thick shapes, becomes too much to resist.
For chocolate lovers like this, the Salon de Chocolate is organized in Beirut. The festival starts with a Choco-demo by the most renowned chocolate chefs of the world. With a demonstration of preparations of different chocolate delights, like Buche de Noel, Chocolate Cupcake recipe, and the crunchy Crispy Christmans Finger Snacks, and many more. Frankly, I do not know if the Choco demo is a treat or a torture, for chocolate lovers. To have all those exquisite chocolate forms being created right in front of your eyes, only to see them taken away, while you are left to do nothing but applaud- does not seem to me a very wonderful way to get your day started. But if you are a connoisseur of the art of chocolate making, and not just a savage clamorer, the Choco demo, where the pastry chefs summon all their finesse to deliver these delicate creations, will be a treat to your aesthetic senses. Then there is the Fashion Show where famous dress designers and pastry chefs come together, to create period dresses with a chocolate theme.
Since it is a chocolate festival, your nephew or niece may have pestered to come along, or you may want to bring along your own five year old daughter to Choco-land for a chocolate class, where making cupcakes is as easy as one two three. And then there is the Chocol’art Charity Event for the philanthropic- where artists, designers and caterers all come together to raise money for the Lebanese Autism Society.
While you are in Beirut, you may want to see if you can catch any other attraction in Lebanon.
2. Merano Wine Festival, Southern Italy (8-10 November, 2014)
If chocolate, is not your thing, but the aged wine is, rush to South Italy for the Merano Wine Festival. This festival is led by a man who prides himself on his pursuit of good food and wine- Helmuth Koecher.
The forty best Italian wines are rounded and presented in the wine exhibition Cult 2014. Vinology and gastronomy are held on a different pedestal altogether, so much so that the organizers hold a preview every October, of the wines that are to be showcased in the November wine festival. And then for those with a deliberate interest in the full bodied, elegant reds, there is… wait for it… the Merano World Wine Economic Forum (WWEF). In this forum, professionals representing all aspects of the wine industry come together to conduct a workshop for wine lovers. The conference will be followed by a movie that has wine as its central theme. During the 2014 Wine Festival, the movie Red Obsession will be screened.
In the bio&dynamica, wine makers who practice organic viticulture will participate to showcase the heightened sensitivity of the wine industry towards the environment. And of course, who can miss the guided wine tasting of the best wines conducted by wine experts. The Wine Festival is not all about wine though. There is a Gourmet Arena, where some of the best dishes and the best beers of the world are served.
Italy major attractions: Leaning Tower of Pisa, Amalfi Coast, Venice, Colosseum, Rome, Portofino, Uffizi Gallery, Pompeii.
3. San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival, San Diego (16-23 November, 2014)
San Diego Wine and Food Festival is one of the biggest and most popular wine and food festivals in USA
Okay, this one scores a 100 on a scale of 100 in infotainment, though it can burn a hole in your pocket. The San Diego Bay Wine and Food festival that has been celebrated for the past ten years is one of the biggest and most popular wine and food festivals in the USA. The organizers have brought in not only the best in the San Diego restaurant and the street food scene, but have also roped in chefs from across the border from countries like Mexico. The result? You get to taste some of the most exquisite dishes that have changed the food history of America. Oh! You want to know where are the wines. Well, for a steep price of $625 you get to taste a number of 100 point wines- a selection of the very best.
And if you are one of those who like nothing better than the idea of mixing food and fashion, join the late night after party at the US Grant Hotel. Rub shoulders with celebrity chefs as the mixologists turn your table into their station and you are guided through the Belgian beer experience.
Read on to look at our detailed list of San Diego restaurant reviews.
4. Taste of London Winter, London (20-23 November, 2014)
This event claims to be the world’s greatest restaurant festival. It definitely is the best restaurant festival in the UK. Taste of London Winter (formerly Taste of Christmas), is hosted at the Tobacco Dock, and brings together world renowned chefs, patissiers, cocktail mixing experts, ice cream makers- the list is endless. So is the number of options to indulge your taste buds. The event is very well marketed and tickets are available for booking online. Electronic giants selling like Electrolux, use this event as a platform to demonstrate their high end cooking range. If you are in London and have guests to entertain this winter, nothing can be better than the hospitality package at Taste of London. And if you are an aspiring chef, there is no better place than to learn from the masters of the craft itself than the winter installment of the Taste of London.
5. Food, Wine & Rum Festival, Barbados (20-23 November, 2014)
Barbados is famous for its silky Bajan rum punch, and the food festival brings to you the best makers of the Bajan rum, and much more. The Food, Wine &Rum festival will be hosted for the fifth time during the November of 2014. This festival brings Bajan chefs and international chefs, cookbook authors and restaurateurs together to bring you the best in international and local food experience. Plus, you will emerge a lot ‘food-wiser’ once you have taken a guided dinner tour where wine connoisseurs will teach you what lies behind matching the color of your wine with the color of your meat.
To know more about Barbados, check out our Barbados travel guide.
Also View: Best Places To Visit In March
Image credit : ZeFrenchM, Clipper verde, Alan Spencer, Christian Muise, San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival,