Chef Nisha Katona has taken a culinary journey around the world – so what are her dining dos and don’ts?

 

Get off the beaten track 

 

I use TripAdvisor religiously for hotels, but I would never, ever look at it for food. I want to know where the Vietnamese grandma goes for that particular kind of dumpling she loves. In that part of South East Asia, for instance – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos – the most amazing food comes from the street hawkers. You sit on little kindergarten plastic chairs that look like they’re not going to hold your weight, so you’re basically just eating on the pavement, but you get these incredible dishes of barbecue pork, fatty bun cha meatballs, spring rolls with soy sauce, and that sticky, sweet, sharp, spicy fish marinade in Laos. Bear in mind, too, that you’ll never get the best food in a restaurant near a tourist honeypot. Sure, eating on the piazza in an Italian town is fine for a piece of cake and a coffee and to rest your feet. But if you want to taste a slice of real Italian life, walk 20 minutes further. 

 

Ask a local 

 

As soon as I land, I’m quizzing the taxi driver about where he or she eats, what they order, what they love. And straightaway, the hands start moving around and the eyes light up, and you don’t just get great recommendations, you unlock stories too – because food and feeding is how we show love, right around the world. In France, Spain, Italy – everywhere apart from Britain! – people eat out three or four times a week because food is fresh and wholesome and reasonably priced, so they know what they’re talking about. And in Europe, they’re as passionate about wine and beer as food, so ask about that, too. It doesn’t have to be a sommelier: normal people know! Just ask, “What would you have with this meal?” And don’t be shy to say, “I’m looking for something cheaper than that please.” If in doubt, the house wine is often best, because it’s local and goes with the local cuisine. 

 

Be brave

 

As a food anthropologist – and a greedy cow – I find the best foodie experiences are often the least promising-looking. The most incredible meal I ever had was in the souk in Marrakesh. There were sheeps’ heads and carcasses on display, and I thought, “Is this a butcher’s?” But they cooked this roast lamb in a stone oven on the floor for nine hours, smothered in turmeric and cumin, and just served it on newspaper with cumin salt and bread – it’s called mechoui. You just find somewhere to eat squeezed in shoulder to-shoulder with everyone else… but oh! It tasted so good, it breaks my heart. Think different in terms of destinations, too. At the moment I’m loving East European food. Grab a flight to Krakow, when you can, for simple, almost puritanical smoked meats and white garlic soup from a hollowed-out bread bowl. Or try Hungarian langos: big rectangular deep-fried dough sheets, laden with sour cream, garlic, ham and cheese till they’re dripping down your elbow. 

 

...but be careful too 

 

I’ve been going to India all my life because that’s where my parents are from, but I still get ill there: I’ve spent whole weeks throwing up! These days, I don’t eat ice cream or salad there (because it’s often been washed in dodgy water), and I choose restaurants carefully! For instance, I was out there a couple of years ago with my husband and kids. We were starving, so stopped at a dusty old café in the middle of nowhere, and they turned the lights on, roused the staff, and dug some rolls out of the fridge. We all got sick. What you want is somewhere with frenetic, kinetic energy, life and activity, heat and passion and action. Look for a place that’s turning over customers really fast: that way you know everything’s fresh, and freshly cooked, and at a high temperature – and, of course, that it’s popular, and people are coming because the food is addictive, not for “experience dining”. 

 

And bring something back 

 

My favourite thing to stuff my suitcase with is “fishy chewing gum”. It’s actually freeze-dried cuttlefish or squid, roasted in soy sauce, from Thailand or China (though you can probably get it in specialist shops in the UK, too). I keep it in my glovebox, and my car smells like an aquarium! 

 

AS TOLD TO ED GRENBY