In April 2014, Hong Kong native Gabriella Zanzanaini and Belgian Nicolas Petit quit their jobs to travel overland from Western Europe to South East Asia. En route, they explored Montenegro, Uzbekistan and Central China and, in the homes of welcoming locals, learned to cook Albanian, Tibetan and Laotian (among some of the more road-less-travelled countries and cuisines). Jealous much? Before they set off, they even launched a blog to document their 306-day, 20,000-kilometre journey. quickly attracted a large fan base for Gabi’s smart writing, Nic’s vivid travel shots and the eloquent cultural insights and enticing traditional fare they shared along the way, from Iranian and Greek to Turkish and rooftop spring rolls in Hanoi. While the pair is currently stationed in Nic’s hometown of Brussels, neither the adventure nor the blog is over yet. Watch their space – we will be.
“When we started this journey by land from Brussels to Hong Kong last year, we knew that we wanted to use food as a way to communicate with others when language would fail us. We never expected so many people to open their homes to us. We were not looking for famous chefs, fancy restaurant dishes or perfectly styled food, but for what people eat every day.
When a treasured family recipe and meal is shared between new friends, it is not only about the food before you, but it is someone letting you into their cultural heritage and telling you a story about the history of food.
“How did some ingredients end up here? Which ones were brought by Silk Road merchants or which ones were grown in local soil. By going into people's kitchens, we have seen how similar ingredients are used very differently from West to East, but also how every society has their favourite way of wrapping food, carrying food and seasoning food.
“As winter settles in, we wanted to share some of our inspiration from the road to help brighten the slightly darker days or spark a desire to travel in your own kitchen. Our blog stretches from the comforting, hearty food of Italy and Greece, to the surprising herb combination that tinges green rice in Iran and a vitamin-infused smoothie from Turkey, to the freshness and fire of South East Asian favourites, like Lao and Vietnamese cuisine. All of these recipes were shared generously with us from friends we made along the way, and from places that now have a permanent place in our hearts.”
We started our blog… In search of stories to seduce your appetite, feed the mind and nourish the soul. We hope that by sharing stories from the road, it will trigger others to find their own adventures. The recipes we have learnt and food we have tasted from the road have shown us the evolution of flavours from West to East and are now inspiring us to develop our own recipes, which we would like to turn into a cookbook.
“Where I most want to go is Penang and what I plan to eat there is all the street food I can get my hands on.” Gabi
My current food obsession is... “Tahdig, the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot that Iranians have turned into an art form.” Gabi
Eating… “Pilau takes me back to Lamu Island in Kenya.” Nico
“Wonton noodles takes me back to my childhood in Hong Kong.” Gabi
Our nugget of cooking wisdom... Butter and garlic makes everything taste better.
I learnt to cook from... “My Chinese mother and Italian grandmother.” Gabi
When I go back to my home town... “Brussels, the first thing I eat is filet Américain (the Belgian name for steak tartare) and fries – with mayonnaise of course, never ketchup.” Nico
“Hong Kong, the first thing I eat is dim sum.” Gabi
Travelling is... All about feeding your mind and your heart.
Friends always ask me to cook... “Chinese food in Europe and Italian food in Asia.” Gabi
The one thing we can’t cook is... Offal.
We always have... Olive oil, baking powder, salt, garlic and vanilla in our travelling pantry (which is more like a big cloth bag stuffed with food).
The most difficult food to shoot on the road is... “Any brown stew in a pot in a dark kitchen.” Nico
Beyond our own blog, some of my favourites reads are... “Online, Molly from for her honest writing and still entertains after many years. In print, I prefer the long-form writing that has disappeared in recent years and indulge in The Cleaver Quarterly and Lucky Peach when I can.” Gabi
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Source: Nicolas Petit
Source: Nicolas Petit
Source: Nicolas Petit
Source: Nicolas Petit
Blog Appétit Editor Yasmin Newman
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