Learning By Eating: An Ode To The Culinary Culture Tour

Post written by Laura Cococcia. You can follow Laura on Twitter.

I confess: I can’t cook.

Well, maybe that’s too extreme. I *can* cook if we’re referring to pouring milk on cereal, opening a can of Diet Coke or heating up a Hot Pocket.

My mother keeps trying to reform me, telling me that one day, the desire to cook will just ‘kick in’. A few previous boyfriends scoffed at my inability to create culinary delights. I simply don’t like cooking classes, even though they’re all the rage.

But rather than be someone I’m not, I have boldly gone where a few others have gone before and have made food my hobby. My favorite one.

I have now become a food nerd. I have an Excel spreadsheet of restaurants I want to try or have tried (with a rating system). I eat out almost every night – I have my regulars and often sort the Excel spreadsheet to figure out the next eating adventure.

I found my match though – my new friend Andrew has a better list and a more organized system so I am currently figuring out how to upload and sort his list to match mine. More nerd evidence.

Part of the hobby is going on food tours whenever I travel. I’ve done this in Budapest, Moscow, London and Buenos Aires. Far better than a traditional tour – one can learn about culture through food while hearing stories about the locales.

But I’ve also taken food tours where I’ve lived. I did this last year in Chicago and just recently in NYC. The Greenwich Village neighborhood food tour also served as a measure of efficiency – there’s simply not enough time in a day (or lifetime) to eat at all of the fabulous places in New York, so it was perfect to get a few delicious bites while learning about the city.

Food, history and culture, all wrapped in the Foods of New York three hour tour. I could write 75 articles on what I learned, but instead, I’ll just share a few nuggets of commentary and/or fact:

1. Long live the chocolate chip cookie. I almost passed out with excitement during our visit to Milk and Cookies. We had the signature cookie – but they even have customized cookie dough. I can’t make this stuff up.

It was heaven. Karen, our tour guide, told us that we all looked like little children sitting around the table. She also told us that it’s the good water in NYC that makes much of the food taste so good (she had a lot of good statistics to back it up).

2. Pizza in New York City = way better than Chicago. Sorry Chicago friends, but that’s just where I stand. And I’ve lived in both places. We stopped at Famous Joe’s Pizza, arguably one of the best joints in the city. According to the super smart Karen, Joe’s was also featured in “Along Came Polly.” Love that movie.

3. In 1962, the last pushcart rolled its way through Bleecker Street. Yes, that’s not really a food insight, but we learned it while sampling treats from Faicco’s Pork Store on Bleecker Street, which has been there since the early 1900s. Karen taught us that.

And the picture above? Nothing to do with food. Just an example of the cool things one randomly bumps in to while in New York – that day, we hung out with the band.

The great part is that New York offers plenty of these opportunities. And plenty of people who want to learn about culture. And who doesn’t want – or have – to eat? No brainer.

That’s what I learned and I’m glad I could share my small bit of cultural self-education with you all.

What’s your take on food? Do you learn more thought cooking or more through eating? Have you been on a food tour – what did you think? Would you like to cook for me?

I’ll bring the Diet Coke.

Tagged as: Cultural Anthropology, Food and Drink, Global Cultures, Laura Cococcia, Learning Moments