I’d love to say that I travel for the architecture, or the museums and galleries, even for the walking tours and late-night bars... But I’d be lying.

After months of lock down, and ample time to gaze ravenously at every travel photo I’ve ever taken, I’ve whittled it down to a singular truth: I’m there for the food.

Krakow? Pierogi.

Buenos Aires? Asado.

Accra? Red-Red (spicy bean & fish stew)

Basic? Yes. But for me experiencing a culture via its cuisine is like imbibing a little morsel of history, agriculture, climate, style and identity all in one.

The best dish I’ve ever eaten was fresh piranha, which we’d fished out of a river deep in the Pantanal in Brazil. A local fisherman showed us how to string them onto a stick he’d plucked from the river, and we covered them in lime juice from a nearby tree, and roasted them over an open fire, while he told us about the history of the wetlands, and the time he’d seen a jaguar.

It was one of those perfect, magical travel moments – which are often wedged between the more mundane parts of travel: jetlag, being lost, crap attempts at ordering in another language – but Brazil for me will now forever be the taste of that crispy, zesty, sweet perfect fish.

 | Originally from Melbourne, Australia | 32 | Currently in London, United Kingdom |

| www.instagram.com/meaganhempenstall |