Paper Palate

Lonely Planet is an Australia-based publisher of travel guides. A Lonely Planet series that may interest food-lovers is the World Food series. This series covers countries (as well as a few cities) across the world. The series carves out its own niche by combining the genres of travel guide, cookbook and language guide. Although the books have obvious utility to people planning a trip, they can be equally useful to cooks who go no farther than their local markets.

Each guide has a standardized format. After a general introduction to the location’s cuisine, there are sections called “Staples and Specialties” and “Drinks.” Each of these is a glossary of ingredients that the traveler will encounter when trying the cuisine at hand. These sections are followed by “Home Cooking and Traditions” and “Celebrating with Food.” The home cooking section is exactly what it says it is, and also covers etiquette for those who may be invited to a home-cooked meal. The celebration section treats both eating out in restaurants and the culture’s important festivals.

The next sections cover “Regional Variations” for areas large enough to have them (for example, the Hong Kong guide substitutes “Food as Medicine” but includes a special section on Macau later in the book) and “The Bold Palate,” which describes local delicacies that are not for the faint of heart. “Shopping and Markets” is self-explanatory, and includes suggestions on appropriate culinary souvenirs. “Where to Eat and Drink” singles out a few select restaurants, but concentrates on describing different genres of eateries that one might find; there are tips for vegetarians and vegans, travelers with children, and instructions on tipping (if necessary). Sections on “Street Food” and banquets follow. Bringing up the rear are a section on staying “Fit and Healthy” and a short bibliography.

But wait, there’s more! “Eat Your Words” is the linguistic part of the book. This supplies a pronunciation guide, culinary phrasebook, English-local language food glossary and culinary dictionary that defines food terms in the local language, from the popular to the obscure. The World Food guides I’ve acquired so far are from Asian places, and having these linguistic resources at hand promises to revolutionize shopping at the local Asian market. At last, deciphering some of those package labels is a realistic possibility.

The books are in full color, profusely illustrated, attractively designed and the size of a mass market paperback. Sidebars and the occasional recipe are scattered throughout, which makes these books easy to browse through. Someone who is planning a trip will still need more detailed information when it comes to planning an itinerary and deciding where to eat; the serious student of a cuisine will find this a breezy appetite-whetter. The scattered recipes do not make these books cookbooks, either. Still, the World Food series provides accessible introductions to foreign foods and the practical issues of traveling in these places.