Hottest Food Trends for Travelers in 2015

TripAdvisor
March 9th, 2015

 
Get ready. Your food is about to get wild. As passion for local food increases, heading into the woods to forage for mushrooms, berries, nuts, and roots has started a new era of the hunter and gatherer. Except, rather than circling around a fire, people get to indulge in post-excursion tasting menus and creative craft cocktails at local restaurants. This renewed interest in wild food has prompted chefs to hire in-house foragers and create “hyper-local” menus and inspired tour companies to take groups of curious eaters—basket in hand—into the forests.

According to Alan Muskat of No Taste Like Home, a foraging tour company based in Asheville, North Carolina, “Foraging is not just a trend; it’s a necessity. We all know why going local is important and rewarding, and so now the movement is going ‘hyper local.’” Muskat keeps his wild food tours informative but fun. He says, “They are more entertaining than [people] expect. I use a lot of jokes, poems, and stories, and I also give them time to explore.”

Anyone who is pro foraging will attest to its many benefits, such as adding interest to menus, offering healthy and sustainable food alternatives, and allowing people to directly connect with nature in an enjoyable way.