Some of the greatest souvenirs we've received are food- or kitchen- related gifts from places we've never been. We try to return the favor when thinking of tokens to bring friends and family from our own trips. A few ideas follow:
- As suggested in this Kitchn post from last year, Vacation Souvenirs: Look For Local Cookware!, bring home cookware that's particular to the place you've been visiting.
- Spices can make an affordable and easy-to-carry souvenir for friends to recreate local flavors from your journeys.
- Seek out table linens in regional styles and materials, like these from L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
- Look for packaged foods and candies that you just can't find at home.
- Keep a diligent travel journal. Simply recording your favorite places to eat or grab a local snack can be of great use when giving travel recommendations to friends and family in the future.
What food- or kitchen- related travel gifts have been well-received from your travels? Let's hear about your suggestions in the comments below.
Related: Edible Souvenirs: Rules for Bringing Food and Drink Back Into the United States
(Images: Vacation Souvenirs: Look For Local Cookware!, Maya Saikali/Mediamatic, igougo, Old Dutch Candy Store via In Love with It Amsterdam, Flickr member Vivianna_love, licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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I also love food for souvenirs! It's so much better than something you have to dust or find room for yet another T-shirt! I often bring back special candies to share with my co-workers when I have gone on a trip.
I work with people from all over the world and everyone always brings back some sort of special chocolate or candies from where they were visiting, it's so much fun! I like to look for regional specialties wherever i'm traveling - maybe a canned sauce, jelly, spices, hot sauce, etc. Definitely the best souvenirs!
http://www.twohealthyplates.com
My brother is on a business trip in Europe -- he's going to France, Serbia, Hungary, and Poland! So far he has bought me some Dijon mustard and harissa in Paris. Can't wait for all the goodies!
http://operagirlcooks.com
Wanted to bring tangines from Morocco but was impractical. Recently found some really good terra cotta ones at Sur la Table. And I assume that these are safe from lead glaze.
My roommate recently brought me back a beautiful apron from Germany. I'd be happy to get some great aprons from different countries.
I just got back from France. My spoils included a great deal of champagne, herbes de provence (which also made a great gift for family members), sun dried tomatoes and chocolate. I also kept very good notes about what we ate, where on what day. It was sort of a pain, but very worth it now that I look back. It gave me a good excuse to sit in a cafe for a drink while I wrote things down. I also tried to pick up a business card from places we ate at if they had them.
I always like to check out a local grocery or shop for different spices and hot sauces. My mother recently brought me back saffron from Turkey, and my brother brought me some little condiment bowls from Peru! In the Caribbean and Mexico, though, watch out for some of the cookware in the tourist markets; they often contain lead in the glazes and are purely decorative.
Handmade olive wood utensils from Spain, France and Italy. Easy and light to pack and oh-so beautiful in my kitchen. They get more beautiful with use, and I use them everyday.
Just back from Paris. My favorite food souvenir is the shop-only limited edition flavor of the moment--Moutard au chocolate, from the temple of mustard, Maille. Of course I brought back lots of other food things and a kitchen towel with the metro map on it, but my other fave is a linen-lined banneton from E.Dehellerin. My reward for learning to bake some pretty awesome hearth breads.
I had been set on getting the copper Mauviel sugar pot, but that sucker is heavy. I mean HEAVY. The basket kept me from having an overweight suitcase and will get much more use anyway. Until my next trip, I will enjoy the memory of getting to visit the sugar pot on the shelf in the crazy Dehellerin basement.
We usually go "grocery shopping" in every country we visit. We bring home anything that interests us, even if it is just cereal or candy. We tend to buy cheeses that will survive the plane, condiments, canned goods, etc. Really, our luggage is stuffed with food. And we try to share with friends.