"world travel" news and stories

• Seems like every food mag is doing a travel issue these days, and Bon Appetit is no exception. Their "Where To Eat Now" cover story focuses on France, Italy, Australia, and Spain.
• What is friuli?
• Here are several recipes for country cakes, including some from Greece and Ireland.
• A step-by-step guide to making Shanghai Soup Dumplings.
• You really should be using mangoes more.
• More recipes from this month: Porcini-Crusted Filet Mignon with Fresh Herb Butter, Toasted Almond Ice Cream Sandwiches, Italian Sausage Meatball Heroes, Vanilla-Date Breakfast Smoothie, and several ways to cook with wine to add flavor (and keep things healthy).
• Also in this issue: an interview with Michael Palin.

If you are an culinarily inspired traveler like me (not that I travel much, but I'm not going anywhere unless there will be very good food involved), but schlepping through jungles to eat beating cobra's hearts like Tony Bourdain is a little too exotic, then perhaps something like Worlds of Flavor is more suited for you.

Worlds of Flavor is a travel program from both the Culinary Institute of America and the Viking Range company. This isn't a vacation where you lounge around on the beach all day. Travelers follow a world-renown chef or other culinary expert to Spain, Italy, central Mexico, Southeast Asia, India, and the Mississippi Delta. The trips are all about the cuisines of those cultures, involving visits to local markets, demonstrations by home cooks, meetings with local professional chefs, wine-tasting, and even some hands-on cooking classes.

The tours last about 10 days, cost anywhere from $2500 for the Mississippi Delta Tour to over $5000 for Spain.