Food trip

One of the best reasons to travel is to enjoy the gastronomic bounties of your destination. And by gastronomic, I don't refer to McDonald's or Burger King, or any microwaveable pizza that could be bought in the good ol' supermarket. It is thus that to inaugurate my travel site, I am making an entry on some of the best food items I have tried in Europe.

1. MOUSSAKA, TZATZIKI and GYROS (Athens, Greece). Taking a momentary refuge from the blazing Greek sun, I found myself in a quaint Greek resto in the Psiri district at the foot of the Acropolis. Other than Coca-cola, which at that time seemed honey from the gods, I also ordered moussaka (eggplant lasagna), tzatziki (cucumber and yoghurt salad) and gyros (veggie-and-roasted-lamb wrap). I so swear that Dionysos, the Greek deity of pleasure, came to me at the point. Average price: 12 euros.

2. KING CRAB SALAD and SMOKED SALMON (Bruges, Belgium). No money but really hungry? Why not go to the mid-morning market in the newly refurbished city square of Bruge and try out the seafoods. From mackerel to shrimp, from lobsters to octopus, from fresh to dried to salted, they have it all. Take 200 grams of salad and a slab of smoked salmon, buy a loaf of bread, and -- voila! -- comfort lunch and dinner in an instant. Average price: 10 euros, good for two meals.


3. BREADED CODFISH with GARLIC MAYONNAISE (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). What would make a hard-headed mayonnaise-hater shove almost a bottle of mayonnaise up his gullet? Well, if it's eaten with sumptuous pieces of freshly-fried fish near an idyllic fishing village at the outskirts of Amsterdam, of course! Average price: 6 euros.