How Art and Traditional Foods Overlap
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Greetings Travelers,
When I first started at Zingerman’s over 20 years ago, I’ll admit—I didn’t know much about fine foods. I had a deep respect for flavor, quality, and tradition, but I hadn’t yet realized how profoundly food could connect people across cultures, generations, and geography.
I came from a fine art background and didn’t see the connection between the two until the day I realized that food is art—and art is food.
At their core, both art and traditional food are expressions of culture, identity, and creativity. They tell stories—about place, about people, and about the passage of time. Here’s how the two are deeply connected:
Both Are Cultural Inheritance
Just like a painting or a sculpture, a recipe can be a treasured artifact, passed down through generations. A dish like Tuscan ribollita or Oaxacan mole isn’t just food—it’s a living, edible form of history, shaped by time, migration, geography, and necessity.
Both Rely on Technique, Practice, and Patience
An artisan baker folding dough is no different than a potter shaping clay or a painter mixing pigments. Traditional foods are often created using skills honed over decades—whether it’s hand-pulled noodles, cured meats, or hand-harvested salt. There's beauty in the technique and deep knowledge in every movement.
Both Tell Stories Without Words
Traditional foods, like art, carry emotional and cultural weight. They can represent resilience, celebration, memory, or mourning. A bowl of pho, a slice of Parmigiano, or a glass of grower Champagne can say more about a region than any guidebook ever could.
Both Are Vulnerable—and Worth Preserving
Just as indigenous art forms can disappear when not passed on, so too can traditional foodways. Globalization and industrial food systems threaten both. That’s why seeking out these experiences—eating with artisans, visiting producers, learning their methods—isn’t just about indulgence. It’s about cultural preservation.
Both Can Change How You See the World
Whether you’re standing in front of a fresco in Florence or sharing a home-cooked meal in a small village in Sicily, you’re experiencing something designed to move you. Traditional food, like art, opens your senses and expands your perspective.
Zingerman’s Food Tours is different. Our programs aren’t generic culinary vacations. These are highly curated experiences built on decades of relationships. From the friendship with a cheesemaker in the Jura who lets us taste from his aging caves, to the Parisian baker who unlocks his shop at dawn just to show us how the butter is folded into croissant dough—these are moments that can’t be manufactured.
Food has become a language I speak through travel. It’s changed the way I cook, shop, gather, and host. But more than anything, it’s shown me that food—when shared with intention—can bridge any distance.
I’d love to share that with you.
In Fall 2025, We are traveling to Sicily, Tuscany, Paris & Champagne, and Oaxaca, and I’d love for you to come along. These aren’t just trips—they’re journeys into the heart of a place, guided by the people who make it unforgettable.
See you on the road,
Kristie
Travel with Zingerman’s through the lens of creativity and culture this coming fall.
Paris and Champagne
October 17-24, 2025
Tuscany, Fall 2025
Oct 6-12, 2025
Oaxaca, Mexico
November, 10-17, 2025
Sicily, Italy
Oct 19-29, 2025
Why Choose Zingerman's Food Tours?
With years of experience curating unforgettable culinary experiences, we pride ourselves on our small group sizes, expert guides, and a commitment to supporting local communities.
Our Food Tours take you to the source. If you’re hungry to explore behind the scenes, come with us. We use food & wine to connect to the history of a region, the spirit of its people, and the rhythm of daily life. Zingerman’s Food Tours is your concierge to the best local guides, food, and cultural experiences. Relax, enjoy, and experience the best, because of our long-standing connections in the food and travel world.
