Traveling to a new country is an engraved invitation to try foods you’d never stock in your fridge at home. But Airbnb Cooking Experiences, launched Monday, adds a homey touch to your gastronomic adventures. In partnership with Slow Food—a non-profit organization with the mission of making nutrition more accessible and sustainable—travel is about to get the homemade treatment.
By choosing from 3,000 unique recipes across more than 75 countries, tourists get hands-on cooking experiences with everyday chefs in far-flung locales. You can bake your own macarons in the heart of Paris, mix mojitos at a villa in Havana, or take an organic farming class in Ubud. Yes, you’ll be collecting stamps on your passport, but you’ll also be racking up recipes and inspiration that will help you return home a more sustainable cook.
“To protect the personal nature of each recipe, each experience has been vetted against guidelines inspired by Slow Food, a grassroots organization whose mission is to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions,” writes Airbnb in a press release. “Through this vetting process, we have verified that each host of an Airbnb Experience communicates the unique essence of every dish through their personal stories and has proven a deep knowledge of the heritage of the cuisine that they share.”
The non-profit also introduced 15 of its own Cooking experiences that align with its core values, including Walk and Eat the Amalfi Coast in Italy and Let’s Rescue Food in Colombia.
“It’s really encouraging that Airbnb looked to us for guidance on how to help people preserve their family recipes and become quality and sustainability advocates,” said Paolo Di Croce, Slow Food secretary-general. “Airbnb Cooking Experiences represent a great opportunity to spread our urgent call for sustainability standards and food biodiversity protection across the globe, reaching new audiences and inspiring change in the entire food and tourism sector.”
If you’re itching to get the hell out of dodge, why not do it where food and the future of the planet take center stage?
Here’s what 6 healthy plates look like across the globe, and 6 questions to ask yourself before booking that Eat Pray Love trip.
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