Culinary Tour

With me, you discover places, cultures and what’s cooking in local kitchens. A dish often tells the story of a region’s climate, trade, celebrations and family habits. Sitting down at someone’s table can sometimes help you understand a place in a different way from visiting its monuments.

Cooking is also a science that fascinates me: the heat, fermentation, the moment a spice is added and a few minutes of cooking can change everything. Yet the same recipe still reflects the personality of the person who makes it. That combination of precision, curiosity and sharing is what I love to find when I travel.

With Guide Explorateur, I accompany you as your guide and personal chef. We explore, taste and, if you wish, cook together. My tailor-made culinary tours in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka bring together markets, regional specialities, local encounters and cultural discoveries. The pleasure of travelling and enjoying good food meet at the same table.

How history shaped Indian cuisine

Indian cuisine is known around the world, but its richness lies above all in its variety. Grains, oils, vegetables, breads and cooking methods change from one region to another. The desert landscapes of Rajasthan, the Himalayan mountains, the great agricultural plains and the coast have each shaped their own food traditions.

Religious and family traditions have also shaped meals: vegetarian cooking, periods of fasting, festive recipes and community meals. The seasons and locally available produce continue to influence what is served.

Over the centuries, trade, migration and conquest enriched these cuisines. Indian Ocean merchants helped ingredients and culinary skills travel. Persian and Central Asian influences, particularly in the courts of the sultanates and the Mughal Empire, contributed to rice dishes, kebabs, sauces and courtly meals. Awadh developed its own refined interpretation, with slow cooking and delicate flavours.

Portuguese trade networks also helped introduce ingredients from the Americas, including chillies, tomatoes and potatoes. It is hard to imagine many Indian recipes without them today! Later colonial encounters, followed by Indian communities living abroad, continued this exchange of flavours and recipes.

A culinary tour in India lets you discover these stories through a wide range of dishes. A dal, dosa or biryani invites us to notice the ingredients, the cook’s technique and the exchanges that shaped the recipe.

Ladakh: cuisine shaped by the Himalayas

In Ladakh, soups, noodles, dairy products and preserved ingredients suit mountain conditions. Connections with neighbouring Himalayan cuisines appear in many meals, while local characteristics remain distinct.

Thukpa and skyu. Thukpa is a noodle soup served with vegetables or meat. Skyu, particularly associated with Ladakh, is made with small, hand-shaped pieces of dough simmered with vegetables and sometimes meat. Both are comforting dishes after a day of exploring.

Chhurpi and tigmo. Chhurpi refers to Himalayan cheeses that may be soft or dried and are made from different types of milk depending on the region. Tigmo is a steamed bread with links to Tibetan traditions, often served with saucy dishes.

Khambir and apricots. Khambir is a thick local bread, usually savoury, that can also be enjoyed with butter or apricot jam. Apricots are eaten fresh in season, dried, stewed or made into jam.

Traditional butter tea is usually salty. Taking time to try it over a conversation or a bowl of skyu is also part of a culinary journey in Ladakh.

Kerala: coconut, spices and coastal cuisine

In Kerala, rice, coconut, fish and spices come together in a cuisine shaped by maritime trade and the traditions of many communities. Meals differ between the coast, inland areas and the families who prepare them.

Appam and ishtu. Appam are fermented rice pancakes, soft in the centre and thin around the edges. They are served with ishtu, a mild stew made with coconut milk and vegetables or meat.

Karimeen pollichathu. This fish, known as pearl spot in English, is coated in a spiced mixture and cooked in a banana leaf. The fragrance of the leaf is part of the pleasure.

Malabar parotta and beef ularthiyathu. Parotta is a flaky bread whose layers are pulled apart by hand. For travellers who eat beef, ularthiyathu, a spiced roasted preparation, is a traditional accompaniment to try.

Avial. This mixed vegetable dish is cooked with grated coconut, often yoghurt and coconut oil. It reveals another side of Kerala cuisine, where vegetables have a starring role.

Ada pradhaman and palada payasam. Both desserts use thin pieces of rice dough called ada, but they are prepared differently: the first usually combines jaggery and coconut milk, while the second is made with milk and sugar. Unniyappam, small fried cakes made with rice, jaggery, banana and coconut, complete these sweet discoveries.

A market visit, a meeting in a spice-growing region or a cooking class in Kerala can connect these flavours with the ingredients and the people who work with them.

Tamil Nadu: fermentation, spices and culinary skills

Tamil Nadu cuisine makes generous use of rice, lentils and fermented batters. Toasted spices, seasonings added to hot oil and its many regional cuisines offer far more to discover than one meal could contain.

Ven pongal. This creamy rice and mung bean dish is flavoured with ghee, black pepper, cumin and ginger. It is a simple dish whose balance depends greatly on the seasoning.

Idli and dosa, sambar and chutneys. Idli, small steamed cakes, and dosa, large pancakes that can be crisp or soft, are made from fermented rice and lentil batters. They are served with sambar, a thick broth of lentils and vegetables, and chutneys.

Chettinad chicken and kothu parotta. Chettinad chicken gets its character from a blend of toasted spices, often including kalpasi, an aromatic lichen. Kothu parotta is made by chopping flaky bread on a hot griddle with vegetables, egg or meat.

Paal poli and Mysore pak. Paal poli are small fried breads dipped in sweet, fragrant milk. Mysore pak, made with chickpea flour, ghee and sugar, originated in Mysuru, Karnataka, but is also found in sweet shops across Tamil Nadu. Its texture ranges from crumbly to very soft.

During a cooking workshop, watching batter ferment or spices being toasted helps explain what gives these recipes their flavour. Family versions often hold some lovely surprises.

Punjab: tandoor breads and generous cooking

Agricultural traditions, wheat and dairy products have deeply shaped Punjabi cuisine. Meals feature breads, slow-cooked dishes and seasonal flavours.

Sarson da saag and makki di roti. Mustard greens are slowly cooked to make saag, served with a cornmeal bread and often a little butter. A winter favourite.

Chole bhature. Spiced chickpeas are served with large, puffed fried breads: a much-loved pairing for a hearty meal.

Butter chicken and Amritsari kulcha. Associated with the culinary culture of Punjab and northern India, butter chicken combines tandoor-cooked chicken with a tomato, butter and cream sauce. Amritsari kulcha is a stuffed bread, often filled with potatoes and onions, cooked in a tandoor.

Gajar ka halwa and pinni. The first is made by slowly cooking grated carrots with milk, ghee and sugar, sometimes enriched with khoya, milk thickened by reduction. Pinni are dense sweets often made with wheat flour, ghee and nuts; some recipes also include edible gum.

The heat of the tandoor, working the dough and the patience needed to cook saag are all things to discover with the cooks.

West Bengal: mustard, fish and milk-based sweets

In West Bengal, the order of dishes and balance of flavours are part of the meal. Freshwater fish, mustard, vegetables and milk-based sweets offer a way to explore its variety.

Shorshe ilish. Hilsa fish is cooked in a mustard sauce, often with green chilli. The mustard brings a bold, distinctive flavour.

Kosha mangsho and shukto. Kosha mangsho is a mutton curry slowly cooked to develop a rich sauce. Shukto is a mix of vegetables with both bitter and sweet notes, often including bitter gourd, and is usually served near the beginning of a meal.

Luchi and cholar dal. These small, puffed fried breads accompany a dal made from split chickpeas, often lightly sweetened and garnished with pieces of coconut.

Roshogolla, mishti doi and sandesh. Roshogolla are balls of chhena, a fresh cheese, cooked in syrup. Mishti doi is sweetened yoghurt made by fermentation. Sandesh is also made with chhena, mixed with sugar or jaggery; in season, nolen gur, made from date palm sap, gives it a distinctive fragrance.

A route that combines a market, a regional meal and a sweet shop lets you appreciate the textures and culinary skill that give this cuisine its identity.

Lucknow: the aromas of Awadhi cuisine

In Lucknow, Awadhi cuisine carries the legacy of courtly traditions and careful attention to texture, fragrance and slow cooking.

Galouti kebab. These small patties of finely minced, tenderised meat are prized for their soft texture and aromatic blend. The Tunday Kababi name is closely associated with their renown in Lucknow.

Awadhi mutton biryani. Rice and meat develop their aromas through dum cooking in a sealed pot. The appeal lies as much in the balance of flavours as in the skill of the cooking.

Nihari kulcha and sultani dal. Nihari is a meat stew simmered for a long time and served with kulcha bread. Sultani dal is a lentil dish enriched with dairy products and sometimes finished with dhungar, a technique that adds a gentle smoky note.

Makhan malai and shahi tukda. Makhan malai, also called nimish, is an airy winter sweet made from whipped milk. Shahi tukda combines fried bread, syrup and reduced, flavoured milk or rabri.

This stop on a culinary tour in India invites you to take your time: the dishes reveal their character through texture, aroma and the care given to each preparation.

Dal bhat tarkari. This everyday meal combines lentil soup, rice, vegetables and achar, spicy condiments whose recipes vary with the ingredients and the family.

Momo and chatamari. Momo are steamed or fried dumplings filled with vegetables or meat and served with a seasoned sauce. Chatamari, from Newar cuisine, is a thin rice-flour preparation topped, depending on the recipe, with vegetables, egg or meat.

Dhido. This thick dough is made by stirring flour, often millet or buckwheat, into hot water. It is eaten with a variety of accompaniments and offers another way to enjoy local grains.

Sel roti and yomari. Sel roti is a sweet, ring-shaped rice bread that is fried and particularly associated with festivals such as Tihar. Yomari is a steamed rice-dough preparation, often filled with chaku, a thick molasses, and sesame. Other fillings are also used.

A market visit, a meal with a family or a discovery of Newar cuisine brings these specialities and the occasions when they are prepared to life.

Bhutan: chillies, cheese and mountain cuisine

In Bhutan, chilli can be a main ingredient in its own right, far beyond a simple seasoning. Cheese, rice and foods suited to mountain life also play an important role.

Ema datshi and kewa datshi. Ema datshi, one of the country’s best-known dishes, combines chillies and cheese. Kewa datshi is a variation made with potatoes, cheese and chilli.

Shakam paa and jasha maroo. Shakam paa is made with dried beef, chillies and vegetables, sometimes including radish. Jasha maroo is a chicken dish flavoured with ginger, garlic and chilli; recipes vary between kitchens.

Zow shungo. This savoury dish combines cooked rice and vegetables, often using leftovers from previous meals. It reflects an everyday cuisine that makes thoughtful use of its ingredients.

Khabzey. These fried dough preparations, found in Himalayan traditions and at festivals such as Losar, are often served with tea. Their shapes and seasonings vary, with plain and sweet versions.

To make the most of a culinary tour in Bhutan, we take time to discuss how much chilli you enjoy and choose the food experiences that suit you.

Markets, cooking classes and meals with local hosts

I like to start with the ingredients. At a market, we can compare chillies, identify a spice by its aroma or ask how to cook an unfamiliar vegetable. These conversations often make us want to step into the kitchen.

In a cooking class, a few techniques can help you understand a dish: kneading dough, toasting spices, adding them to hot oil, steaming food or balancing acidity and sweetness. I am happy to share my way of cooking while enjoying the chance to learn from the cooks we meet along the way.

Depending on the itinerary, we can arrange a cooking session together or with a local cook, a walk exploring street food, a visit to a spice-growing region or a meal with local hosts. You can join in, watch the techniques or simply enjoy the food and conversation.

A culinary tour shaped around your tastes

Before planning your tour, we talk about what you enjoy eating, what you would like to discover, how much chilli you enjoy and any allergies or dietary restrictions. A vegetarian trip, a tour of meat specialities or a programme combining street food with more relaxed meals will each call for different choices.

I pass your requirements on to the cooks and the relevant establishments so we can check what is possible at each stop. For allergies, we also need to take account of the ingredients and practices used in each kitchen.

Your itinerary can be entirely focused on food or combine meals with cultural visits, villages and nature. We plan it around your interests, pace and budget, the seasons and practical travel times.

With Guide Explorateur, we explore, cook and enjoy good food together. I look forward to introducing you to the dishes, people and techniques you will remember long after the trip — and perhaps inspire you to recreate them in your own kitchen.

Let’s explore, cook and enjoy good food together.