Daily Times

Food is undoubtedly a huge part of any trip. But for some people, food is the only reason for the trip. From a Puerto Rican highway famous for its pork to an Italian forest filled with white truffles, we’ve found some of the most epic foodie trails and destinations around the world.

While more famous for Guinness beer and Irish whiskey, real oyster connoisseurs should head to Ireland, and more specifically Galway, to sample the famous Kelly oyster – an extra large, extra salty bivalve. Moran’s Oyster Cottage, which has been open since 1797 and in the same family for seven generations, is a must, as well as the annual Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival in September, which also hosts the world’s annual oyster opening championship.

Of course there’s much debate as to who does barbecue best, and how it’s done varies not only across state lines but even between them. In North Carolina, aka “The Cradle of ‘Cue,” the dividing line is Chapel Hill, which separates the vinegar based eastern style and the western tomato based version. Hit the North Carolina Barbecue Society’s Historic Barbecue Trail to try them both, as it features 23 historic spots between eastern North Carolina and all the way to Tennessee.

Forget the New York pizza versus Chicago deep-dish debate, and head straight to the source. Naples, Italy, is the birthplace of this food staple, where references to flatbread date back to the 16th century. To ensure that all Neapolitan pizza lives up to its name, the Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana awards certificates of authenticity to pizzerias around the world that make “real” Neapolitan pizza – real involving many extremely stringent criteria to adhere to. Some of the best pizzerias in a town where you can hardly go wrong are Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, Pizzeria da Michele, and Pizzeria Starita.

Some say that what Bordeaux is to wine, the Bregenzerwald Cheese Road in Austria is to cheese. Less road than an area comprising cheese experts spread across 22 scenic villages, the “road” features gorgeous Alpine hiking trails meandering through dozens of dairy farms and cheese cellars, crossing roving pastures and passing real-live milkmaids. The road encompasses 160 local farmers, dairymen and cheesemakers that produce 60 kinds of cheese – over 3,000 tonnes a year – as well as milk, natural yogurt and locally-churned butter.

White truffles are a delicacy: last year a Russian oligarch even paid $95,000 for four pounds of the funghi. What makes them so special is that they don’t grow just anywhere: White truffles grow primarily in the forests of the Langhe, in Italy’s Piedmont region. The small town of Alba is considered the region’s capital, and therefore Italy’s white truffle capital. Head to Alba for its infamous International White Truffle Fair, which takes place from October 10 to November 15 this year, or go truffle hunting during high season, which is between September and December for white truffles, and late May until February for black truffles.

Spain’s jamón is the stuff of legend – it wasn’t even available in the US until 2007. The iconic cured ham, the most expensive ham in the world, is cut from an Iberian pig’s hind leg and also known as pata negra, black hoof. According to Spain’s food laws, jamón ibérico must be made from black Iberian pigs, though pigs may be crossbred as long as they’re at least half ibérico. The ham will then be labeled according to the percentage of the pigs’ Iberian heritage. These special pigs live mostly in western and southwestern Spain, and some parts of Portugal, and are in many cases fed a pretty strict diet of acorns to ensure the best flavour.