WHY VACATION FOOD TASTES BETTER

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We travel, we eat, we fall in love with a flavor. Why does the same food not taste the same at home? There is actually science behind it, let's explore.

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Well, good morning. It is August the 31st, 2026, and straight from the Holly Kevinated Studio. This is According to Willie B, and I, yours truly, will be your host for the next half hour. And today I have a question. And if to pause right there, if you have questions, suggestions in the windows, or whatever the case may be, just a random thought, you can text me at 910-710-2259. Now, my qu my question for today is why does food taste better when we travel? And did you know there's actually some science behind this? And we're gonna get into that right now. So, have you ever noticed that food just seems to taste different when you're traveling? Cheese in France, pasta in Italy, coffee in Jamaica, a croissant in Paris, seafood sitting beside the ocean. You come home and you buy what you think is the same thing, take one bite and go nope. So I started wondering yesterday while I was driving why. Why is this phenomenon of food tasting better when traveling abroad than it is at home? Is the food actually better? Or are we different when we're traveling? And years ago, a friend said something to me that I have never forgotten. We were talking about coffee, and the subject of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee came up. And I said, I love Blue Mountain coffee. And he said, and I quote, Will, you like that coffee because you're sitting on a beautiful beach drinking it. And I immediately said, No, I like the coffee. But all of these years later, I think we were both right. So let's let's look at this. Let's use coffee as our example. Imagine two cups of coffee, same coffee, same temperature, same cup. One I'm handing you at 6 15 a.m. Monday morning while you're sitting in traffic looking at someone's brake lights. The other I'm handing you while you're sitting on a beach, warm breeze, ocean rolling in, no alarm clock, no emails or meetings. Are you seriously going to tell me that those are exactly the same experience? Of course they're not. Here's the fascinating part. We don't experience flavor with just our tongue. Smell, sight, texture, sound, the environment, our expectations matter. Even the people we're with can matter. So my friend was onto something. The beach can really change the experience of that coffee. But here's where I was right. That doesn't mean that the coffee wasn't excellent. It just means location, location, location. So let's dive into it a little bit more because there's actually a little bit more to it than that. Let's talk about sometimes the cheese is really better. Let's go to France. You eat a beautiful French cheese somewhere in the countryside and think, why doesn't cheese taste like this at home? Now I want to pause right there because I absolutely had this exact experience in France. Now, there's a lot of cheeses that I don't care for here in the States. But I found that when I was in France a couple years ago, that there were some of those same cheeses that I cannot stand here in the States that were absolutely phenomenal over in France. Why is that? Is it because I'm sitting on a beach? No. So there's your coffee theory out the window. Sometimes you're eating a product that's literally connected to that place, and places in EU and Italy and different places like this, they actually have products with a stamp on it that says product of that original destination, domesticated to that region. Now, here's the thing: they're not just talking about, well, this is where it was grown. No, they're talking about this is the method, this is the harvest method, this is the growing method, everything. It surrounds so much more. So it makes that product stand out above and beyond all others that are done in other regions. Sometimes you're eating a product that's literally connected to that place: the milk, the pasture, what the animal ate, the climate, the microorganisms, the production method, the aging process, and here's a big one: generations of people who have been making that product a particular way for so many years. There's actually a word that you'll hear associated with this terroir. We normally hear that with wine, but the basic idea is that the environment where an agricultural product comes from contributes to its character. And here's how real that can be. In 2026, drought conditions have affected grazing in parts of France. Badly enough, that some famous protected cheeses have temporarily needed changes to their normal feed requirements. And cheesemakers expect that that change in what the cows are eating to affect the flavor of the cheese. Think about that. The grass changes, the milk changes, the cheese changes, and sometimes you say, This tastes different in France. Guess what? It does. And then there's Italy for another example, if you will. This one I'm particularly interested in because we're headed there, and I fully expect somebody to tell me, well, pasta is pasta. No. And let me tell you why, because actually, if you look at one recipe, like um Alfredo, Alfredo sauce here in the US is usually made up with heavy cream and different ingredients, emulsifiers, da da da da. The list goes on. In Italy, no, there's no cream in the Alfredo dish in the Alfredo sauce. It is literally peccarino rimaggiano. So there's a big difference in how it's made. So, no, it's not going to taste the same. And I don't mean that every plate of pasta in Italy is going to be life-changing. I hope it will be, but Italy has me, Italy has mediocre restaurants too. There are tourist traps, there are restaurants serving food designed specifically for tourists. Being within the borders of Italy does not magically make someone a good cook, unless they're a Nona. Then I would disagree. But imagine eating a regional dish made with regional ingredients. They're like, What are you talking about? Well, I don't know. Let's talk about brisket in Texas. How about that one? There's you a good example. Anyway, people prepared by people who grew up eating it in that region where the dish developed. And that's different from Tony's Italian grill conveniently located next to Target. Does Tony make good lasagna? Maybe. I'm not picking on Tony, I'm just saying geograph geography can be an actual ingredient. Because when you talk about making lasagna, what is one of the big ingredients in lasagna? Cheese. So naturally, it's going to taste different. A lot of lasagna in Italy and France and different areas, with even Switzerland, you'll find that they don't put ricotta in their lasagna. Boom. So now the lasagna we have at home is not going to be like the lasagna when you go abroad. What about our food system? So American food versus European food. This is another rabbit hole. You'll hear people say food in a Europe doesn't have all the chemicals that we have in America. That's too simple. There are differences between US and European food regulations. There are additives that are permitted or treated differently between the markets, if you will. And companies sometimes make different formulations for products sold in different countries, different areas, etc. But that doesn't automatically mean that America's poison and Europe is healthy. That's social media advice and that's social media science. And you folks know me better than that. If we're going to talk about food, we're going to tell the truth. But here's what is worth doing when you travel. Read the ingredient label. Pick up something familiar: ketchup, bread, yogurt, candy, whatever. Look at the European ingredient list. And then when you get home, look at the American version. Sometimes they're remarkably similar, and sometimes they're not. And that is interesting. But now we get to the really good part. Why do we crave these foods when we come home? Why can't I remember something that I ate on vacation 10 years ago, but I can't remember what I had for lunch last Tuesday? Come on. Because travel food doesn't exist by itself, it gets attached to a memory. I've told you this. You're not remembering the croissant, you're remembering Paris. You're not remembering the pasta, you're just remembering that little sidewalk cafe. And you're remembering who was sitting across from you. You're remembering the waiter, the music, the street outside, that bottle of wine. The fact that you got lost trying to find the place, the food becomes part of the story. And research into culinary tourism backs this up. Food memories while traveling are connected to sensory experiences, emotions, novelty, social connections, and increased attention that we pay to what's happening around us, which makes perfect sense, right? At home, you might eat a sandwich while scrolling through your phone. On vacation, someone sets something in front of you that you've never seen before. What do you do? Well, I know what I do. I look at it and I smell it, I take take a picture of it, and I talk about it, and you taste it carefully. But guess what? Here's the important ingredient. Are you ready for this one? You're present. You are in that moment. Where when we're at home and we have so many things surrounding us of things to do and going to work and all these emails and everything else, we're not always present. But in that moment when we have nothing but the environment around us, we are present in that moment. And that is one of the biggest ingredients that we're missing at home. Let's go back to that cup of coffee. So, all these years later, I'd like to amend my answer to my friend. He said, You only like Blue Mountain coffee because you're drinking it on a beautiful beach. And I said, No, I like the coffee. Today, my amended answer is the following I like the coffee, and the beach makes it better. Because those aren't competing explanations. The coffee can genuinely be fantastic, and the surroundings can make the experience even better. And that explains the vacation food problem. This is why you can't come home from Italy and find the imported pasta, the imported tomatoes, the imported Parmigiano Reggiano, follow the recipe perfectly, and you think it's good, but something's missing. Yeah, Italy, the cobblestone street, the little cafe, the church bells, the list goes on. And you can't recreate the feeling of knowing I don't have anywhere that I'm supposed to be right now. Because you're present. That matters. So here's my theory. Great travel food has three ingredients that aren't not listed on the menu. Place. Sometimes the ingredients and traditions are really unique to where you're visiting. Presence, you're paying attention the way you would not normally do so at home. And memory. Your brain simply isn't recording what something tasted like. It's recording what was happening when you tasted it. Put those three things together with genuinely good food, and that's why vacation food can become something we chase for the rest of our lives. Maybe that's also why food and travel belong together so naturally. We travel to see places, but sometimes we remember them by taste. A cup of coffee in Jamaica, a piece of cheese in France, etc. And twenty years later, one bite, one smell, one sip can take you right back there. So yes, my friend was right. The beach made the coffee taste better. But I was right too, because it was still one heck of a cup of coffee, and I stand by that point. Maybe that's the whole point. Don't just travel to see the world. Every once in a while, taste it. Don't forget to let the trip unfold and let the trip take you where your memory can only dream of expectations that you can't even fathom. I know there's a deeper meaning in that sentence somewhere, and I'm still trying to dissect it to figure out what it was. But hey, I hope you each have a great day. I appreciate each and every single one of you for tuning in and listening. And if this was your first episode to listen to, again, I appreciate you so much for tuning in and checking us out. You can find us at according to Williebee.com. You can also text us with any questions, suggestions, any windows, or whatever thought crosses your mind at 910-710-2259. And as always, that description will be posted with the number. Right behind this big old mic. Bye bye.