ESCORTED TO LEFT: Cheese,
Hotel Tutto, Janche
RIGHT:
HOW TO SELL
Foodie tours can be a great seller with second- time visitors – if they went on a mainstream tour and fell in love with local food the first time, suggest they delve deeper with a trip that includes cooking classes, market tours and the
chance to chat to local producers.
Leek pie, Duf Waterfall
FAR RIGHT: Green
Market, Skopje
BELOW:
Church of St John at Lake Ohrid
to the operator’s line of food-focused escorted tours.
w WHY MACEDONIA? Macedonia? For food? When I mentioned to friends and family that I was going on my first proper
foodie tour, the reaction was overwhelmingly in favour – eating and drinking your way around a country is never a bad thing – but when I said it was to Macedonia, the reaction was somewhat more confused. What’s so special about the food in Macedonia? It’s a crowd-pleasing
combination of meaty Eastern European cuisine – spicy sausages and grilled meats feature heavily on most menus – with fresh salads and slow- cooked stews such as creamy bean-based dish tavche gravche, which wouldn’t win any prizes for presentation, but more than makes up for it in flavour. But the real stars of the show
are the cheeses – mostly of the salty, halloumi-like variety, including one that translates as ‘beaten cheese’ but was a
lot tastier than it sounds – and fragrant dips that accompany every meal in true mezze fashion. Red pepper-based dip ajvar (pronounce i-var) was so tasty I came home with more than one jar in my suitcase, along with a couple of bottles of Macedonia’s robust, lightly-spiced red wines for good measure. It’s not just about what’s on
the plate, however: the itinerary is carefully planned so each meal is an opportunity to satisfy more than just hunger. We got our fill of scenery on a sailing trip through Matka Canyon, then settled down for a picnic on the banks of the Treska River, devouring freshly-grilled mushrooms as big as a dinner plate and pork chops barbecued right there and then. A hike to the top of the
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travelweekly.co.uk 25 August 2016
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