Not all go for trips to enjoy the quietude of forests, ripples of rivers or the balmy air of misty mornings. There are those who tour just for one purpose: eat out. Kerala of the new age, particularly, has a generation that travels long distances to accomplish what it fondly calls 'food trip.' Let's take a look at them.
In fact, a coastal city in central Kerala has a get-together on social media with its 1.45 lakh members sharing a common interest. The name of the Facebook group is Eat Kochi Eat. Its introduction goes thus: Eat Kochi Eat is a community for those of us, who quite simply put, live to eat. The primary objective of this group is to talk about places to eat out in Cochin, and discuss your experiences as a foodie. The group is managed by a bunch of passionate foodies, for foodies in and around Cochin. Eat. Share. Love.
The group also has its Instagram page that regularly announces its upcoming food trips. Also given will be a mobile phone number, to which those interested can WhatsApp their name and address. Together, they will collate into a new WhatsApp group of registered (no fees) members, who can then receive and give directions as well as suggestions regarding the proposed food trip. The vehicles will be decided based on the prospective travellers. The total journey expenses will be equally shared among the members.
Most foodies set out for a travel in search of a well-known restaurant that serves tasty stuff, which also lends a change to routine items. The trips may be undertaken alone, as a duo or a group. The destination could be a restaurant in another state altogether to one in the very neighbourhood of one’s stay. Whatever, the ultimate aim to eat good food.
Eat Kochi Eat
Facebook is a social media platform where quite a few are friends and yet haven't met each other despite an array of common interests. That feature is getting lessened among the members of Eat Kochi Eat that was formed three years ago. Initially, the FB group had its members going together to eat only places around their city. Of late, there is a huge change in it: they go out to Tamil Nadu as well. Strangers blend into a team with a common taste as they sit together in restaurants and munch on food they like most.
Recently, Eat Kochi Eat carried out three long trips. Of them, two were to Tamil Nadu: Madurai and Coimbatore. To try both vegetarian and non-veg items.
Madurai was the first and had 20 travellers. The idea was to try food from a variety of eateries in the temple city which has a great cuisine heritage as well. They left Kochi as early as at 4 am and returned after eating from no less than ten restaurants, trying an array of tastes.
The Coimbatore travellers too totalled 20. Only that, the number of restaurants they tried was one more than their Madurai counterparts.
Lonely travellers
There are also foodies who prefer to travel alone and taste foods. They gather information about the richness of the cuisine culture of various places by reading about them in journals, books, website and social media besides on watching TV. Also, one trip leads to another, as these lonely travellers keep meeting fellow foodies in the places they go.
In fact, a bond naturally develops between members of this community. No wonder, society today has more groups like Eat Kochi Eat.
Side benefits
Journeys in search of just food can, all the same, open doors to matters beyond just cuisine. Quite a few tend to get curious about local cultures general.
Since the idea is to taste food rather than quench hunger, many of them keep snacking rather than becoming gourmands. Such a habit is good for health as well even as it enables the traveller to do restaurant hopping.
Above all, such tastes help people converge at joints that turn out to be great hubs for finding friends and developing bonds.
