Springtime in the Mediterranean

A spring market in Puglia

Springtime in the Mediterranean is heavenly. It makes us think of bright red poppies against stone walls and the iconic Trulli in Puglia, blue skies and equally blue Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, and markets from Barcelona to Istanbul full of springtime produce like fava beans, spring peas, artichokes, asparagus, zucchini and zucchini owers, eggs, lemons, cherries, apricots, strawberries, and so much more.

Agrigento, Sicily

Springtime also gives us a yearning to travel in the Mediterranean again. For years, Oldways has ventured to the Mediterranean in spring months for Oldways Culinarias, carefully curated week-long itineraries filled with unforgettable cultural and culinary experiences.  We’ve traveled all over Italy from north to south or from Piedmont, Lombardy and the Veneto to Puglia, Sicily and Pantelleria, and spectacular spots like Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Umbria, and Campania in between. Spain (Madrid, Granada, and Seville), Greece (Thessaloniki, Crete and Athens), Turkey (Istanbul, Gaziantep, Izmir, Selçuk), Morocco (Marrakech and Fes) as well as Cyprus are breathtaking Mediterranean places we’ve explored, loved, and learned about.

Chef Ana Sortun at a market in Turkey

Based on Oldways mission to inspire people to embrace the healthy, sustainable joys of the old ways of eating, the Culinarias give travelers once-in-a-lifetime experiences in kitchens, farms, wineries, and at the artisanal olive oil, pasta, and cheese producers that define the areas culinary and cultural heritages. Each trip also features a well-known culinary expert, chef, or cookbook author intimately familiar with the regional cuisine, who cooks, teaches, and tours alongside.

Aglaia Kremezi and Costas Moraitis on Kea

Each trip inevitably features some insider knowledge or cooking tip (or trick) from our chef experts.  If you’ve already traveled on Oldways Culinarias, you may have learned from Chef Ana Sortun the best way to seed a pomegranate, and her trick for perfectly dicing an onion, or from cookbook author, teacher and journalist Aglaia Kremezi, how to roll out homemade phyllo, or from Chefs Kevin O Donnell and Michael Lombardi, how best to roll out and cut pasta dough.

There are many vivid memories from Culinarias in the past, and certainly many more to come in the years ahead. Some moments will be new, some will be familiar, recaptured memories like true hunting in Umbria, meeting up with 300 goats

Kissing a cow in Italy

atop a grove of olive trees in Andalusia, kissing a cow in the Veneto, being invited for meals in the homes of winemakers and cheese producers in Lecce and Parma, having a potluck lunch prepared by 25 home cooks in Gaziantep, Turkey, and many more. Of course, its practically impossible to relay the pleasure and great joy of these unforgettable moments. Instead, you will just have to join us and have your own pinch-me moment!

After more than a year of not traveling, are you itching to explore, learn and enjoy the foods and wines of places beyond your pod

Potluck lunch in Puglia

Join us in 2022 for Oldways Culinarias that will feed your soul, nourish your mind, and delight your palate! In addition to four Mediterranean locationsTurkey, Portugal, Umbria and Naples + Amal in Italy we’ll also be exploring Thailand, the Low Country in South Carolina and Georgia, and New Yorks Hudson Valley.

Wherever your travel plans take you, we hope youll join us in our Facebook group for travelers. Its the perfect place to share tips and recommendations, ask questions, and dream up your next trip.

Email or call us with questions! Here’s what travelers have said about their Oldways Culinaria experiences!

“The presentation at lunch on the first day was worth the cost of admission alone.”
–Traveler to Sicily, Italy

“This type of tour attracts people of like passions and automatically creates a friendly tour environment.”
–Traveler to the Veneto, Italy

“You all worked together to make it a memorable trip where we only had to show up and enjoy the experience. That is no easy feat.”
–Traveler to Morocco 

Our group at a cheese tour

Our tour group got along famously The people who join are of like minds. Their passions and hobbies are similar as well as their attention to the details of the ingredients of a dish, to the presentation of the meal, and pairing of the wine. In four words: We had a blast. Traveler to Veneto, Italy

The tour you created was pure magic. So much delicious food, working hand in hand with valuable knowledge and helpful cooking techniques. The perfect trifecta! Traveler to Veneto, Italy 

Having been on several Oldways trips the trip chefs were a definite bonus. They answered questions about the foods, procurement, history and numerous other questions you think of when reading cookbooks but can’t ask. They help me understand the background of foods and how they evolve in today’s world.
Traveler to Istanbul, Piedmont, Sicily, and Tuscany

My first Oldways travel trip won’t be my last. Fabulous adventure with a stellar cast!  Traveler to Veneto, Italy 

Honeur

Its great to be able to put the food into a cultural context and to see it in its natural home. There are often other unexpected bonuses, too. When my daughter and I went to Piedmont with Oldways we met people who remembered WWII and we saw things like escape tunnels built into wine cellars. Experiences like that make Oldways tours different from a normal tour: They try to connect you to the people on a personal level. We love traveling with Oldways!
Traveler to Piedmont 

Travelers whom we met on more than one trip have become friends. We exchanged email addresses and some we see on a regular basis when we’re in the same part of the country. Traveler to Istanbul, Piedmont, Sicily, and Tuscany 

I have been looking through old notes from Oldways conferences in my spare COVID time and realize how much the Mediterranean diet ideas changed not only the way our family eats but also has given rise to new ways of treating the anorexic and bulimic patients we see. Longtime Oldways Culinaria traveler

View from Todi

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Join the Make Every Day Mediterranean Club Facebook group for additional information and support.