Trip highlights: Slice herbs into gossamer threads and mix heirloom curry blends in hands-on cooking classes dedicated to Nyonya Peranakan culture; sample sun-fermented soy sauces; visit a nutmeg and durian farm; taste seafood that’s just been caught; slurp bowls of aromatic noodle soup at a daily market; dine at high-end restaurants and street vendor hawker stalls; tour UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Who you'll travel with: Captain Hoo Peng Poh and Linda Tay Esposito

A sample of what you’ll eat: The iconic noodle soup of Malaysia, laksa; hyper-local tropical fruits; chicken curries; intricate rice pilafs layered with ginger, herbs and blue pea flowers; multiple versions of roti; fresh coconut water you extract yourself; buttery love letter cookies; enormous, lacy flatbreads called roti; robust Malaysian coffee served with toast, jam and eggs.

Per person cost: $6,750 (Single room supplement: $1,000)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Forage for local delicacies like tsitsiravla and preserve them like locals do. Experience the historic tsipouradika and classic tavernas of the Pelion region. Cook with Greek vegetables fresh from the farm. Taste Greece’s most famous flavors, from honey and olives to wild herbs and wine. Make “spoon sweets” made from local crab apple and quince with a rural women’s co-op. Eat the sinfully custardy phyllo pie Thessaloniki is famous for. Cruise the Aegean and swim in the pristine sea. Sip coffee at a village cafe underneath the branches of one of the oldest trees in Europe.

Who you'll travel with: Carolina Doriti

A sample of what you’ll eat: The freshest seafood accompanied by rounds of tsipouro, an aromatic grape brandy; honeys flavored by different local flowers; regional northern Greek wines; foraged garlic, mushrooms and herbs; hearty Pelion’s spetzofai (sausage cooked in a spicy tomato and peppers sauce); rustic savory pies filled with wild greens; mountain tea with mythical properties; fennel fritters with tzatziki; lamb chops you grill yourself.

Per person cost: $6,250 (Single room supplement: $1,200)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Sip sake at a shrine where the beverage was originally produced; practice using single-purpose knives; forage for seasonal ingredients; explore city markets and rural hillsides; learn how fermentation touches all aspects of Japanese life, from food to craft to culture; relax at a rural retreat; travel with just seven companions and two expert guides.

Who you'll travel with: Yoko Inagaki and Maeda Chisato

A sample of what you’ll eat: A classic izakaya meal; a multi-course miso feast; single harvest teas; traditional matcha; sake at a shrine and in a flight; koji-fermented pickles; family-style hot-pot; Michelin-starred tempura; bowls of somen; Nara-style barbecue; miso blended by you.

Per person cost: $8,500
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Visit seven Venetian islands, all via private boat; cook with Friend of Milk Street Marika Contaldo Seguso at her villa on the island of Lido; pick purple artichokes and spring vegetables on Sant’Erasmo; taste ultra-local wine on Mazzorbo; catch fish on Burano; feast on Pellestrina; learn a 34th-generation craft on Murano; bar hop and sample classic small bites in Venice.

Who you'll travel with: Marika Contaldo Seguso and Lucia Marcolin

A sample of what you’ll eat and make: Homemade tagliolini with baby purple artichokes and scampi; spring risotto with vegetables, herbs and flowers from Sant’Erasmo ; vegetables fried alla Veneziana; veal and artichokes carpaccio with lemon zest; an array of Venetian small bites, like asparagus and eggs and zucchini flowers with mozzarella and ricotta cheese, plus artisanal cheeses and local wines

Per person cost: $6,500 (Single room supplement: $1,500)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Cook traditional Saxon dishes in private homes and Hungarian heritage foods with local experts; sample the culinary past and present of urban Transylvania; stay in a working, self-reliant Saxon village; visit two UNESCO World Heritage sites; picnic under ancient oak trees and get to know this bucolic landscape of meadows, horse-drawn carts, ancient forests and alpine peaks.

Who you’ll travel with: Irina Georgescu and Szabolcs Tyukodi

A sample of what you’ll eat and make: Saxon rhubarb cake, a seasonal speciality. Hearty stews. Mushroom-stuffed flatbreads. Cheese from the milk of cows that graze in the wild meadows of the Carpathian Mountains. Charcuterie from Transylvanian mangalitza pigs. Bread baked in traditional Transylvanian outdoor ovens. And the famous kürtőskalács chimney cakes rolled in cinnamon.

Per person cost: $5,500 (Single room supplement: $750)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Cook with two young chefs who trained in the world’s best restaurants and came back home to contribute to the deeply agricultural way of life they missed; meet a fifth-generation farmer whose diversified crops protect him from climate change and allow him to support his community with full time jobs, just as his great-great grandfather did; bake rye and wheat breads in a wood-fired oven; stay with an innkeeper who hand-embroiders her linens, makes the jam at breakfast and bakes the best orange cake we’ve ever tasted; and be surprised: the food will be rustic some days, refined others, but always made with local ingredients and immense care.

Who you’ll travel with: Célia Pedroso

A sample of what you’ll eat: Meats smoked in traditional fumeiros; tender beef from local Maronesa cattle; wood-fired sourdough breads; homemade quince preserves; vegetables cooked in the finest Portuguese olive oil; red and white wines from local vineyards; chestnuts and mushrooms gathered from the forest and stewed with chicken; cakes doused in orange syrup and, of course, pastel de nata, the famous Portuguese custard.

Per person cost: $5,500 (Single room supplement: $1,250)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Taste seafood that’s just been caught, olive oil straight from the press, hearty Catalan-style breakfasts and the kind of refined and innovative cooking that has made Catalonia famous; meet a groundbreaking winemaker and a botanist who is helping one of Catalonia’s best restaurants source edible plants; learn about Catalan cheeses, mushrooms and liquors and go hands-on in the kitchen with Pau Rull, a Catalan chef who is one of the trip’s leaders.

Who you’ll travel with: Paula Mourenza and Pau Rull

A sample of what you’ll eat: The prized, fruity olive oil of Empordà; sweet, cold water prawns; small, cylindrical sponge cakes known as Taps de Cadaqués; Costa Brava's famous fisherman's stew spiked with paprika; Catalan pork sausages Bull Blanc and Bull Negre, served with ample fresh bread; fesols amb botifarra, a stew made with the DOP-protected white bean Mongeta de Santa Pau; minerally, citrusy white wines and rich, herbal reds; the traditional xuixo, an iconic pastry from Girona that boasts a golden, crispy exterior and a thick, vanilla-scented custard filling and the contemporary Postre Lactic , a dairy-based dessert created by Jordi Roca that transforms humble ingredients into something sophisticated through modern techniques.

Per person cost: $6,500 (Single room supplement: $1,500)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Cook with friends of Milk Street Beto Estúa and Jorge Fritz; make mole from scratch with a third-generation producer in Milpa Alta; visit quiet neighborhood markets and shop like a local; watch the sunrise over the volcanoes and make breakfast on a floating garden; follow corn from kernel to tortilla via cooking classes and a nighttime taco crawl; learn to craft cocktails at J.M. Hirsch’s favorite Mexico City bar.

Who you’ll travel with: Paco de Santiago

A sample of what you’ll eat: Chilaquiles with guajillo chili sauce, quesadillas stuffed with squash blossoms, carnitas tacos and tacos al pastor, tamales stuffed with the local delicacy huitlacoche, shrimp tostadas and much more.

Per person cost: $4,500 (Single room supplement: $750)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip Highlights: Take hands-on cooking classes with resident chef Rodolfo Castellanos, chef of Restaurante Origen; travel to Tlacolula to visit a bustling local market; make cheese with Don Juan and his family in the village of Etla; sample artisanal mezcals with an agave spirits expert; learn from traditional cooks in their home kitchens and remote restaurants; eat at restaurants experimenting with new approaches to regional ingredients.

Who you’ll travel with: Paco de Santiago and Rodolfo Castellanos

A sample of what you’ll eat and make: Enchiladas with your choice of seven different moles, barbacoa fresh from the pit, Oaxacan cheese tamales and fresh fruit popsicles—plus, drink hibiscus cocktails and creamy horchata.

Per person cost: $4,500 (Single room supplement: $750)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Our first ever cooking retreat, this weeklong trip to Emilia-Romagna is an extraordinary opportunity for serious cooks who also love some luxury and indulgence. Stay at a private villa that has its own renowned natural winery, a swimming pool and groomed walking paths through gardens and fields; cook dinners with Viola and make pasta by hand with an award winning sfoglina; learn about vine to bottle balsamic vinegar production; taste the famous Parmigiano Reggiano d’ Vacche Rosse (Red Cow) and learn how it is made; eat lunch at Viola’s favorite butcher, who specializes in the famous Emilia Romagna mortadella; tour historic Mantua and Modena.

Who you’ll travel with: Viola Buitoni

A sample of what you’ll eat and make: Egg pasta; real Bolognese sauce; endless contini (vegetable side dishes); ricotta drizzled in balsamic; tagliatelle al ragù, mortadella sandwiches; bollito misto; several Parmigianos Reggiano; fresh cherries; many natural wines.

Per person cost: $7,500 (Single room supplement: $1250)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Immerse yourself in sourdough bread baking at the world’s oldest baking school; get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour and interactive demo at an eighth generation wheat mill in the Cotswolds; walk the fields at a farm experimenting in regenerative wheat-growing practices; eat at local gastropubs and explore beautiful, honey-colored stone villages; learn to make wood-fired pizza with local flours; bake with Milk Street friends Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich of the famed Honey & Co; dine at Uyen Luu's private supper club; tour London's artisanal bakeries.

Who you’ll travel with: Elaine Boddy and Rich Payne

A sample of what you’ll eat and make: Sourdough breads made from local wheats. Contemporary farm-to-table British pub food. Wood-fired pizzas. Hot cross buns. Scones with cream and jam. Honey & Co's feast of mezze and legendary cheesecake. A Vietnamese multi-course home cooked feast.

Per person cost: $7,500 (Single room supplement: $1,250)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Visit kitchens, workshops and studios in Naples that are otherwise closed to visitors; meet the producers of the world’s best pasta, buffalo mozzarella and rare tomatoes; cook dinners in a private villa in the Campanian countryside; tour a farm nestled within ancient ruins; learn how volcanic activity has shaped the cuisine and traditions of the area.

Who you’ll travel with: Viola Buitoni and Chiara Garafolo

A sample of what you’ll eat: Pizza in Naples and its raw ingredients in rural Campania, like fresh ricotta cheese, buffalo mozzarella and sun-ripened tomatoes; ricotta-stuffed squash flowers; linguine studded with seafood; authentic eggplant Parmesan; rum-soaked cakes; and many local wines.

Per person cost: $5,250 (Single room supplement: $725)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Trip highlights: Immerse yourself in the food of the Hatay region of Türkiye with native Özlem Warren, a longtime Milk Street Cooking School teacher and magazine contributor. Tour neighborhood spice, vegetable and cheese markets. Eat a big Turkish breakfast on a family farm located improbably in the moats of the City’s Byzantine-era fortified walls. Cruise the Bosporus and eat at Ciya Sofrasi, a restaurant dedicated to preserving regional Turkish dishes in danger of being forgotten.

Who you’ll travel with: Gonca Karakoc and Özlem Warren

A sample of what you’ll eat and make: Artichoke hearts fried in olive oil, Balkan boreks filled with Turkish goat cheese, spicy Adana kebabs, stuffed grape leaves, Black Sea-style pide.

Per person cost: $5,500 (Single room supplement: $1,250)
Nonrefundable deposit due at booking: $500

Culinary Backstreets got their start in 2009, reporting from a borderless urban zone they call the “Culinary Backstreets,” a place where you can find simple family-run restaurants, masters passing their craft on to an apprentice, or the rhythm of a life committed to meatballs and nothing else. They go slow and collect these stories one-by-one, giving equal measure to the culinary side as the human element of the story.

Culinary Backstreets tells these stories through weekly restaurant reviews published on CB, culinary walking tours, multiday trips, books, web design and smartphone applications. At present, you’ll find their regular dispatches from Athens, Barcelona, Istanbul, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Marseille, Mexico City, Oaxaca, Naples, Palermo, Porto, New Orleans, Queens (NY), Shanghai, Tbilisi and Tokyo. These cities all have a culinary tradition of untold richness as well as a certain tension, be it the tug between East and West, the clash between modern and ancient identities, migration, rapid gentrification or a post-colonial hangover. The people they cover run restaurants, workshops, farms and more that are holding back the tide of globalized sameness, which is not easy work—even if it’s done unknowingly.

Culinary Backstreets’ work is guided by a belief in:

• Honest Tourism: The places where they eat and craftspeople that they feature on their culinary tours are all selected with this purpose in mind. They never accept a free lunch or consider a discount for our tour groups, and their guides don’t receive any commissions from shopkeepers.
• Honest Journalism: The same principal is applied to the publishing of stories. There are no sponsored posts or even advertising on CB. The writers and photographers are paid fairly for their work on stories that we all believe in.
• Serving Multiple Stakeholders: Culinary Backstreets seeks to provide its guests and audience with enriching culinary travel experiences while also serving the needs of the communities where they work. Sensitivity to the impact their work has on small neighborhood businesses and community spaces is key to their sustainability.