I’ve been fascinated with India and Indian cooking for a very long time. My mentor Noorbanu Nimji and I published A Spicy Touch – Family Favourites from Noorbanu Nimji’s Kitchen in December of 2015 but we’ve done tours and taught Indian cooking together in Calgary since about 2007. In 2011, because I am also founder and owner of Alberta Food Tours, Inc., I was asked to lead tours to India and have been happily doing so since 2012 thanks to my partnership with Indus Travels.
My 2017 trip has been sold out for some time so I’m happy to announce my plans for India 2018. Click on the link for the full itinerary. The synopsis follows along with some photos from past trips to whet your appetite.
Departing Canada on September 20, 2018, we’ll begin our East meets West sojourn in captivating New Delhi where we’ll enjoy ancient monuments, classic restaurants, authentic shopping and hands-on cooking with one of India’s foremost cooking instructors. Leaving the big city behind we’ll head south to the major destinations of Rajasthan.
Rajasthan is alive with colour and we’ll enjoy the pink city of Jaipur, the blue city of Jodhpur and the white city of Udaipur. These are cities to explore arts, culture and history but we’ll also include visits to a few small villages in our travels so that you can experience the rural life of India. Walking is one of the best ways to experience a destination and the local way of life, culture & nature, so we’ll spend time on foot to connect with Rajasthani people.
Of course, we’ll include Agra and it’s glowing gem, The Taj Mahal on this Northern soujourn. Finally, we’ll head east to Bengal and the “city of joy” – Kolkata.
Kolkata is located on the east bank of River Hooghly. It is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal and the commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India. It is India’s oldest port as well as its sole major riverine port. As the former capital of India, Kolkata was the birthplace of modern Indian literary, artistic and scholastic thought. Here we’ll spend time enjoying the arts and culture and most importantly eating at fabulous restaurants and learning some incredible Bengali cuisine with local
cooking instructors.
To obtain more information or to register for this trip of a lifetime, contact me at karen@albertafoodtours.ca
As promised here are a few of my photos from previous trips. If you click on the India tab in the sidebar, you’ll find a collection of stories I’ve written about my India travels. You can also follow along as my photographer friend Pauli-Ann Carriere and I build a South India food and travel inspired cookbook at our new blog Faces, Places and Plates. It’s a great way to connect with cooks and their culture whether you stay in the comfort of your armchair or get inspired to go and meet our subjects for yourself.
Namaste, Karen
Karen, my husband, Jim Letourneau and I are very interested in going on your trip to India in September, 2018. Can you give us some idea of the size of the group, the quality of the hotels and whether or not it is possible to upgrade our flights to business class and what the cost would be? Also, please let us know about the deposits required to secure a spot.
We have been on a few of your food tours and have been beyond impressed.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Julia Turnbull
On Fri, Aug 18, 2017 at 11:44 PM, Savour It All wrote:
> Karen Anderson posted: ” I’ve been fascinated with India and Indian > cooking for a very long time. My mentor Noorbanu Nimji and I published A > Spicy Touch – Family Favourites from Noorbanu Nimji’s Kitchen in December > of 2015 but we’ve done tours and taught Indian cooking together” >
Hi Julia, I’ll email you right now. Cheers, K.
Hi Karen, I was provided the information on your 2018 India trip by Don Kalancha. My partner and I are interested as well as friends of ours from Houston. We have similar questions regarding an upgrade to business class as well as whether our friends from Houston can book their own flights vs coming to Calgary to join the group.
Thanks,
Ed
Great Ed,
I’ll email you all the details.
Cheers,
K
Hi Karen, We met at Maria’s last year and gave you a deposit for the 2018 trip ($1 haha!). Suddenly here it is 2018 and I’m wondering if there are still spaces available and what the details are for the India food tour. I look forward to hearing from you at your convenience. Elaine
You bet Elaine. Two spots left. I’ll email you. Cheers, K
😁I am very interested in this tour and would greatly appreciate more information
Laurie Anfindsen
L.anfindsen@shaw.ca
780-996-1758