Oldways is well known for its culinary travel education programs originally created for and tailored to journalists, chefs, retailers, importers and other experts in the food and wine world – and now open to amateur food lovers as well! 

For us, synthesizing the science about the healthfulness of the Mediterranean Diet and developing the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid as a guide for consumers, health professionals, media and others was only one key part of the larger equation of promoting healthy eating. We understood that in order to create a compelling message, the companion part was to spread the word about the ingredients, agriculture and production methods, preparations, and the places that made the Mediterranean Diet so healthy and so delicious. 

After all, we don't eat nutrition science, we eat food! 

Our early culinary education travels, called Symposiums, took us to Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, and many regions of Italy with leadership groups of 25 to 125 journalists, chefs, importers and retailers. These leaders brought back details of preparations (in cookbooks, articles, and menus; ingredients for sale on store shelves) and excitement about the Mediterranean as a new culinary travel experience for all of America to learn about.

These early culinary education journeys were so loved by participants that we decided to develop Culinarias—unique and intense food and wine travel programs for everyone. For our Culinarias, we choose a destination, partner with a chef or cookbook author who is an expert on this destination, and then delve deeply into the location’s food and wine, culture, terroir, and cooking preparations.

Of course eating and drinking have always been two of the biggest attractions of travel, but Oldways Culinaria programs go far beyond just eating and drinking.  We intently explore the connections between food, wine, culture and agriculture, and visit venues off the beaten track. 

As the Culinary Tourism Association defines it: “Culinary tourism is the pursuit of unique and memorable culinary experiences of all kinds.”

We invite you to join Oldways and take advantage of our years of experience in developing unique and memorable culinary experiences!