[Photograph: Lonely Planet]

Many of us dream of international travel, of exploring new and undiscovered corners of the world. And if you're even remotely serious about eating, surely a large percentage of the appeal of cultural exposure is trying lots and lots of new, hopefully delicious foods. For those of you who haven't had a chance to hit every destination on your list quite yet, vicarious gustatory delight awaits in the pages of A Moveable Feast: Life-Changing Food Adventures Around the World, edited by Don George.

The book is a collection of travel and food essays, whose authors range from highly notable to nearly anonymous. The essays deal with many common travel themes—avoiding cultural taboos, crossing language barriers, navigating unfamiliar neighborhoods. And each essay touches on the ways that food creates as well as bridges cultural divides.

Some of the topics are somewhat tired. There is the ubiquitous story of eating—and spitting out—durian for the first time. Another author recounts an experience with dog stew, and the vehement backlash of his readers when he published that story. A pretty American woman gets hit on by a married Arabic man in a cafe, as he explains za'atar and hummus. The eyes can't help but roll just a little.

But most of the cultural nuances are more subtle, and revelatory to an untraveled reader such as myself. An American woman hiking in Nepal is saved from a blizzard by a sherpa and his family, who do not speak English, but understand the human need for warmth and tea. A travel writer sent on "assignment" to a vacation spot on a Caribbean island eschews luxuriating on the beach and instead helps the hotel cook do her daily shopping in the stall markets. And a lost solo traveler in Portugal is temporarily held hostage by a table of friendly, drunken football fans who stuff him full of excellent lunch and wine as they watch a match. These stories evoke imagery, emotion, and a deep desire to taste whatever foods the author is memorializing so beautifully.

Travel writing can tend towards the indulgent, but these essays speak to cultural value and appreciation. Each author offers a lesson learned, and usually the lesson comes about through a truly humbling experience. One writer gets a crash course in the generous Nepali spirit when he accidentally drops a celebratory roast chicken on the earthen floor—and is immediately forgiven. Such hospitality to the foreigner and guest is the overarching theme of most of these tales of displacement.

While there's no substitute for actually visiting exotic locales, A Moveable Feast provides for some good reading in the meantime. Who knows—you may just pick your next vacation based on the recommendation of a new favorite travel writer.

About the Author: A student in Providence, Rhode Island, Leah Douglas loves consuming and learning about as much food as possible. Her work is also featured in Rhode Island Monthly Magazine. She blogs at Feasting on Providence.