Most delicious foodie holidays

Food and drink are an essential part of any holiday, often turning a relaxing break into a memorable experience that can bring you closer to the culture of a country.

The independent writers at travelbite.co.uk have brought you a selection of the best gastronomic holidays for those looking for culinary excellence, authentic food, fresh local produce and divine wines.

We've travelled to popular gastro-tourism destinations in Italy, France and Cyprus to bring you tips on how to enjoy a satisfying foodie break.

We also highlight some of the best food festivals taking place in the UK this summer.

Holding to the old ways in southern Corsica

The question to ask when eating in Corsica is "can you taste the terroir?" and while Corsican food may not be flashy it is good, with hearty stews featuring wild boar not to be missed.

Food production on the 'Isle of Beauty' remains relatively small scale, resisting industrial methods and holding to the old ways. The environment in which it is grown influences the tastes and textures of both food and drink here.

One of the best things about being on holiday in Corsica is being able to stop in at a ten house, one church village and enjoy a meal at the local restaurant - such as Chez Charlot in Viggianello, near Propriano.

Try the daube a la mode Corse stew and the farine de chataigne (chestnut) tarte for desert. The terrace across the street - outside the church - overlooks the Gulf of Valinco and makes a great place for a coffee or a meal in summer.

In the 16th century the Genoese overlords required Corsicans to plant vines as well as fig, mulberry, olive and chestnut trees and this last proved to be a particularly profitable crop as chestnut flour became an important export for the island.

Stop by a local olive mill (there is a good one just up the road from the archaeological site at Filitosa) or honey farm and taste the product of bees feeding from the wildflowers around mountain villages such as Quenza.

There are farm-gate sales of local produce everywhere, including piles of dark-rinded cheeses and even darker cured pork hanging from the ceilings - another well-known "produit de Corse".

Corsican wines are best drunk young and the good rose and dry white wines come from regions around the coastline. In the south there are a number of drop-in vineyards on the road from Sartene to Bonifaccio - near the Lion of Roccapina.

Don't forget to sample the local brews, which have a strongly individual flavour. Pietre beer features yet more of the famous chestnut flour. Torro is the biere de maquis and includes fragrant myrtle.

Natasha von Geldern

Generations of Cypriot food

The people of Cyprus have been farmers for generations and their tastes remain close to the land. Fresh, natural produce is central to the national diet, with a tremendous variety of foodstuffs grown on the island.

Mountains that draw skiers in the winter provide sumptuous kiwi in the summer, along with an abundance of olives, figs and citrus fruit.

Food is traditionally served as an assorted variety of small dishes; both hot and cold appetizers followed by main courses, deserts, usually cooked fruits in syrup, accompanied by Greek coffee (a short, bitter concoction made from ground beans, with the dregs allowed to settle in the cup).

A particular speciality is carob, which grows in pods on trees all over the islands – rivalled only in number by those bearing olives. Often used in place of chocolate in cakes or milkshakes, or as a syrup accompanying breakfast, the power contains no sugar, but maintains a sweet, if slightly sharp taste.

Other small bites include soutzoukos (sweet grape paste filled with nuts), stafidakia (sun-dried raisins), pastosika (dried figs), and hiromeri (smoked, salted pork leg).

On to the main course - keftedes is a popular dish. Essentially a form of pork meatball, the meat is mixed with parsley, cinnamon, mint and a few drops of brandy to give a succulent, wholesome taste.

Moussaka is also well known, not just on the island, but around the world. Made with meat or vegetables, the dish usually includes eggplant and marrow mixed with layers of ground lamb or red meat, topped with a white sauce and baked.

Finally, kleftico. The word means 'stolen meat' (see kleptomania) in honour of the thieves who would steal the dish from underground ovens where it was usually cooked. It is prepared by wrapping lamb in bay leaves, with oregano olive oil, pepper, celery and carrots. Usually cooked in a traditional wooden oven, the meat is soft and delicious – to die for.

Cypriots tend not to do things by halves, so expect two or three main courses to be served in a single sitting.

For dessert, a local delicacy known as dactila is loved all over the islands. Colloquially known as 'ladies fingers', given the shape and delicate nature of the finished product, the light, airy pastries are a real treat. Made from sugar, cinnamon, cloves and rose water, occasionally mixed with almonds and corn oil – this dessert is rich and rewarding.

Of course, no discussion of Cypriot food could be complete without mention of the island's famous Halloumi. Cypriots are fiercely proud of this sour cheese - even battling with Greece in the courts to establish ownership of the authentic product - and employ it with meals at all times of the day.

Lightly fried it accompanies katsoures (toast) in the morning, along with olive oil and oregano, whereas lunch time and evening meals see fresh Halloumi - a sour goats cheese - cubed and included with everything from calamari (squid) to pourekia (pastries made with cinnamon).

Kali orexi.

Chris O'Toole

Passionate about food in Napoli

For your average Neapolitan, the day starts with a shot of espresso taken standing up at the local bar. Perhaps with a cornetto pastry gulped down for good measure - you'd barely call it breakfast.

But the attitude of Neopolitans towards food is anything but average. "Che cos 'e' la vita senza passione?" was the graffiti on the restaurant wall and above all else in Naples this applies to food.

McDonalds is not a feature of the Neapolitan landscape - with delicious street food including takeaway pizza wrapped in paper for lunch who needs it. Deep fried fritters with seaweed or zucchini or flavoursome risotto are popular snacks.

The food of the Campania region is people's food, rustic with lots of vegetables and seafood - all of it fresh, local produce.

Have you forgotten what real tomatoes taste like? Even in early summer the fresh tomatoes piled on top of soft Neapolitan pizza bases taste like they've been soaked in sugar water.

For delectable pizzas visit Ristorante Europeo on Via M Campodisola.

If you are gastronomically adventurous you might like to try the tripe and pigs' trotters served with lemon juice from one of the stalls on the waterfront.

A decided sweet tooth dictates the food choices of many Neapolitans - they prefer coffee and cake to alcoholic beverages. What with the hot climate and the already extroverted personalities of the locals, drinking heavily is not necessary.

Favourite desserts are fruit pies, limoncello tarts and the ubiquitous rum baba - cylindrical yeast cakes saturated in liquor and served with cream. Somehow these rich, brioche-like cakes manage to absorb a large quantity of run without becoming soggy.

Bite into a plait of buffalo mozzarella here and discover a taste, well it tastes like nothing you would ever buy in Sainsbury's.

Just don't ever put it in the fridge - otherwise it will toughen. And real buffalo mozzarella must be eaten within 24 hours so that delectable ball of cheese on your plate was made yesterday afternoon just down the road.

If you are really lucky it will have come from Vanulo - a small, organic paradise for buffaloes in Campania where they only sell directly from their farm shop and people queue up every day to buy the best buffalo mozzarella.

Natasha von Geldern

Food festivals in the UK

The Hampshire food festival has been extended from its original two-week format to run for the whole month of July in 2008, giving gastronomes twice as much time to enjoy a celebration of the county's finest food and drink.

This year there are 120 different events on the food festival programme (between July 1st and 31st), many of these taking place in and around Winchester.

Try chocolate and jam-making master-classes, bee-keeping, hog roasts, a water buffalo walk, or deer safaris in the New Forest. This year celebrity chefs Ainsley Harriott and Prue Leith will be joining in the fun.

For more information or to receive a free programme see the Hampshire food festival website.

The historic market town of Faversham is the setting for the 2008 Flavours of Faversham festival on July 19th and 20th.

The streets will be bursting with locally-produced specialities, including oysters, freshly-baked Kentish huffkins, vegetables, fruit, meats and cheeses.

Faversham is well-known for its Kentish ale and Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewer will be holding a local beer and food evening, as well as a brewery tour, tutored tasting and four-course dinner.

Also look out for the Faversham International Hop Festival later in the summer - on August 30th and 31st - which will see thousands of people celebrate the hop harvest with a weekend of entertainment, locally-produced food and, of course, beer.

For more information see the Faversham website.

North of the border, Foodies at the Festival 2008 will be the Edinburgh Festival's only dedicated food event for a second year on August 23rd and 24th.

Hundreds of specially selected exhibitors will be selling and demonstrating their wares at the outdoor market.

Top Scottish chefs will be giving demonstrations at the Sheraton Grand hotel, including Michelin-starred cooks Martin Wishart, Tom Kitchin and Liam Ginniane.

See the Foodies at the Festival website for more information.