Whether you're a professional sommelier or a budding gourmand, vacations built around the culinary arts are a perfect way to immerse yourself in a country or region. After all, you can learn as much about the history and ethos of a people from the methods and ingredients used in their cooking as you will from anything found in a book. Not to mention that culinary tours are perhaps the most, well, civilized way to travel. Yet they're still very much adventurous--not ones that elevate your heart rate or give you an adrenaline rush, but ones that still pose a challenge to your senses.

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Eat Globally, Think Locally: How to avoid food faux pas while traveling
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Resources: Associations, schools, books, and magazines