My favorite Christmas gifts to give are experiences. Something that surprises all year long is much better than a small trinket under the tree. Foodies and travelers are some of the best people to shop for this time of year, because they understand that life is all about the journey.

Food Trip To is a subscription box that captures all of that magic in the perfect Christmas gift for foodies and travelers.

From Morocco to Greece to Indonesia to Brazil, each Food Trip To box is stuffed with 6 products and four recipes to make an authentic meal for 6.

There are cards inside to serve up cultural facts and language lessons about the destination you’re celebrating, along with a playlist of music to have in the background while you cook or entertain.

You’re also given a handy shopping list so you can get everything you need, along with recipe cards to coach you along the way to being an international gourmet.

Started in 2014 by Montreal adventures Max Rosselin (below left) and Kevin Marlet (below right), Food Trip To is personally curated from their global travels as a way to encourage people to get out and travel more.

“Our ambition is to give a little taste of each country – some sometimes more original than others – to give the impulse afterwards to go to discover more and to leave to the adventure,” says Max.

They mean it too. In addition to the souvenir surprises, cultural insight, and tasty recipes inside each Food Trip To box, one for each destination also includes airline tickets to help someone really see the world.

Their inspired adventures are unique, with countries like Colombia and Finland included on their roster so far. “We try to change continents each time and alternate between a familiar country and another country that is less so,” Max told La Presse.

Food Trip To sent me a box celebrating Japan, and I had a fun night with Zacharie live streaming on Facebook our attempts at making okonomiyaki, a fantastic Japanese omelette entree.

Here’s the video of our Food Trip To Japan

Also in our box were recipes for a myoko cocktail, some sushi roll appetizers, and a white chocolate and matcha tea souflee dessert.

I’ve told my boys that when they graduate high school, I’ll take them on a father son road trip, and Zacharie is a big fan of sushi and Pokemon, so he’s excited to go to Japan – in 10 years. In the meantime, a box like Food Trip To gives us a chance to play together in the kitchen.

Charlie and I took some time together to make some cucumber rolls with the easy instructions from our Food Trip To box.

REVIEW:

I love the idea of the Food Trip To boxes. They are a fun experience that comprises a day of cooking, and a night of entertaining all around a specific theme. The recipes in my box were not quite beginner (as you can see by the knife wound and terrible presentation), but they tasted awesome.

MINE:

THEIRS:

If you like entertaining, if you like foodie adventures and exploring different cultures even when you’re between vacations, this box is perfect. It’s an affordable gift (boxes are $40 each) and everything inside is extremely well thought out, right down to culturally relevant movies you can watch after dinner.

My only caution is that it’s more of a ‘grown up’ box and entertaining event as opposed to a ‘family friendly’ one, at least that’s what I found with our Food Trip To Japan box.

SUBSCRIPTION PLANS

You can buy boxes one at a time, choosing from their a la carte list ($39.90 ea), or you can go with a subscription plan that will offer a bit of a surprise on your doorstep every 2 months as you don’t know which country will land in your lap.

There are a variety of subscription plans for the Food Trip To box where you can receive one a few days after signing up, and then another every 2 months until you decide to cancel ($37.90 per box). You can also subscribe for 6 months (3 boxes at $36.63 ea) or a year (6 boxes at $29.90 ea).

And perfect for Christmas, you can buy gift cards so the foodie on your list can choose how to take their Food Trip To.

Regardless of how you choose to take your food trip, 10% of the proceeds will help feed the world through OXFAM Quebec.

Disclosure: I was sent a Food Trip To box for review.

Buzz

Dad. Broadcaster. Writer.
Three time Guinness World Record Holder.

I run the world for Team Diabetes.