This is the Untold Italy travel podcast and you are listening to episode number 142.

Ciao at all and benvenuti to Untold Italy, the travel podcast where you go to the towns and

villages, mountains and lakes, hills and coastlines of Bella Italia.

Each week your host, Katie Clark, takes you on a journey in search of magical landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato, and of course, a whole lot of pasta.

If you're dreaming of Italy and planning future adventures there,

you've come to the right place.

Ciao, Benvenuti. Hi everyone. I have a question for you and it should be an easy one to answer

if you've been following Untold Italy and the podcast for a while. What are the tours and experiences

that I love doing the most in Italy? And if I'm honest, around the world. If you answered food tours, then you would be absolutely right.

Food tours are my favourite, because not only do you get to eat very, very well,

you'll also try new things you may not have considered ordering on your own.

But most importantly, food is a critical connection to the land, the seasons and culture of a country,

and this is especially true in Italy, where people can argue over the required number of eggs

in a biscotti recipe for decades. Joining us on the podcast today is Lauren Alois, a dedicated

foodie originally from the United States, who harnessed her passion for food and

food culture while living in Spain. Here Lauren co-founded DeVour Tours, a city experiences

company, one of the most popular and well-regarded food tour companies in Spain, which I can

attest to after my own experiences in Madrid and Seville. The success of devour tours quickly spread beyond the Spanish borders to Italy and other destinations

in Europe, where new tours were created to showcase the unique local food culture.

Today, we're going to hear from Lauren about the differences in the dishes and food focus

in Italy's major cities, and it's bound to be delicious.

So, without further ado, let's welcome her on to the show.

...