Hi, it's Mark Bitman. Welcome to Food.

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Okay, back in a minute, but first I want to talk about

something that lots of people ask me about when it comes to global cuisines.

There is something magical about eating a cuisine in the place where it originated.

One of the reasons for that is that the dishes that define it cuisine are built around the

produce that's native to a place. It's why the feta and tomato and a Greek salad

tastes so perfect in Athens or the artichokes in olive oil in Rome are to die for.

They have a certain sweetness and tang that you can get close to

but not easily replicate.

And not surprisingly, one of the best ways to get a sense for how something should taste

is to visit a region of the world and sample a dish in several forms from lots of different

neighboring areas. Then you can appreciate the local variations as well.

And the most efficient way to do that, for me at least, is the first class experience of a regent

cruise. I was able to do that on our recent all-inclusive tour of Asia. I had a

hankering for seafood, well I always do, seafood that you don't get easily in the

U.S. and I had just an incredible experience in the fish markets of Busan, just overwhelming

...