Every year researchers, volunteers, and chefs from the Global Gastros team set out on expeditions to study, preserve, and promote unique food cultures and traditions around the world. Our expeditions focus on communities that are at risk of losing their food culture, are feeling the effects of lost food culture, or are proactively tackling the issue head on. Below you will find research and recipes for each of our recent expeditions.
Explore the Nordic Database >
NORDIC
Consisting of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, the Nordic region is known for cold, icy winters and short, bright summers.
Some of the best restaurants in the world can be found here and the New Nordic movement has done an excellent job of combining old recipes and techniques with contemporary gastronomy.
In a region that has made significant progress in the preservation of food culture, we wanted to examine and understand how they were able to do so. More importantly, we wanted to be able to understand how the culinary preservation methods of the Nordic can be used to support other regions of the world hoping to save their own culinary traditions.
Amazon
The Amazon covers over 2,000,000 square miles, spreading through Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
Considered the most biodiverse place on the planet, the Amazon is home to literally thousands of edible plants and many of the world’s top “superfoods” are indigenous to the jungle.
The traditional way of life and diet in the Amazon is at serious risk though. From illegal mining to destructive industrial farming, the damage to the Amazon is not just physical but also cultural. We are at risk of losing generations of indigenous knowledge on what the jungle has to offer - from foods to medicines.
Explore the Amazon Database >
Future Expeditions
The world is full of incredible diversity and enough unique culinary traditions and recipes to keep our researchers busy for years. Upcoming research expeditions include:
The Southwest United States - where we will be examining Native American traditions and recipes, how the harsh desert climate impacted the traditional diet, and the effects the reservation system had on the diets and health of native tribes.
The South Pacific - where we will examine the indigenous seafaring people who settled these islands, how their traditional diets grew and changed with each new island discovered, and the effects modern imported foods are having on their health.
