Have a happy holiday with these feel-good food and travel shows

Explore the world - and make new friends! - with these food and travel shows.

Alex Polizzi (left) in Secret Italy series 2

Alex Polizzi (left) makes a new friend in Sicily Source: Alex Polizzi's Secret Italy

Take a break from daily life - and the sometimes-crazy whirlwind of the end of the year and the start of a new one - with these series, coming to SBS Food in December and January.

Alex Polizzi's Secret Italy

Alex Polizzi in Sardenia. Source: Alex Polizzi's Secret Italy

If you dream of wandering around Italy, meeting lovely locals, then prep yourself a tray of antipasti and a glass of prosecco (or a cornetto and coffee - we're all for morning travels too) and join Alex Polizzi as she embarks on a voyage across Italy, back to her roots. Polizzi (full name Alessandra Maria Luigia Anna Polizzi di Sorrentino) is an English hotelier with strong family links

to her Italian heritage

. In Secret Italy, she's visiting some of the quieter corners of Italy, and discovering lesser-known highlights of popular spots, revisiting memories and making new ones. Along with a visit to the hillside village where one of her grandfathers was born, she eats seafood in Le Marche, tours cave dwellings in the unique city of Matera in the south, meets a team of women restoring historic relics on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples and takes a trip aboard a traditional, intricately decorated donkey cart in Sicily (that's her in the photograph up top, meeting a long-eared local).

See Alex Polizzi's Secret Italy Mondays 8.30 pm from 6 December to 24 January on SBS Food. Episodes will be available at SBS On Demand for 30 days after they air.

Scandimania

Festival food in Sweden. Source: Scandimania

If you're feeling more in the mood for the tastes (and more) of Scandinavia, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is ready to take you there. The world has been loving Scandinavian drama (want to dive in? SBS On Demand is full of Nordic gems - head

here

for a heaping helping of Nordic Noir and Nordic not-Noir, too), furniture and food, and in this three-part series, Fearnley-Whittingstall travels through Denmark, Sweden and Norway looking at life, food, design and more. He catches up with local chefs, goes hiking, hunting and swimming, and cooks at a crayfish party. In Stockholm, he visits the ABBA museum, where he meets Björn Ulvaeus, who explains the concept of 'lagom', which means 'just enough', and sums up how Swedes approach life. In Denmark, he meets Søren Malling, star of The Killing and Borgen, and lauded chef Rene Redzepi. And in Norway, his adventures include diving for sea urchins.

See Scandimania on SBS Food Sundays 6.30 pm from 4 December. Episodes will be available at SBS On Demand for 30 days after they air.

Curtis Stone's Travel, Cook, Repeat

Curtis Stone shares a meal with friends in Travel, Cook, Repeat. Source: Curtis Stone's Travel, Cook, Repeat

From Rome to Rioja - via Australia - Aussie-American chef Curtis Stone is on the road, seeking out great ingredients and flavours, and then cooking up recipes for home cooks to enjoy. Travel, Cook, Repeat kicks off with a visit to Western Australia, where he goes mud crabbing on the beach, before whipping up a

crab and mango salad with nuoc cham dressing

. Following episodes see Stone in Rioja, Spain; Rome, Italy; Sonoma, California; Sydney, Australia (where he learns more about Indigenous ingredients and cooking); and Umbria, Italy.

See Curtis Stone's Travel, Cook, Repeat on SBS Food 6.30 pm Monday to Friday, December 6-10 December (with a double episode from 6 pm on Friday 10 December). Episodes will be available at SBS On Demand for 30 days after they air. Look out, too, for season 2 of another world-wandering with the expat Aussie, Field Trip with Curtis Stone, starting 6 January.

A Taste of Italy

Nisha (right) enjoying a meal in Orvieto. Source: A Taste of Italy

There's a second helping of Italian travel on SBS Food in December, with chef and restaurateur Nisha Kitona on a quest across Italy to discover favourite local dishes and traditional cooking. Her travels start in Lucca (kicking off the eating with a chickpea pancake cooked in a wood-fired oven), then take her to Sulmona, Livorno, Campobasso, Orvieto, Bari, Viterbo, Lecce, Syracuse and Catania. Along the way, she cooks up dishes inspired by her experiences.

See A Taste of Italy on SBS Food Tuesdays 7.30pm from 21 December to 2 February. Episodes will be available at SBS On Demand for 30 days after they air.

Paul Goes to Hollywood

Teri Hatcher, chef Wes Atillo and Paul Hollywood

Paul meets with actress Teri Hatcher and chef Wes Atillo in Los Angeles. Source: Paul Goes to Hollywood

Join Paul Hollywood in Hollywood as the cheery British baker, author and TV host heads to the US. This four-part series sees Hollywood combining his passion for baking, biking and movies as he goes on a road trip across America, from New York to Los Angeles. Kicking things off in New York, he follows the culinary footsteps of Frank Sinatra and John Travolta, eats bagels and twice-cooked pizza, and picks up the Harley Davidson he'll be riding on his epic journey; each ep also includes dishes he cooks later, back in his own kitchen, inspired by his trip. For this one, it's a 'Big Apple Tarte Tatin'. His biking and eating adventure then takes him to Savannah, New Orleans, New Mexico, and finally, LA. Given those road stops, no surprises that his on-the-road eats include classics such as gumbo, beignets, brisket BBQ and tacos.

See Paul Goes to Hollywood Fridays 7.30 pm 21 January to 11 February on SBS Food. Episodes will be available at SBS On Demand for 30 days after they air.

More global tastes

Hot rolls: The Brazilian eatery giving Japanese sushi a makeover

Christine Anu shares her heritage through a slice of cake

You can try the cuisine of the Cocos Islands here

Celebrating the diversity of northern and southern Indian cuisine

Kimchi cheese toastie

Grilled prawns with mango and curry mayonnaise

Haloumi za'atar chips with pomegranate molasses

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SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only. Read more about SBS Food

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SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only.

Follow SBS Food

5 min read

Published 3 December 2021 12:58pm

Updated 9 December 2021 10:30am

By SBS Food

Source: SBS

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