Samantha Brown's Places to Love

-There's no doubt that the one thing we all have in common is a love of food.

Food allows us to connect to people and other cultures in wonderful ways, and when you travel, food is used both to seek comfort as well as to get out of our comfort zone.

For people who prepare food, it is their love and passion, and even though you are far from home, gathering to eat at a table brings with it a sense of family and friendship.

No matter where you are in the world, food connects us, so let's start traveling.

This is food around the world and "Places to Love."

I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world.

And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

-We start in the city of Santa Fe, a destination known for its natural beauty, art, and, of course, food.

Tomasita's is a local institution that has been run by the same family for 45 years.

I'm in the kitchen with its second generation, where I learn that here, the enchiladas are not rolled and they are not Mexican.

I didn't know New Mexico had its own cuisine.

-Of course.

-Its own sort of interpretation of Mexican food.

-It's not Mexican food.

-It's not Mexican food.

-It's New Mexican food.

-It's New Mexican food.

-And as we say, it's not new and it's not Mexico.

-Okay.

-It's New Mexico.

So, first choice, We have our blue corn or our yellow corn tortillas.

-Okay, I'm gonna go blue.

-Excellent.

-One or two?

-Just one to start.

We make them flat here.

-They are not rolled.

-They are generally served flat.

-Flat.

-Correct.

-All right, so, we want cheese.

I want a lot of cheese, since I'm making this one for myself.

Next, a little splatter of red chili sauce to help melt the cheese and meld the flavors.

Place another corn tortilla on top and then... -Then we smother it.

You got to smother it with the red.

-And talk to me about this red chili sauce because this is what New Mexican cuisine is all about.

-So, in New Mexico, the state question is "red or green?"

-Red or green.

-The green chili is like the grape, and the red chili is like the raisin.

-Ah, all right.

-So it's the same plant.

It's the same fruit.

You harvest it.

When it's green, it's the consistency of a bell pepper.

You harvest it green, you roast it.

Or you leave it on the plant, it will turn red, and then it will sun-dry, which is the correct way to do it.

-So this is the raisin.

Is there one that's -- That's just good kitchen sound right there.

We are in a working kitchen.

-It's a real working kitchen.

-And the thing about this sauce, here, you do that every single day.

Talk about that process.

-We take the pod.

We get rid of the stem, get rid of the seeds.

We rinse it real well.

We soak it for four hours, then you put that in a blender with a little bit of water in it.

In a blender for a long time till it turns this consistency.

-So, we're making it red, but if I wanted to go red and green... -Then you would do half and half, and we'd call that Christmas.

-Okay.

-And last but not least, 7 to 10 onions.

-Is this done?

-You got to melt it.

-Oh, oh.

-Here, we have this fancy pizza oven.

It comes out the other way.

-Yes.

-Now, if you are a local, what you would do with a red chili cheese enchilada is you would put an egg over easy on top.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Is that a breakfast food or you just do it any type of day?

-Any day.

People put an egg on a burrito.

-Why not?

-Everything is smothered here, and people eat a lot of eggs, I guess.

-I am a Santa Fe local, right there.

-There you go.

-Beautiful.

Strasbourg, France, is a beautiful city that has a lion's share of high-end, well-known restaurants every traveler wants to try.

But I found a place that was more casual and local.

Bonjour, madame.

-Bonjour.

S'il vous plat, madame?

-This looks very good.

C'est bon, c'est bon.

I wanted to try some of your traditional sausages.

-Yes.

-And it looks like you're already assembling a traditional charcuterie plate right there.

-Exactly.

This one traditional sausages we eat at the breakfast or in the evening for dinner.

-Impressive.

-Yeah.

This one is a classic sausage.

When you have a child and when he begin to eat, we give them this sausage.

-Oh.

-Yeah.

That's the first sausage we give to the children.

-Mm-hmm.

It tastes like the best bologna I've ever had.

-Yeah.

Thank you.

We have also another one, traditionally only made for Christmas, and so this way the name is princess.

-Ah, okay.

Specialty ham.

-You want to taste?

-Sure.

I'm here.

It's special.

I'm in Strasbourg.

So, this is pork and tongue?

-Yeah.

-And pistach.

-Pistachio?

-Yeah, exactly.

-Oh, nice.

That's lovely.

-Yeah.

-A little unknown gem in traveler circles, this shop is also a small restaurant with seating upstairs and outside, and you can sample and essentially see what's on the menu.

But with all these free samples, I may not need to sit down after all.

-Then we have another sort of sausage that's this one.

It's a black sausage.

-Sure.

-It's made with blood and fat.

-Oh.

-And it's smoked.

When you hear the name, some would say, "Oh, no, I don't eat that."

But taste it.

It's very special.

-Something tells me you don't give this to the kids right away.

-Mm, no, it's more for the dad.

It's different.

-It's different.

-It's different.

-I like the children's one better.

-Yeah.

-That's not a surprise.

-I understand.

We have only sausages and smoked meat and salted meat for sauerkraut.

-Wow.

So, this is where people get a little bit confused because sauerkraut is firmly German in our eyes, but this is where we realize Strasbourg, French, then German, then it's French, then it's German.

But that's one of the joys of coming to this city of Strasbourg, right?

You have this French and German influence in a way, and you can get it on one plate.

Thank you.

Merci.

-Je vous en prie.

-Danke schoen.

-Bitte schoen.

-There's a saying that you should never see the sausage being made.

But how about the spring rolls?

In Westminster, California's, neighborhood of Little Saigon, I'm at Thnh My Restaurant, learning from the best.

So, we're gonna be learning how to make spring rolls.

I think that has to be one of everyone's favorite dishes from Vietnam.

Everyone loves spring rolls.

-Everyone, yes.

So, let's start with... -Okay, with the rice paper.

-Okay.

And that simply is rice and water molded into a sheet of paper.

-Right.

And you want to go around one time.

-One time, okay.

So you have to go quick.

-Yeah, you don't want to oversoak it.

-All right.

And now we've got our canvas to lay food on.

-Start with the lettuce.

So that's the base.

You want to have it in the same way you want a roll.

-So we're gonna roll this way?

-Exactly.

-Okay.

Take me through the ingredients.

-So, we have mint.

These are different types of mint.

-Mm-hmm.

Just to give it a more complex, minty favorite.

-Mom just reminded us we're gonna need to go quickly because this will get too soft.

-And then put some vermicelli in it.

Not too much.

You don't want to stuff your roll.

Okay, quickly.

She said quickly, otherwise it gets sticky.

-Okay.

-So, you want to close the end so you're not dripping as you are eating it.

So the end is closed.

Now you put the shrimp on.

-Now you put the shrimp, okay.

-So you want the pretty side to see through as you're rolling.

-Because this is a window, actually, so you want to display the food in a way that kind of makes it appealing.

Yeah, pretty.

So, Thnh My -- what does that mean?

-It's actually my mom and dad's name put together.

-And old is the restaurant?

When did you open it up?

-July 29.

-July 29, 1979.

She remembers that exact date.

-Yeah.

-So that wasn't too far after you had actually arrived here, right?

-We left Vietnam on April 29th, the day before the fall of Saigon.

-The day before?

-The fall, yes.

-Wow.

-Mom and Dad got us onto -- our big clan, the family, 16 of us, onto a ship at the harbor that my dad oversees.

-I think seven day in the ocean.

-Seven days you were on a boat.

-Yeah, I remember, seven day.

-So you've had this restaurant for 38 years, and it has been at this spot for 38 years.

So you grew up here.

-I did.

-You grew up in the restaurant.

-I did.

Okay, so, now you're gonna roll and then just tightly pull back as you roll.

-Right, right, okay.

-Pull towards yourself, yeah, so you can make it tight.

Uh-huh, there you go.

Yeah, pull and roll, yeah.

Keep going.

Nice and tight.

Good job.

Yay!

-That's beautiful.

And are they usually this big?

This is a big spring roll.

-They're not fat, which is good.

They're just long.

Yeah.

-Beautiful.

-What is the Vietnamese word for Vietnamese spring roll?

-Say "goy."

-Goy.

-"Go."

-Go.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Ask someone to name a famous food from Switzerland, and they'll probably tell you cheese or chocolate.

And here, in the beautiful Alpine village of Interlaken, there's a place where you can literally get your hands dirty making chocolate bars of your own.

Yes, it's time for Funky Chocolate Club.

And here are your hosts, Tatiana Sharp and Vladimir Pech.

-We teach people how to taste chocolate because it's an art.

It's not just you put it in your mouth.

We teach them how to temper the chocolate.

It's the most important and most significant process when you're making chocolate.

-Whoa!

So, this is like performance art here.

Ooh.

I did this before, I made chocolate.

-Yeah, did you try?

-I didn't temper it right.

And it turned out to have polka dots, and I did it for a boyfriend to impress him, and luckily he still married me.

So it was okay, but it was a discovery.

-And then we let them play and decorate and put the chocolate on their face, and that's what we want.

We just want people to have fun and enjoy the chocolate.

Here in Switzerland, it's illegal to waste chocolate.

So we don't waste any chocolate.

-Does that mean I get to lick the bowl?

-Of course you get to lick it.

On this first bowl, we will teach you a special technique.

It's a technique using so-called transfers.

It's a special cocoa butter print.

-Mm-hmm.

-And then the rough side of the transfer sheet goes down.

-Even when it's just a liquid, you do that?

-Uh-huh.

Like that.

Nice and flat once again.

At this stage we use the scrapers, so you hold it here on one side, and you scrape the extra chocolate.

We are in Switzerland, so no waste.

-There is no waste.

-You scrape it into the next mold like that.

-Okay, okay.

-We have one rule here.

Stay as clean as long as you can.

-Stay as clean as long as you can.

-So if you're gonna get some extra chocolate, you're gonna scrape it to somebody else.

-'Cause then I look like the amateur, right?

So, the people who come through the door, though, they're from all around the world.

Who likes what?

What do they buy?

-People from Asia, from our experience, they like dark chocolate.

People from Middle East, they like their sweet stuff, sweet chocolate.

-So you know everyone's chocolate preference around the world.

-Yes, yes, yes.

And also that's what we love about our chocolate-making class because sometimes when you have 13 people here and there are people from the States, people from Middle East and South America, and then people from Europe, and it's just such a beautiful mixture of cultures, and everybody loves chocolate.

-I have never had this much fun with chocolate.

Nice.

Places to love.

Young frau.

-Good job.

-All over the world, food plays a huge part of a destination's identity.

But in the fields of South Carolina, I learned how deep food goes into the importance of a destination's history.

It's sort of fascinating when you think about it.

Everything we enjoy about Charleston -- its history, both difficult and beautiful, its incredible stately mansions and homes, would not have been possible were it not for this crop right here.

-Yes, this crop is unusual in the sense that 1,000 pounds of rice seed will create close to 30,000 pounds of rice.

-Nice yield.

-So the yield was the key.

So it was very much a vital part of the growth and the stability and the wealth of Charleston.

This field was actually carved out of the wilderness, so to speak, by human hands, by enslaved Africans, probably in the late 1700s, and so what we're doing today is not only growing it for our use but really in their memory too because if we just let this field go fallow, then think about it.

All of that labor, all of that which was done at that point in time would have disappeared.

So, this is a very high peat soil, and it's dark and rich, and it definitely influences the flavor of this rice.

So, I've tasted Charleston Gold that's been grown here versus up the road a little bit, and I would have to say that ours tastes a lot better.

-[ Laughs ] No favoritism there, whatsoever.

-Right.

-So, when I'm enjoying rice here in Charleston, I shouldn't have it, like, smothered with a stew.

I should enjoy it by itself.

Is that what you're saying?

-That's what I'm saying.

-So, I was told that the rice needs no accompaniment, right?

-Pretty simple.

-Pretty simple, right.

-Just some butter, a little local Bulls Bay sea salt.

Chef Parker believes in agricultural archaeology, and his exquisite menu plays a role in the telling of South Carolina history.

-Is there any particular order I should enjoy these?

-I don't necessarily think so.

-Usually I do this with beers.

So I start with the lighter and then I work my way up.

I start with a rice tasting, which, of course, includes the crop that is the pride of this state, Carolina Gold.

Do the farmers come to you with these sort of original ingredients of this state, or do you go to them?

-Yes.

-All of it.

-All of the above.

-Okay, all of it, okay.

-The watermelon here is a great example, that this is the Bradford watermelon, which was the ancestral watermelon of the South.

Highly coveted, highly prized for well over 100 years.

-Is a part of what you're trying to do to kind of put the reins on modernization for the time and just kind of respect our past a little bit more?

-Yeah, exactly.

There's so much more that we've forgotten, and for me it's really exciting because there's a lot of 200-year-old cookbooks for me to dig into.

-You're that guy?

-I'm that guy.

-That loves the 200-year-old -- -Absolutely.

-I am here with Chef Judd Wood of Otto's German Bistro in Fredericksburg, Texas, and we are going to learn how to make his duck schnitzel.

Is duck usually something that you schnitzel, or can you schnitzel anything?

-You can schnitzel anything.

-Okay, all right.

And we need gloves.

-And I'll let you do the whacking.

-This is sort of like a murder scene right here.

-Correct, yeah.

-She did it with a black glove and a meat pounder in the library.

-So we're just keeping the murder scene very clean.

You don't want to be blood splattered.

-I like that, okay.

Right, no evidence, no evidence.

Oh, you like that?

-Yes, that's perfect.

-This must be, like -- I always thought, like, when you're a chef, you can really work out a lot of your anger issues.

-Now we're going to dredge the duck with flour, a little egg wash, and panko breadcrumbs.

-Panko.

Is that your twist on it?

Why do you like the panko?

-It provides a good texture when you fry it.

-Okay.

What do you do next?

Do you make your spaetzle?

Did I say that right?

The recipe will be online.

Don't worry.

-Then we're gonna slowly add in some flour.

-Is there a reason you start off slow?

-Well, we're starting off slow 'cause I don't want flour all over the place.

-Oh, okay.

Got it.

So what's gonna happen next?

-The whole process is we have our boiling water, and this is also to help put the batter into this, the spaetzle cutter.

-That's the spaetzle cutter?

-It is, yes.

-So I'm gonna put the wet dough in here, and then I'm gonna start grating?

And I'm gonna be the spaetzle girl?

-Yes.

-All right.

-You're gonna do that, and I'm gonna do this.

-Okay, all right, whoa.

-All right, you can go now.

There we go.

-Oh, look at that.

[ Laughs ] That is so gratifying.

And just little tear drops of dough are going into -- -That's exactly what we want.

-That's great.

-This is the sauce, with white wine, white vinegar, onions, but we are adding apples to it 'cause it's kind of a seasonal thing.

-It is German.

-Right.

And just let it go for about 20 minutes.

-So while that's doing what should we do?

-We should have a drink.

-Okay, so, cheers.

-Cheers.

And then we're going to put our schnitzel into the hot oil, about 350 degrees.

-Whoa, okay.

-Yes, and so we're just going to get color on it initially 'cause it'll get color pretty fast.

And then we're gonna throw it in the oven.

So, first we're gonna start off.

We're gonna plate this beautiful spaetzle.

-Thank you.

I'm gonna take that as a personal compliment.

-You're gonna take all the credit for this?

-Yeah, total credit, thank you.

-Take a little bit of this cooked red cabbage.

And then I'll grab the duck.

-Now our sauce.

That looks wonderful.

So this is your duck schnitzel.

-Uh-huh.

-Wow.

That is perfectly cooked.

Just perfect.

When you dine out, there's the first course, the second course, and then, my favorite, the of course.

In Santa Cruz, California, the Penny Ice Creamery does not make deciding the most important meal of the day easy.

So, you have roasted barley here.

Horchata blackberry?

-Yes.

-These are fantastic flavors.

These aren't your basic flavors.

Raspberry mint, oh, my gosh.

I don't know where to begin.

-Sampling is a good thing.

-Sampling?

There are spoons here, little spoons here?

I'll try the roasted barley.

-Perfect.

Oh!

That's awesome.

And all your flavors change on a regular basis, right?

Whatever's fresh?

-Exactly, whatever is coming from the farm yesterday, today, or tomorrow.

-What does it mean to make ice cream from scratch?

-We definitely see ourselves as being kind of part of this getting back to a real understanding of the original way of doing it, the craft, and all the steps involved 100% from start to finish.

-How long does it take for you to develop one flavor?

-Well, each flavor comes at its own pace.

For example, the chocolate sorbet, I worked on that recipe for about seven years until I got it to the spot that I think is great.

You want to taste it?

-Oh, yeah.

-You know, this was important to me to have a non-dairy flavor that really kind of took it to another level.

I mean, people -- ice cream is like, "Oh, it's awesome, it's great," and then there's those people who don't do dairy, and more and more these days that's the case.

-How do you know how much raspberry to add or why roasted barley is gonna come off well as an ice cream?

-Well, I think ice cream is a really fun medium for exploring flavor.

I also think it's really approachable for all types of people.

People aren't afraid to try basil or candy cap mushroom or the bacon flavor.

I kind of start from that point, and then we just start to develop.

We taste, and if we don't get it right the first time, we start again.

-Yeah, some people look at some of our flavors, and they're like, "Oh, these seem very adult," but we find that it's really the kids that get into it the most because they don't have any preconceived notions about what you can and can't put into ice cream.

We made a celery-raisin flavor, and we put it in the case, and we just wrote on the glass there that it was the mystery flavor.

So, this family comes in, and these three daughters.

One was probably three or four.

And the oldest one tastes it.

She's like, "I don't know what this is."

And the middle one's like, "It might be a vegetable."

And the little one tastes it and is like, "It's celery!"

She just knew it right away.

-She got it.

-She knows that celery is just a thing you eat.

Ice cream is another thing you eat.

-Peanut butter on there, some raisins.

She had that clear taste.

That's wonderful.

-My favorite story.

-You've made her happy.

-Yeah, we definitely get to turn some frowns or at least turn some people's days that aren't maybe going the best upside down.

-In the country of New Zealand, the Maori have a way of welcoming family and visitors through food that has nurtured a sense of kinship for close to 700 years.

And I'm helping Caroline Fitzpatrick prepare this traditional Maori feast called a hangi.

So how many people are we preparing this for?

-Right, we are preparing for 10 people.

-10, okay.

That's a decent amount, but not too overwhelming.

-No.

-How many people can you really prepare for?

-I've done 400 before.

-Wow.

-Yes.

-What does hangi mean?

-"Ha" just means "flavor," and "ngi" is the smokiness, the cooking and the smokiness.

-So it's the two together.

-The two together, hangi.

-What creates that smoky flavor?

-Being in the earth, being in the earth, having the heat and the rocks as well as the earth combined gives that hangi flavor, that smokiness through the food.

-So, is this your main roasting tray, as it were?

So everything that you're gonna cook is gonna go in here, whether it's meat or vegetables?

-Yes, because the meat's underneath here.

-Oh, look at that.

-There's meat underneath here.

-May I look?

-Yes, you may.

What you normally do is you put your down the bottom, and then your vegetables and stuffing -- this is stuffing, which is made of bread, onions, fried in butter with mixed herbs, and then we put it in the cheesecloth.

-We've got some chickens here.

We've got pork.

We've got our stuffing and vegetables.

This really is a celebratory meal.

-Yes, it is.

-How long do you think this will take to cook?

-Normally it will take about two hours to heat.

-That is amazing.

That is not a long time.

It reminds me of our tradition like cookouts, the luaus, the clam bakes.

-Yes.

-A lot of people would come together.

How it was cooked -- it wasn't just in the oven.

It was something more of the earth.

-[ Speaking Maori ] -[ Singing in Maori ] That's a lot of food for 10 people.

Gonna eat good tonight.

-One thing with us, when we do make hangis and we do feed people, we always go overboard.

It's better for people to be able to get more than their fill and they don't go away hungry.

That's us.

We eat a lot of food, obviously.

-With all the experiences we can have with food, being cooked a meal and sitting down with people is truly one of the best.

No fancy linens or fine china needed.

When people share with us their food, that is the luxury.

There's no doubt food connects us to people as well as to a place, and there's no doubt that food alone can make a destination a place to love.

-For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

"Samantha Brown's Places to Love" was made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.