How to travel without leaving

Have a well-curated brunch...

Of a cooking show that whisks you away,

Laura Calder's French Cooking at Home on AFC

Recipe that caught the imagination: Seared Sirloin with Blue Cheese and Cream Sauce

Thinking of doing a version using pork chop and goat cheese.

and Pasta with Crushed Pistachio and Pine Nuts

Still thinking how to localize this. 

+ of a reading material that brings you to another locale,

Article of choice: "Made in Sweden," about multiculti (yes, that's a word used in the magazine) chef Marcus Samuelsson. He and Adam Sachs took me around Stockholm, brought me to a place that serves the worst pizza but has great vibe -- noisy and fun, crowded with locals chugging beer, turned to a Champions League soccer final on TV. 

Samuelsson on finding his way back: 

"...growing up I knew very early that, to go where I wanted in life, I needed to leave this place. Now, I've traveled and I've figured out how to write a love letter to Goterborg. I'm comfortable with my Swedish side now."

Samuelsson on having always been different:

"When you're a kid you don't know how to process that off-ness. Now I'm at a point where I want to celebrate it."

Really, isn't coming home the main point of traveling, be it to yourself or, more literally, to your first point of origin? In this case, Samuelsson does both. The love letter he speaks of here is the first restaurant he's building in Göterborg after having achieved success in North America.

+ of food that seals the deal.

The day's menu: Seafood Lo Mein (bihon) and Salmon

Treat your palate to something different. 
Crucial here is preparing a meal  from a cuisine that's foreign to you (like Pad Thai or Mexican Burritos) or giving an everyday meal a different spin. In our home, bihon is usually garnished with pork & liver. This time around, it was cooked with shrimp and broccoli and then served with salmon. 

What's your version of "traveling without leaving?"