Away with Julia Busuttil Nishimura: ‘Visiting a local market gives you an insight into a new place’
Julia Busuttil Nishimura knows food. The Melbourne-based cook and author has published four wildly popular cookbooks, including Ostro, her 2017 collection of Mediterranean-inspired seasonal dishes.
Busuttil Nishimura draws on her Maltese heritage in her recipes, as well as the time she spent living in Tuscany learning the art of Italian cooking. So it’s no surprise food is an important part of every trip abroad for the kitchen professional. The first thing she does after touching down in a new destination is seek out a local food market or, failing that, a halfway decent grocery store.
Here, she tells us why she swears by that holiday ritual, as well as sharing the story of the plate of pasta she’ll never forget.
Related: Away with Zan Rowe: ‘I cried every day in Greece, it was that beautiful’
Who makes an excellent travel companion?
An excellent travel companion is someone who is on the same page. I don’t think it matters if you have different interests, budgets or energy, you need to be sure expectations of each other are clear. Someone you can be honest with is so important.
What’s your earliest childhood holiday memory?
When I was about four, we went on a family holiday to Tasmania. It must have been winter, as it was so cold, and I remember smelling smoke from our cabin and other cabins’ wood fires. Growing up in a beachside suburb of Adelaide, [the smell] really stuck with me. I remember going on lots of walks and being in nature a lot on that holiday.
Describe your most memorable travel meal – good, bad or just surprising.
On my first trip to Italy when I was 18, I was visiting friends in Bobbio, a town in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna. They took me to a small hilltop restaurant owned by an elderly couple. Everything they cooked was made with produce they had either grown, hunted or gathered. We ate fresh pasta with sugo made from wild boar that is seared into my memory and will remain one of the most memorable meals I have ever eaten.
What’s the most relaxing place you’ve ever visited?
I feel so relaxed when I go back to Malta. Staying with family is always rejuvenating. Similarly when I stay in southern Tuscany, where I lived for a period of time, it always feels so familiar and carefree.
And the most stressful?
I love it now, but the first time I went to London I was pretty overwhelmed with how busy it was!
What is your holiday ritual?
Related: ‘Make sure it’s in season and at its best’: how to cook and eat like you’re on holiday in Tuscany
When I go on a holiday, I always have to visit the local produce market or at least seek out a good grocery store. I love food shopping, seeing how things are presented, what people are buying. The hardest part is if I don’t have a kitchen as I always want to buy lots of things to try. Visiting a local market really gives you such an insight into a new place. It’s an anchor for me.
What’s one item you always put in your suitcase?
I always put an AirTag in my suitcase. It is so helpful to know where your luggage is at all times, especially when transiting within an airport.
What’s your strategy for surviving long-haul flights?
I never drink alcohol on flights and drink plenty of water instead. I walk a lot and watch the trashiest movies I can possibly find.
What’s your biggest travel regret?
My husband still hasn’t been to Italy and Malta with me, and it’s something that now feels like an urgent trip we need to take together.
Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s latest cookbook, Good Cooking Every Day, is out now
