Food, Glorious Food

In this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press, managing editor, Mike Baginski reports that Brand USA wants Canadians to get a taste of America. Literally.

In town recently to celebrate the opening of a representation office in this country, the defacto tourist board engaged in a little “culinary diplomacy” as well.

Brand USA president and CEO Chris Thompson stated, “Our goal is to bring the US to the world through food.”

Helping Thompson cook up interest in the Toronto and Montreal visits was chef Benjamin Ford, one of the contributing chefs in the Discover America Great American Food Stories guide, a collection of familiar and not-so-traditional regional recipes, ranging from simple fried chicken to chicken fried eggs and cucumber avocado soup.

“We’re so excited about the opportunity,” Ford said of the Brand USA-produced free guide, which is available in both hard copy and online at discoveramerica.com/foodstories. He noted that the 31 participating chefs were asked to include “can’t miss ingredients” in their recipes.

Thompson says Brand USA’s promotional philosophy is to tell stories and the recipe guide serves to use “culinary as a storey-telling channel” and by imploring visitors to the US to, as the guide says, “Experience the USA one dish at a time!”

For the full story, check out this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press by clicking here.