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7. Try a famous Japanese kobe beef steak

You want the real Japanese stuff: “American” kobe doesn’t count. Australian Kobe is a bit better, but frankly it doesn’t count either. The magnificence of Japanese Kobe beef is not only its flavour but also the melting, buttery texture produced by the muscles, which are well marbled with fat. A kobe steak should be cooked to about medium to make sure that the temperature of the meat is high enough to begin to melt the fat, which gives the juiciest, tastiest meat flavour.

In many restaurants in the US, Kobe has become a code word for really great and – perhaps more importantly – expensive meat that is sold to unwitting customers with deep pockets. From there sprang such hideous culinary creations as the kobe burger or kobe meatloaf. This is like searching out the best gelato in Rome, putting it in a glass and leaving it in the sun until has melted, and then drinking it, fully expecting it to have just as much flavour and texture as when it was first scooped out for you at the gelatería.

8. Eat a plate of truffe bel humeur at the restaurant l’Ambroisie in Paris

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The finest black truffles come from Périgord and are best when gently, indirectly heated, which lifts the already strong aroma into the territory of intoxication. The best example of truffles I have ever eaten is perhaps truffe bel humeur, at l’Ambroisie. My friend Julien Port said it best, “A whole truffle cut in two like a burger bun, a thick slice of foie gras inside, puff pastry around the whole thing, truffle sauce underneath. Amen.” The hottest chefs and coolest cafés of Paris

9. Eat a perfectly made risotto covered with white truffles from Alba

There’s nothing else to say about this: just perfectly made rice with fresh white truffles. If you’re on the Côte d’Azur, be sure to buy the truffles from the Truffle Don. Look him up: tell him I sent you. Otherwise, find the best white truffles you could afford. Then make a perfect risotto, and cover it with even more perfect shavings of white truffles. (Check out the risotto recipe on page 106. Just forget the part about the liquorice and other flavourings and make a plain risotto with rice, broth, and cheese.)

10. Order the Menu du Jardin at l’Arpège

No one quite has a way with vegetables the way Alain Passard does. That’s hardly surprising, considering that the “cooking” doesn’t just begin in the kitchen, but traces its roots far beyond Paris to his own farms in Brittany and Normandy, where the superlative produces were grown the old-fashioned way. On the plates at the three-michelin-star restaurant, freshly-pulled carrots are paired with an intriguing chocolate sauce made savoury with an infusion of lobster jus. The sweetest green peas float in a bowl of delicate onion broth and tart grapefruit. It’s expensive, yes, but you’re not just paying for the peas, you are paying for the whole philosophy and intricacy behind it. If that’s worth something to you, you might have the best meal of your life. If not, take a pass on this one.

11. Throw a Locavore party

The Locavores are a group of concerned culinary adventurers who make the effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 160-kilometre (100-mile) radius of their home in San Francisco. You can do the same by drawing up a list of what’s available and in season in your area. You may not think that there are very many things on offer, but I am sure you’ll be surprised once you start looking into farms and food producers in the 160-kilometre (100-mile) radius. Plan a dinner party for your friends, and make sure more than 80 per cent of the products you buy for the party are local. Print out a list of the products, and producers you bought them from, and send it home with your guests. Locavores: the new food fad

12. Hold an olive oil tasting

Don’t just buy random bottles from the shop and taste them. Do some research about olive varieties, regional styles and great producers from around the world. Get a few select bottles that are representative of distinct styles and varieties from around the world. For example, buy a bottle of arbequina olive oil from Catalonia, a bottle of taggiasca from Liguria, picual from Spain, and mission from California. Do a comparison tasting of them and find out which one you like and why. Once you find a particular variety or region you like, then you can do another tasting with different producers from that region to find one you like best.

Finally as a sort of homely bonus Techamuanvivit suggests that we learn how to cook our mum’s (or dad’s) best dish

"Even the least foodie-like mum has a dish she does superbly. Learn how to make it just the way she did. One day you’ll be thankful you did, and so will the generation after you." See Times Online's Recipe Exchange for examples of readers' family favourites

Read 38 more foodie experiences in The Foodie Handbook by Pim Techamuanvivit, published by Octopus, priced £20 and visit Chez Pim blog

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