Gourmet on Tour Wins Saveur's 1st Annual Culinary Travel Awards for “Experts' Choice: Best Culinary Tours”

Saveur sings Gourmet on Tour's praises on its culinary tour website with this scintillating accolade. The UK-based operation Gourmet on Tour has offered these kinds of immersive, food-centric holidays since its inception in 2000, winning our admiration for its one-of-a-kind experiences. The company focuses on hands-on participation, providing over 80 unforgettable adventures in Europe, Asia, Australia, and America that give participants a true sense of culinary traditions in each country's regions. "These are people with a background in food and wine who are passionate about it, and see food and travel going hand in hand," Culinary Travel Awards panelist Kerrin Rousset says. Travellers participate in cooking classes, shop local food markets, visit boutique wineries, and create authentic dishes with both local home cooks and top chefs, returning home with indelible memories of these remarkable experiences. http://www.saveur.com/gallery/culinary-awards?page=33

Gourmet on Tour (http://www.gourmetontour.com) founder and managing director Judith von Prockl has consistently trail-blazed and raised the bar with unique food tours. She says, "It's a singular honour to receive Saveur's Culinary Travel Award-especially for their inaugural award. Our heartfelt thanks to Saveur's expert panel of world travellers and readers for recognising Gourmet On Tour's dedication in planning the most rewarding culinary travels. And thank you to all our chefs and wine guides who deliver authentic, intimate food and wine holidays in some of the world's most beautiful locations and kitchens. They really are the heart and soul of Gourmet On Tour's unforgettable culinary experiences."

The Gourmet On Tour difference lies in providing authentic culinary tours for travellers who enjoy food destinations how only locals do. Expert travel advisors select locations for their unique characteristics in crafting epicurean itineraries yet to be mentioned in guidebooks. It's "secret recipe?" The company's long-lasting relationships with local chefs, winemakers and gourmet food producers enable guests to feast like locals-redolent of a country's true culinary traditions. Hands-on cooking classes in France see Michelin star chefs sharing cooking secrets handed down from generations. In Italy, guests hunt rare white truffles. In Morocco, guests browse spice bazaars with local experts who introduce them to the city's best tagines. Invariably, who can resist exclusive closed-door wine cellar tastings generally inaccessible to the public?

About Gourmet On Tour:

Since 2000, this food, wine and cooking tour operator's cache has expanded to over 80 delectable culinary destinations. For food and travel connoisseurs, home cooks looking for luxurious yet authentic and active cooking courses and corporations seeking uncommon creative team-building culinary retreats, Gourmet on Tour has earned what it takes to win Saveur's distinctive honour; and also, the 2011 IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Award of Excellence for Culinary Tour Operator.