The spot that sparked Columbus to ply uncharted waters in search of another route to spice and wealth.

Until I stepped foot on Turkish soil, Istanbul had always represented one thing for me: the pivotal spot across which all spices flowed from Asia to Europe during the Middle Ages, the same spot that was closed in 1463 by the newly conquering Turks, cutting off Europe’s access to the spices they’d grown very accustomed to.

Especially the chancho en palo, boned-out pigs roasting on huge wood fires (pictured), the ceviches with their leche de tigre, the quinoa tamales in the huge quinoa pavilion, and the pork sandwiches ( sandguches there) from El Chinito and La Lucha. And in spite of headliners like Rene Redzepi from Noma, Andoni Aduriz from Mugaritz, Alex Atala from D.O.M. and Albert Adria from a host of great restaurants in Barcelona, what kept drawing my attention was the food. Great markets and restaurants notwithstanding, the most memorable part of the trip was Mistura, purportedly the largest food festival in the world with hundreds of food stalls stretching along a mile-and-a-half of beach. After eating at Central, Malabar, Astrid y Gastón, Ámaz, El Mercado, Huaca Pucllana and Maido, I imagined them being plunked down in the middle of New York City or Chicago or San Francisco.

After I arrived home from Mistura, the huge food festival in Lima, Peru, I kept asking myself the same question: Why isn’t Peru at the top of every foodie’s must-visit destination list? I mean, just think about all it has to offer: Peru has one of the most complex, varied and ancient cuisines on the planet Peruvian ingredients-from the tropical Amazonian, to the cloud-brushing Andean to the seafood-abundant coastal-are as good as you’ll find anywhere and the restaurants-from traditional to cutting-edge modern-are the equal of those in any of the world’s great food cities.

Travel in Love by Diego Christian