Celebrity chef Rachel Khoo recalls her travel adventures, from Paris to Stockholm


Celebrity chef Rachel Khoo reveals her love of the Swedish tradition of eating buns at 11am – and why you should never put a business card in your back pocket in Japan

Celebrity chef Rachel Khoo checks into our travel Q&A

Celebrity chef Rachel Khoo checks into our travel Q&A

This week celebrity chef Rachel Khoo checks into our travel Q&A. 

She recalls some of her foodie adventures, plus her earliest holiday memory, most memorable trip – and more. 

EARLIEST HOLIDAY MEMORY?

My mother is Austrian so I visited her family, who live near the Swiss border, a lot as a child. We’d go walking in the mountains, pick wild blueberries and swim in the lakes.

YOUR CHILDHOOD HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHT?

Visiting the Milka chocolate factory on one of my Austrian holidays. My cousins and I went crazy in the shop there — I’ve been mad about chocolate ever since.

FAVOURITE FOREIGN CITY?

Paris, which is the city where I lived for eight years.

TOP PARIS TIP?

Go to one of the local fresh food markets (Tuesday-Sunday) such as the Marche d’Aligre in the 11th district. Get a baguette, cheese and a bottle of wine and have a picnic by the Seine.

Rachel said her favourite foreign city is Paris, where she lived for eight years

Rachel said her favourite foreign city is Paris, where she lived for eight years

WORST THING ABOUT PARIS?

The dog muck on the streets. As the French joke: ‘Do you know how to cross the road in Paris? Look left, right and then look down!’

ANYWHERE ELSE CLOSE TO YOUR HEART?

Yes, Stockholm in Sweden, where I now live — I’ve got a Swedish husband. It’s a small, green city with lots of pretty islands nearby. It’s the perfect destination for spring — and everyone speaks English, too.

STOCKHOLM FOODIE MUST-SEE?

I love the Swedish ‘fika’ tradition (having a coffee or tea and a bun at 11am or 3pm), and get my cinnamon buns from my favourite city bakery, the Lillebrors bageri. Its sourdough bread is to die for, too.

MOST MEMORABLE TRIP?

Going to Japan for the first time was an adventure. I love it that I don’t understand anything and when I walk into a shop and look at something, I think: ‘Do I eat it or do I wash with it?’

Rachel said that going to Japan for the first time was an adventure

Rachel said that going to Japan for the first time was an adventure

ANY ADVICE FOR TRAVELLERS TO JAPAN?

If someone gives you their business card, don’t put it in your back pocket, as it’s rude — it’s like sitting on that person. Put it in your handbag or backpack.

TOP TRAVEL BEAUTY TIP?

A lovely-smelling Neal’s Yard hydrating spray, which I sprinkle on my face after a long journey.

HANGOVER CURE?

Have a fry-up, or if in Japan a ramen [noodle soup] — that’ll do the trick.

DREAM DESTINATION?

To revisit all those cities I love, such as Paris and Vienna, which I haven’t been able to see for so long.

  • Rachel Khoo’s Chocolate, Mondays at 7pm on Food Network; available to stream on Discovery+.  

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