I never travel without ...
A notebook and a camera. I take pictures of the food that I eat, steal menus and talk to locals about their recipes. I love finding regional specialities. I'm in northern Spain at the moment and I found this area that has lots of recipes for pigs' ears. There is one village where their black pudding recipe uses maize flour because the conquistadors brought maize back from the Americas. I love finding that history in local food.
My top travel tip is ...
Get into the area you're visiting. I avoid areas full of tourists at all costs and talk to the locals relentlessly. I'll talk to people and find out where they think it is good to eat.
When I'm travelling I miss ...
My kitchen. I spend a lot of time in it when I'm at home. I believe it's the heart of the home and there's nothing better than bringing in friends and feeding them.
My ideal travel companion is ...
Anyone with a spirit of adventure who enjoys exploring. I've also done masses of travelling alone, particularly through South America. Travelling alone means it's often easier to find out about local food and meet people, but when you sit down in a restaurant it's more fun to have someone there with you, mainly because you can order more food!
My idea of paradise is ...
Somewhere with sunshine and water. I absolutely love swimming in rivers and the sea. I also love doing things, rather than simply sitting around on a beach; last week I fished for octopus and cooked it. Mexico also holds my heart. It's such a varied country.
I always bring back ...
Trinkets to decorate my house such as rugs and throws - and of course cookbooks.
My most memorable meal was in ...
Northern Spain, recently. I sat on a rock by the sea with a friend, drinking the local wine and fishing for gooseneck barnacles, which we just boiled and ate on the rocks as the sun streamed down. They were wonderfully fresh, so simple. I love eating out wherever I go. There's a restaurant in Mexico called El Cardonal, which I also love. They serve 'escamoles' - ants' eggs - and all the regional dishes done so beautifully. I had an incredible four-hour lunch there and thought I would burst!
The best beach I've ever seen was ...
Tulum in Mexico. It has incredible, vast white sandy beaches with crystal-clear blue water.
I've always wanted to visit ...
Thailand and India for the food. In India I'm particularly keen to visit Kerala. In Thailand I'd love to spend time learning to cook with all those incredible flavours. It's a whole new set of cooking rules.
The strangest thing I've ever eaten abroad was ...
Camel's paw. I have to try everything. It's a point of honour. I didn't really like camel's paw though, which I tried in a Chinese restaurant, but I wasn't feeling well anyway.
· Thomasina Miers presents The Wild Gourmets on Channel 4, Tuesdays at 8.30pm.
