The Barbagiuan Pilgrimage

Barbagiuan is Monaco's national dish - and given that Monaco is two square kilometres of tax haven wedged into the Riviera, the fact it has its own food at all is half the charm. They're small fried pastries, crisp and golden, filled with a mixture of ricotta (or fresh cheese), Swiss chard, onion and sometimes rice, served as a snack, a starter or a celebration food. The filling is gentle and herby, the shell shatters when you bite it, and they're eaten everywhere from bakery counters in the Condamine market to white-tablecloth restaurants on the Rock.

The pilgrimage is partly about scale: you fly to Nice, take a 30-minute train along one of Europe's most spectacular coastal stretches, and walk into a principality so small it has exactly one signature dish. Eat a barbagiuan in Monaco-Ville, look out over the harbour where the superyachts are parked tighter than a Tesco car park, and feel the absurd contrast of eating a peasant pastry in the world's richest square mile. It's surreal, it's beautiful, and it works as a day trip.