Taipei for The Food Pilgrims: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Dried squid, mushrooms, candied winter melon and shaved smoked fish, sold in sacks from Qing shophouses; ask for a taste and pack a little for the flight home.

A tea merchant here since 1883: oolong from Pinglin and Alishan weighed on brass scales, with a tasting at the long counter; ask about the roast and how it was steeped.

Oyster omelette, fried taro-and-pork balls, braised pork rice and a bowl of fish soup, standing at counters; about eight euros fills you and still leaves room.

The famous soy-milk shop: thick salty soy milk, flaky shaobing with a fried dough stick, and a hard-boiled egg; join the queue before 08:00, it moves quickly.

The gondola climbs over hills of tea; at the top, brew your own oolong at one of the terrace tea houses and learn why tea farms here grew on a slope.

Taiwanese banquet cuisine in a prewar house: three-cup chicken, sticky rice with dried shrimp, stewed pork knuckle. Order the house set and bring a group.

The best-stocked market in town: Hunan sausage, Jiangsu-style pork, dried fish and dumplings; sample the cured meats and carry a bag of the sesame rolls out.

The style that made the city's beef noodle soup famous: tender tendon and brisket in a rich, mildly spicy broth with pickled greens. Order the half-and-half.

The biggest of them: giant fried chicken cutlets, oyster omelettes and grilled squid; eat the first at the stall with the longest line, then wander.

A working morning market under a railway span: vegetables, fresh tofu and the old women who make the pork buns; all of it is for the locals and less staged for tourists.

Watch the offering tables of fruit and cakes laid before the gods, then pick up a lucky red-turtle cake from the lane outside; the temple is the city's kitchen altar.

The famous gua bao, a soft white bun filled with fatty braised pork, pickled mustard greens, peanut powder and coriander; eat it standing in the lane before the airport.