@Linda108,
As our travel experiences continue, we've found that eating local food has evolved more into consuming the locally sourced produce (and sometimes seafood, beer and wine) that we have prepared for ourselves. We eagerly go to local markets and grocery stores to see what's available. To further enhance our experience of local culture, we will also eat a few times at spots that are recommended by or we see are heavily attended by locals. These are typically casual/neighborhood restaurants, food trucks, or street vendors. The food has to be intriguing, because I am not going to eat something that I don't think is worth the experience. Fortunately, being also from California, I've had previous opportunities to eat most of the foods that I've seen in the 30 countries that I've visited (chicken feet, crickets, alligator, udon soup, pelau, menudo, boudin, pansit, paella, escargot, etc.). Usually, the memories of local foods come back home with me around my waistline, and dissipate as I return to my normal eating habits.
We have become "those" type of travelers. We want things that many hosts don't have or want to offer. In my experience, vacation rental kitchens are poorly equipped. Often the kitchen gear is sparse and of low quality. Plus, I am not going to use anything that's been opened and left in the fridge. I am no longer fashionable, and don't travel with a large selection of clothing and shoes. So, I have space in my one piece of checked luggage to carry a 12 inch everyday pan, a 9 inch chef's skillet, a traveling knife set, a spatula, a manual espresso maker, a rechargeable frother, a veggie peeler, a mini-grater, liquids/semi-solids that are more than 3 oz./100 ml., such as a 1 quart/946 ml. nut milk and 1 pint/473 ml. nut creamer, 4 oz./118 ml. avocado oil, travel size tamari/coconut aminos & mirin, and larger than travel size body wash, toothpaste, and lotion. I will also bring foods that we like, but may not want to purchase while away from home. That would include coffee, tea, dried herbs/seasonings, and baggies of oats, nuts, dates, legumes, rice, noodles.