Travel and food are two of life’s great pleasures. Why not combine them into a single experience?
Time Out has selected 10 great cookery schools around the world where you can combine a holiday with the opportunity to learn a new skill.
Scroll down to find out more.
Tante Marie cheese workshop, San Francisco: Baked camembert with dried fruit, gratins with fontina d’Aosta, and manchego tarts are among the mouth-watering dishes prepared during Tante Marie’s one-day cheese workshop in San Francisco. If you have more time, you can spend a sinful three days in its pastry kitchen.
Visit www.tantemarie.com for more information.
Cooking classes in a Moroccan medina: Venture off the Moroccan tourist trail to forgotten Kasbahs and old seaside medinas where village women teach you to prepare local dishes and bake traditional bread. Travel by mule between mountain routes and through valleys.
Visit www.holidayonthemenu.com for more information.
Elizabeth Andoh’s cooking workshops, Tokyo: Learn the basics of Japanese home-cooking and washoku philosophy – based on the harmony of colour, preparation and flavour in its approach to food – at Elizabeth Andoh’s cookery school in Tokyo.
Visit www.tasteofculture.com for more information.
Alpujarran cuisine with Sam Clark: For Spanish cuisine with an exotic stamp try a weekend in Mairena, a Moorish mountain village in southern Spain with chef Sam Clark, one half of the samenamed pair who are behind London’s renowned Moro restaurant. Local produce-picking and the dubious opportunity to milk a goat are included perks for adventurous guests.
Visit www.tastingplaces.com for more information.
Red Bridge Cooking School, Vietnam: Master four traditional Vietnamese dishes and go shopping for banana flowers at a local village market, on a one-day-tour with the Red Bridge Cooking School. The school is located on the banks of the Hoi An River in the city of the same name, on the south-central coast of Vietnam. Half-day tours and evening classes are also available.
Visit www.visithoian.com for more information.
Traditional Italian cookery classes, Etrusca: Flee to an Etruscan village where wild boar and wolves still roam the Tolfa Mountains north of Italy’s capital. Locals teach traditional recipes and guide visitors through wine, grappa and olive oil tastings.
Visit www.responsibletravel.com for more information.
Goan cuisine, India: Indian food-lovers bound for Goa, where the cuisine is flavoured by Portuguese colonisation – can sign up for one- to eight-day courses and trips to local spice plantations.
Visit www.onthegotours.com for more information.
Langa Cookery School, South Africa: Luxury cooking tours in South Africa take you wine, cheese and chocolate-tasting between wildlife excursions and trips to beauty spots. Master the chakalaka at the Langa Cookery School, which trains poor locals at its restaurant built from shipping containers.
Visit www.capefusion.co.za for more information.
Jerk-meat classes, Jamaica: Learn traditional Caribbean recipes at a luxury resort in Jamaica. Discover how to curry goat meat and jerk pork between rosewater facemistings on the beach and trips to the marbled, scented spa.
Visit www.royalplantation.co.uk/culinaryjourneys.cfm for more information.
Ireland’s Ballymaloe Cookery School: The Ballymaloe Cookery School used to be an apple barn. Set in rolling hills on an organic farm by the sea, no-nonsense courses vary from producing butter and yoghurt to posh canapés. Run by Ireland’s celebrity chef, Darina Allen, the centre also offers professional training.
Visit www.cookingisfun.ie for more information.
