Fancy unleashing your inner Julia Child at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris? Or, perhaps, whipping up authentic Italian fare in a Chianti kitchen in Tuscany is more your speed? Five foodies here provide ample inspiration as they head off on a gastronomic adventure to track down the most intriguing and delectable cooking classes around the world.
Lynne Mullins
Food writer Good Living, Sydney Morning Herald
Cooking school?
BADIA A COLTIBUONO at Giaole, Chianti, Italy.
Duration?
Optional, one day or several.
Cost?
From €155 (AUD$206) per person for one day.
School specialty?
Italian food, culture and lifestyle.
Did it live up to its promise?
Absolutely. Staying in an 11th-century former Benedictine abbey with the family of chef Lorenza de Medici’s husband was an exceptional experience. Florentine chef Andrea Gagnesi conducts classes for small groups (March to November) in the family kitchen as de Medici has now retired.
What was the best part?
Harvesting fresh fruit and vegetables from the kitchen garden and the early morning trip to the exciting Florence produce markets.
Drawbacks?
None.
Were you a better cook in an exotic location?
This is best summed up with a quote from our guide: “Italy is the most wonderful country in Europe, Tuscany is the most splendid region in Italy, Chianti is the most beautiful area in Tuscany, and this part of Chianti is the best place of all.”
Have you made the dishes again?
I’ve cooked countless variations of the dishes for my radio audience and newspaper readers back home.
Would you go again?
Tomorrow! But I’d try to combine it with a visit to the historic Palio [horse race] in nearby Siena.
Sophie Cunningham
Author, editor & publisher
Cooking school?
Red Bridge Restaurant & Cooking School in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Duration?
Half-day, seven-hour and evening classes.
Cost?
$US43 (AUD$41) for seven hours.
School specialty?
Vietnamese cooking with an emphasis on Hoi An specialties.
Did it live up to its promise?
The day lived up to expectation despite, or maybe because, Hoi An was clipped by a typhoon. The early morning trip to the market was a damp but enlightening one. I found learning about the specific ingredients as important as the cooking lesson itself – and that was fantastic. The teachers were excellent. The school is set up in a beautiful location; the wild wind and rain whipped us into a cooking frenzy. The equipment provided was good and the recipes were challenging, but not impossible.
What was the best part?
The seemingly simple task of making rice noodles requires such delicacy that it’s a high art. It was a totally engrossing experience.
Drawbacks?
The visit to the organic farm was a bit of a struggle as we all stood around in our plastic ponchos blinded by wind and rain. In better weather, that side trip would have really added to the day.
Were you a better cook in an exotic location?
Yes, I think that I was. I felt more inspired and focused there.
Did you make the dishes again?
We were taught how to make four dishes: Hanoi beef and rice noodle soup, grilled chicken and banana-flower salad, lemongrass shrimp wrapped in banana leaves, and clay-pot fish with fresh dill. The beef soup was very tasty and I’ve made it many times since. I’ve also revisited the fish and dill. I really loved the grilled chicken dish, but it takes a bit of work to source banana flower, green papaya and green mango – and I haven’t made it again.
Would you go again?
Absolutely.
Christine Farmer
Publicity director HarperCollins
Cooking school?
Wilde Kitchen at La Blonderie, Benoistville in Normandy. It is hosted by irrepressible Irishwoman Sinéad Wilde [who has lived in Normandy with her French husband for 18 years]. Nearby Cap de la Hague (“the chin”) is an unspoilt coastline with surfing, sailing and horseriding. It’s everything you expect from the French countryside.
Duration?
Four days. Sinéad tailors the classes to suit your schedule. We arrived on Saturday, eating at a local restaurant that night, before a 10am start the following day to cook a Sunday lunch of aubergine timbale with goat’s cheese, cockerel Vallée d’Auge, cheese and salad, and finished with a strawberry meringue roulade.
Cost?
Our course was tailor-made, €800 (AUD$1062) per person for four nights, including accommodation and meals.
School specialty?
Sinéad teaches Normandy-style cooking with local ingredients such as cider, Calvados [an apple brandy], apples and cream. We made teurgoule, which is Norman patois for rice pudding. It is a dish traditionally made in a bread oven as it cools down after a bread-making session – French villagers would take their teurgoules to the boulanger, to be cooked all together.
Did it live up to its promise?
Yes. Sinéad makes it really fun and relaxed. She was flexible, too. One morning was so glorious that she altered the menu and we styled a picnic to take to a local beauty spot.
Drawbacks?
Too much food: four courses per meal. After the first day we learned to take smaller portions and go for a brisk country walk afterwards (well, some snoozed).
Were you a better cook in an exotic location?
It’s good to cook away from home and try new things. I would have never cooked blood sausage or snails, or tried gizzards. Sadly, “gizzard” doesn’t sound any better in French, either, but I did eat some. I’m going to spend the next six months working out how to bring some special local Norman cider into the country. It was delicious.
Have you made the dishes again?
We got everyone together on Bastille Day, July 14, to reminisce and cook our favourites again.
Would you go again?
In a heartbeat. Next time we’d stay longer and book the large two-bedroom house on-site with friends.
Pat Nourse
Deputy editor Australian Gourmet Traveller
Cooking School?
Amantaka at Amantaka resort, Luang Prabang, Laos.
Duration?
Dawn to lunch.
Cost?
Half-day $US220 (AUD$212) per couple.
School specialty?
Market-to-table, traditional Laotian food.
Did it live up to its promise?
Very much so. Sitting at the seriously pricey end of the tourism spectrum, Aman Resorts has a reputation for going the extra mile. Even against this background, though, the cooking school at Amantaka, in the ancient Lao capital of Luang Prabang, really is something else. It kicks off at daybreak with a walk through the market guided by local-born chef Anousith. After picking up supplies and breakfasting at the stalls you part ways, meeting again at the cooking school. The chef and his assistant take you through three local favourites, shredding the green papaya for salad with nothing more than a knife, and simmering pork for a curry in terracotta pots over charcoal.
What was the best part?
The whole thing is pretty extraordinary. The “school” is an open-sided hut set within the kitchen garden next to a paddy field that supplies the resort with vegetables and herbs. And the market is something else. Even if you think you’re a hardened Asian-market devotee, you’ll still be wowed by its rusticity and exotica.
Drawbacks?
It’s for guests only. On the plus side, it’s a maximum of four people per class.
Were you a better cook in an exotic location?
Maybe it has something to do with the effect that savouring the fruits of your labours on a daybed in a pagoda set on a fish pond has, but I certainly believe so.
Did you make the dishes again?
Yes. I even commandeered the Aman launch to visit the village where they made the terracotta cooking pot that lives on my stove to this day.
Would you go again?
Without a doubt. It’s one of the best-conceived and most impressive resort adventures I’ve seen.
Jane Paech
Author of A Family In Paris
Cooking school?
Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.
Duration?
I attended a handful of demonstration classes while living in Paris from 1998 to 2003. The demonstrations run for three hours. Les Petits Cordons Bleus also gives wannabe chefs between eight- and 12-years-old the opportunity to create a masterpiece under a grand chef’s guidance.
Cost?
€45 (AUD$60) per person; €166 (AUD$221) four-class package.
What is their specialty?
They teach students classic French cuisine and pastry.
Did it live up to its promise?
Oui! Classes were informative (with a translator), they were well-structured and I learned classic French culinary techniques from masters of cuisine.
What was the best part?
With an international reputation built on the excellence of its culinary education, it was thrilling just to be there. It’s one of those places a food-loving pilgrim must visit once in their lives. Oh, and the tasting at the end…
Drawbacks?
Daily demonstrations were part of the regular program followed by professional students. These are serious classes for the accomplished cook. I went with some friends, but they could be a little daunting if you went to them alone.
Were you a better cook in an exotic location?
Everything around me was new and exciting so I was constantly inspired to cook and be more experimental. I wanted to dash home and re-create classic French dishes I’d tasted in bistros, and fill my basket with beautiful seasonal produce at the markets.
Did you make the dishes again?
I have made their classic quiche Lorraine a number of times again, and salade de chèvre chaud remains one of my favourite dishes.
Would you go again?
I’m tempted by the Culinary Discovery classes for the amateur food enthusiast that are currently available. The session, In Honour of Julia Child looks intriguing. However, Paris has so much to offer. Next visit I’d like to try some other cooking schools; an informal hands-on class, with a glass of wine, at one of the smaller apartment-based schools appeals to me.
Source Qantas The Australian Way December 2011