Related Guides

Most Popular

Travel Resources

ShoulderSeason

Special Issues

Photo Galleries

Screensavers
share this article del.icio.us DIGG Facebook StumbleUpon

From Away.com

A Culinary Tours Primer


By Larry Walker

If cooking, food, and wine are important parts of your life, planning a holiday with a focus on food is a natural next step; you can eat your way through your vacation, and even sharpen your culinary skills on the road.

There are several approaches to a food-centered holiday, including cooking schools and classes, or the more passive but no less luscious tasting tours.

In the past few years an array of schools have sprung up all over the world. Whether you are an advanced amateur or someone just beginning to nibble at the edges of a passion for food, there is sure to be a place for you. Most culinary courses last a week, rarely longer, which means classes can be integrated into a longer holiday if you wish. Before booking your trip, consider some basics:

Determine Your Skill Level
Before packing your chef's coat, first give some thought to your level of skill in the kitchen. Some schools are designed to accommodate all comers regardless of talent, others are focused on beginners while others cater to advanced amateurs or professionals. If you are fairly new in the kitchen, you don't want to be trying to dice onions with someone who can do it blindfolded.

Decide on a Cuisine
Another basic is to look for a school that teaches what you are interested in cooking and eating. If you are a chilies and tequila kind of person, you don't want to sign up for a week in Provence or Tuscany.

Test Run: Local Cooking Classes
Once you are clear on the basics, the next step is to consider whether you would like classes that focus on hands-on cooking or would you rather watch a master chef or celebrity chef go through his or her paces? At this point, it might be a good idea to look around and find a local class. Many kitchen supply shops and sometimes restaurants offer cooking classes on a one-time basis. It's an excellent way to get a feeling for what happens without a major commitment in time and money.

Cooking and Wine Schools
Most cooking schools, whether hands-on or eyes only, offer a package that includes lodging, visits to food markets or producers of local specialties such as cheese, olive oil, or wine. For example, classes are often designed around an early morning visit to the market to select the ingredients for lunch or dinner, then a return to the kitchen to prepare the food and, finally, the pleasure of eating it. Classes are usually limited to eight to twelve students, which gives everyone an opportunity to take part. There is also plenty of free time built into the schedule.



Naturally, if you are interested in wine, you will want to look for a school in one of the world's great wine regions where the meals will most likely be designed to pair with the local wines. There are, in fact, wineries in California and in Europe that offer cooking classes built around their wines. Since these are promotional events for the winery, such classes are often a bargain.

Organized Food Tours
A food tour rather than an on-site cooking school is another approach for those either cleaver-shy or interested in more than one locale. Food tours, usually within a small region, are often led by food professionals, either writers or chefs.

These tours generally focus on restaurants or private homes where special meals are prepared, with or without the participation of the student. Such tours may be based in a central location with day trips, or you may move from place to place.

In any case, do find out all you can about the cooking school or tour in advance. Try to get the names of former students so you can ask about their experience. If the tour leader is a writer, get one of his or her books. You can tell a great deal about a person from a cookbook. If the leader is a chef, find out how the restaurant is regarded.

Self-Guided Tours
If you are the sort of person who rather dislikes being organized and led about, you might want to organize a self-guided tour. These can be very rewarding, especially if you already have a good knowledge of the region you are visiting.

For example, a self-guided tour might concentrate on visits to the Michelin One Star restaurants of Paris. Or you might travel to Italy during the truffle season and eat at a number of restaurants featuring truffles. Self-guided tours are more fun with at least one other person, since that gives you the opportunity for more extensive tasting.

The obvious advantages of the self-guided tour include setting your own agenda, determining your own level of spending, and having the flexibility to change the schedule should you wish. And if you speak the language, you'll find that most chefs enjoy talking about the food, especially if you can catch them at a quiet time.

The downside is that you have to do the research, arrange reservations, and take care of the day-to-day travel logistics that are done for you on an organized tour.

There are other food and travel possibilities; cruise lines often include some food classes as part of a package tour. There are even wilderness camping trips featuring food beyond freeze-dried.

The possibilities are as wide-ranging and as easy as a Chinese menu or as complicated as you'd like to make it. Whatever, "food to go" has taken on an entirely new meaning.



Larry Walker writes on food, wine, and travel from his home in Marin County, California. He has collaborated on a number of books with his wife (a chef), most recently To the Heart of Spain: Food and Wine Adventures beyond the Pyrenees.