Just five minutes from San Gimignano is a cookery class, run by Katia and her uncle Fulvio. With vineyards and the towers of San Gimignano as a backdrop, you can learn to make authentic Tuscan food in the kitchen attached to their hotel, Il Vicario.
We started with the preparation of bruschetta and panzanella (bread salad). Tearing up fresh basil and chopping up sun-ripened tomatoes instantly reignited an appreciation of Italian flavours. Next, we got stuck into hand-rolling ‘pici’ pasta, along with two sauces – tomato and cannellini bean. Finally, we prepared a chicken dish in an orange sauce to complete our lunch menu.
This is a really enjoyable format, as Katia takes you through the steps and explains Tuscan traditions, including the jaw-dropping quantities of garlic and olive oil used for each dish! The highlight is sitting down at a long table to eat, drink Chianti wine and chat with Fulvio, Katia and the other participants.
The half day class is very reasonably priced. We also recommend accommodation within walking distance, so you can ‘roll’ back in the afternoon sun.

www.ilvicario.it
Il Vicario, Sant’ Andrea, 1, 53037 San Gimignano, Italy
+39 0577941599
Google map: bit.ly/wVubmL

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Bath is my favourite British city to visit, especially in the snow. It is small enough to walk round; beautiful when the winter sun glints off the buildings; there are plenty of independent, quirky shops for loitering; and my treat veggie restaurant, Demuths, for dinner.
Demuths has its own cookery school and I treated myself to their Edible Gifts Workshop. This was the perfect combination of making it yourself and eating as you make!. We made dark chocolate, rum-truffles; white chocolate and pistachio snowflakes; then chocolate coated peppermint creams & caramelized hazelnuts. We learned to create perfect cantuccini and mince pies; a delicious chilli and persimmon jam plus an infused cranberry gin that looked lovely and tasted divine. What I don’t eat when I make it at home will be amazing homemade presents.
To sate my Christmas fetish, I also joined Demuths Christmas Cookery Course to get more imaginative with that standard and somewhat unexciting dinner. Brace yourselves parents and in-laws. We created a centre piece Moroccan style bastilla, to go with saffron roasted parsnips and griddled squash and fennel, followed by an over the top Dark Chocolate and Chestnut Roule. And we will start with that cranberry gin I have just decided not to give away this year.
It is in a listed Georgian building with gloriously distracting views of the Abbey from back windows.

www.vegetariancookeryschool.com
6 Terrace Walk, Bath, BA1 1LN
+44(0)1225427938
Google map: bit.ly/w3V80q

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We spent a fabulous afternoon with Taro and his family, learning to prepare a typical Japanese dinner. Taro responded to my online booking enquiry immediately and I was really excited about the experience. After all the temples, eating out, navigating Japanese menus, sightseeing etc it was lovely to spend a cosy afternoon in Taro's family home. We prepared a two course vegetarian lunch and were given recipes to keep. Taro has a genuine enthusiasm for Japan, cooking and meeting new people. If you are curious to know more about Japanese food and culture and want to see another side to the wonderful city of Kyoto, I highly recommend booking this class. Also, Taro's daughter is adorable and his wife is a lovely lady too.

www.vegetarian-food-kyoto.com/index.html
+81(0)90 4284 7176

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There are many options for good food in Hoi An, but at White Lotus you can enjoy your meal even more knowing your money is going to a good cause.
Since Australian Geoff Shaw set up Project Indochina eight years ago, this NGO has provided homes and medicines for the poor and installed waste and water treatment plants in schools and hospitals throughout Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
All proceeds from White Lotus go to the charity. The restaurant is also doing its bit to help break Vietnam’s poverty chain by employing and training local staff from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The restaurant is extremely clean and stylish and the food of a very high standard. Hoi An spring rolls will set you back 45,000 dong (£1.40), veggie mains 40,000 dong (£1.20) speciality mains 100,000 (£3) and pizzas 70,000 (£2.10).
Cookery courses with the head chef can also be arranged, which involve going to the local market to buy fresh produce, then returning to the restaurant by boat to prepare the food.

11 Phan Boi Chau Street, Hoi An, Vietnam
+84(0)5103501009
www.whitelotushoian.com
www.projectindochina.org

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We paid 700 Baht (£14) for a four-hour evening class from 4.30pm which is plenty of time and doubles up as your evening meal. The school is based in the centre of town and you walk to a local market to look around and learn about ingredients such as herbs and vegetables. It feels as if you are cooking in someone’s home as it is very informal and also not a modern building with immaculate surroundings so don’t expect spotless new classroom facilities but there is enough equipment to go round so you’re always involved. Our session was split into two groups of about eight students. We were given an apron but a word of warning, wear socks as you remove your shoes on entering the house and hot oil splashing out of a wok hurts when it lands on your bare feet! Health and safety is perhaps not the main priority as you are given a big knife to work with and aren’t ever told to wash your hands before handling the fresh ingredients so I just made sure to pop to the sink between courses. We each chose which four dishes to cook from the menu and my husband and I chose different options to give us a wider repertoire and more to taste although you are given a good colour cookbook with all the recipes anyway. We made starters of spring rolls and fish cakes, a soup, a stir fry and a curry including fresh paste. You each make a portion for one then return to the dining table after making each course and eat together with the group which is sociable and gives you the chance to try other dishes. Some of the prep is done in advance by the staff but you still chop vegetables and herbs and learn how to assemble each dish following step-by-step instructions from the tutor. It is easy and really just cooking-by-numbers and requires no skill or experience. The teachers are doing a job and obviously run through the same process repeatedly so it’s not a labour of love and they don’t have an obvious passion for food or desire to share more knowledge about the dishes but it is a fun activity more than a serious learning exercise. We hope the authentic ingredients are available to buy in the UK so that we can recreate the Thai meal and show off to friends and family. The food did taste delicious and the class was an enjoyable way to spend an evening.

11 Rajadamnern Rd. Soi 5, Muang Chiang Mai 50200
+66(0)81-0265644
www.cookinthai.com/
Google map: bit.ly/g3Oa6s

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If you would like a wonderful experience in learning to cook traditional Keralan style food, I recommend that you contact Nimmy Paul. I heard about her via various web searches for cookery classes before I travelled to Kochi and I saw lots of people were already praising her 'at home' cooking experiences as Nimmy has been a professional cookery teacher for over 20 years. We went as a group of three friends to Nimmy's house and she took us slowly through four different dishes, which was then followed by a wonderful meal. Nimmy and her husband welcome you into their home and could not have been more helpful. We were all given a small recipe book to take away and since coming home I've attempted about four different dishes - all wonderful!

www.nimmypaul.com/
Variamparambil, Chakalakal Road, Cochin, 682 015, Kerala, India
+91 484 2314293

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A local tour company that operates tailor made adventures around Lucca and the beautiful Garfagnana area nearby. The adventures are based around the traditional local foods of the season as well as incorporating the major sights and activities of this area in Tuscany. Families, singles and couples of all ages are welcome.

www.sapori-e-saperi.com

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It’s hands-on during the informal cooking workshop in a Bo-Kaap family home that follows a culinary walk through Cape Town's colourful Muslim quarter.

You will learn how to mix masala, fold samosas, and how to balance the delicate flavours of a Cape Malay curry. Real fun!

www.andulela.com/english/malay_cooking_workshop.html

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This wonderful restaurant and hotel is a big old house where they source the food locally with fish from Ballycotton, superb beef from Cloyne, vegetables from their own gardens and cheese from local indepedent cheesemakers. If you have the time do visit Ballymaloe Cookery School. Their cookbook is well worth buying.

Ballymaloe House and Ballymaloe Cookery School, Shanagarry, Midleton, Co Cork.
Tel: +353 (0) 21 464 6785.
www.ballymaloe.ie
Ballymaloe is about 20 miles east of Cork.

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"The Thai cafe" is what we affectionately call this treasure. Once a kitchen with communal tables in a Thai food shop, it has now moved two doors away, leaving more room for diners. The food is exquisitely fresh and beautifully presented, and the service is excellent. Watch your order cooking — the kitchen is visible from the restaurant — and learn how to cook it yourself: the chef gives lessons. A friend who moved to Spain daydreams about how her order might be flown to Granada. I dream of the hot sour soup with mushrooms, and the prawns and long beans in oyster sauce.

320 Upper Richmond Road, SW15
Tel: 020 8789 8084

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