W
here should a gourmet go for a holiday that will allow them to learn a little technique without sacrificing lazy time on the beach or by the pool? Where the food is good — no, great — and the atmosphere inviting, but there is also an opportunity to come back with a selection of dishes to wow the most jaded dinner party guest — accompanied by a casual “just a little something I picked up on my holidays…”
Hotel and cruise-ship cookery classes have a tendency to resemble the science lessons that always made me feel so dim and bored at school. A grandmother in an outdoor kitchen or a shaded veg garden is far better — especially if, over five days, you get to do other things too.
Today there is an exciting array of culinary adventures offering not only lessons in the kitchen but gastronomy from various angles. Kitchen in the Wild, for instance, offers top chefs in extraordinary settings: Jackson Boxer in Kenya or Angela Hartnett in Scotland. The London-based Spanish restaurateur José Pizarro invites guests into his Andalusia beachside villa, where they explore the area in his knowledgeable company as well as learning to cook local specialities. And then there is Mediterranean Food Journeys, with whom I went further north, to Catalonia.
