The World Is a Kitchen

Italy: Arte Culinaria

Located in the foothills of Italy’s Dolomites is the quaint village of Cison di Valmarino. This is the home of La Casa Gialla and Arte Culinaria, offering tailored, intimate culinary lessons on the cuisine of Venuto. In one week or 3-day courses, you will learn how to make local versions of antipasti, pastas, risottos, gnocchi, crespelle, sorbets, and more.

Your stay at Arte Culinaria includes accommodations, meals, and local trips. Accommodations at Casa Gialla vary, depending up on your preference. You can stay in one of their ensuite bedrooms, bring the family and stay in a self-contained apartment, or stay in a single bedroom in the main house. Meals are included in the package and are accompanied by the local wines of Venuto, Friuli and Trentino Alto-Adige. Tours are offered to such places as local vintners, Venice, the Dolomites, Treviso, the Villa Barbaro or Castel Brando, or shopping in local villages.

Upcoming Dates 2007

One-week Course - €1350
May 19th – 26th
June 9th – 16th
August 1st – 8th
September 22nd – 29th
October 9th – 16th
November 10th – 17th

Three-day Course – €720 euro
Mrch 31st – April 3rd
April 14th – 17th
April 24t – 27th
May 5th – 8th
June 2nd – 5th
July 17th – 20th
July 24th – 27th
August 11th – 14th
August 18th – 21st
September 15th – 18th
October 2nd – 5th
October 20th – 23rd
November 27th – 30th

Want Something a Bit Different?

So, you’ve been focusing on food when you travel, you subscribe to all the usual culinary magazines (and probably of few of the offbeat, as well), and you regularly devour food and/or travel blogs—how about taking a trip and learning to write about food?

Diane Jacob, a food and wine writer, writing coach, and author of Will Write for Food, is offering a one-week course to Southern France. This writing workshop will be held at Latitude, a nonprofit cultural center in the Lot Valley, where Diane will show you how food affects memory, place and identity, and will help you make your stories come alive on the page. In addition, you will visit an outdoor market and have free time to explore the local scenery, including wineries and medieval villages. And of course, great food will be served during your stay, including local favorites of cassoulet and Coq au Vin.

When: June 9-16, 2007
Cost: $1250 and up, depending on accommodations (airfare not included)
Limit: 12 participants

Culinary Travel Heats Up!

Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) gave those of us interested in culinary tourism a big Valentine’s gift this year: the results of its first-ever comprehensive culinary travel survey. The results, not surprising to those of us in the know, and those of you trying to book culinary tours and classes here and abroad, are that this is a booming segment of travel that is continuing to grow.

Defining culinary activities as cooking classes, dining out for a unique and memorable experience, visiting farmers markets, gourmet food shopping, attending food festivals, participating in winery tours, driving a wine trail, tasting locally made wines, and attending wine festivals, the statistics show that of 27 million American leisure travelers, 17% have participated in a wine or food-related trip in the past three years and that 60% have the intention of such a trip in the near future. That’s a mouthful, no pun intended. While many of these activities are not the focus of many a travelers vacation, but a secondary by-product of the region they are visiting, the report also talks about the “serious” culinary traveler. If you are reading this, then you are probably in that category.

The serious culinary traveler seeks out these experiences when planning their travel, rather than have it be serendipitous. And they are more likely to immerse themselves in their surroundings, by visiting local parks and museums and places of historical significance, in addition to the culinary side of their destination. Many of the culinary tours I have written about on this blog in the 6 months we have been up and running, are tapped into this idea and offer tours that are well-rounded, but with a definite culinary bent.

What this all means for you? That you will begin to have more competition for spots on culinary tours, in classes and in schools. But the market is gearing up to meet the demand and new opportunities are arriving each week. So keep your eyes peeled, and make sure you take advantage of our archives and our resources when booking your next tour. (Oh, and don’t forget to read our book, The World Is a Kitchen, for ideas!)

La Villa Bonita School of Mexican Cuisine

Thinking about a Mexican Culinary Vacation? Chef Ana Garcia, chef and owner of the restaurant Reposado, operates La Villa Bonita School of Mexican Cuisine in Cuernavaca and offers several different packages that allow hands-on cooking instruction, as well as culinary and cultural tours in the area. Held in a historic 16th-centurymansion, Chef Ana focuses on giving students “a full working knowledge of how to prepare traditional and nouvelle Mexican dishes, salsas, and condiments and drinks from the simple to the complicated.” In addition, outings to the local mercados, Xochicalco or Teohtiuacan, the Palacio de Hernan Cortes, Borda Botanical Gardens and the Brady Museum of Art.

Classes are held every week of every month, so there is no excuse not to try it out.

Special Options:

• Vegan and vegetarian programs
• Culinary Profressional weeks
• Classes can be held in English, Spanish or French

Seven-night packages are offered, which include lodging, breakfast and lunch, four days of cooking instruction, two days of cultural and culinary field trips, and transportation to and from the Mexico City airport (45 minutes away). Also available are four-night packages with an abbreviated itinerary.

Rates:
$1,550 per person, double occupancy for 7-night packages
$1150 per person, double occupancy for 4-night packages
Single occupancy prices also available

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Only 13 days until the start of Mardi Gras. Thinking about heading over to the Big Easy for a bit of reverie and fun? Why not include a cooking class or two to supplement your visit? There is a variety of courses and tours available to you.

Viator, an online resource for travel experiences, offers The Southern Comfort Cocktail Tour, starting at $23.00 as travelers learn the history of Pimm's Cup, the Hurricane, and see where Southern Comfort was created in 1874. The art of cooking Jambalaya is the souvenir visitors bring home after taking the New Orleans Cooking Class, starting at $28.00. Experts in Creole/Cajun fare teach local specialties including Gumbo, Jambalaya and the ever-so-yummy local treat, Pralines. Dinner at the Court of Two Sisters Restaurant, starting at $53.00, allows travelers to savor the local history associated with 150 years of Creole cuisine.


As for cooking schools and classes, there is:

Cooking Cajun
Located in the Riverwalk Marketplace in New Orleans, this school has over 15,000 students per year.

Louisiana School of Cooking
Run by Chef Patrick Mould, this school focuses on regional cuisine and also offers online cooking classes.

Mardi Gras School of Cooking
Offers guest houses along with classes on authentic Creole and Cajun cuisine.

New Orleans Cooking Experience
 is all about authentic Creole and Cajun cuisine taught in an 18th-century plantation house that also serves as a B&B. This school has a nice write-up here on The World is a Kitchen.

If you go, have a beignet at Cafe du Monde for me!

Amalfi Life - Cooking on the Amalfi Coast

Among the many services that Amalfi Life offers is a culinary tour, titled "Traditional Food, Wine & Culture on Italy’s Amalfi Coast." The tour leader is Amalfi native and local gastronome Giocondo Cavaliere, formerly the marketing director or the 5-star Hotel Santa Caterina in Amalfi. This 8-day adventure includes a cooking class inthe new state-of-the-art kitchen of the Hotel Luna Convento, and excursion to the wine region of Avellino for private vineyard visits and tastings, a nature cruise along the gorgeous coastline, a trip to Naples to visit its historic center and to have an authentic pizza, and more.

Slated to be offered four times in the coming year, the dates as scheduled are:
April 12-20
May 24-June 3
Oct 4 -12
Nov 3-10

Cost: $3625, per person, double occupancy, which includes ground transportation from Naples, all meals, wine and beverages, accommodations, entrance fees, guides, and gratuities. Airfare is not included. For full information, see their complete policy.

A small visual treat of handmade gnocchi to tempt you:

Tour Itinerary:

Ritz Carlton Cancun – New Culinary Center

You may have noticed a trend lately in our culinary school and class listings focusing on areas that have endured particular hardships. I have written several times about New Orleans, and recently promoted Bali a well. Next up, Cancun. This popular resort destination suffered a massive hurricane, a category 4 storm in the name of Wilma, which caused an estimated $2 billion dollars in damage. That’s one big storm. But all is well, and Cancun is up and running full steam in all its warm beach glory.

In the wake of rebuilding, some hoteliers chose to enhance their properties with new enticements to bring travelers back to the area. One such property, which may be of interest to you, is the Ritz Carlton Cancun. This high-end hotel which has 365 rooms and a 1,200-foot stretch of beach to lounge around on, opened a new culinary center recently, to the tune of $500,000. The facility, overlooking the Caribbean, introduces guests to Mexican cuisine, as well as local wines and tequilas. Twelve different two-hour, themed culinary sessions are offered each week, preparing 3 to 5 recipes per class. There is a 14-person maximum per class, to allow for individual attention. Classes include: Real Mexican, Caribbean Carnival, Taste History, Extreme Cooking, and more. For those who don’t want care to become more knowledgeable in the kitchen, they also offer a class on beverage culture focusing on wine or tequila. Each class offers 6 sample tastings, as well as history and information on local producers. Here are some photos of their brand new, gorgeous facility, along with the outdoor venue where the Best of Barbecue Class is held.

Culinary classes are $95/person, while beverage classes cost $55/person.

For a complete listing of classes and programs, go here.

My Mexican Home Cooking School

I was recently made aware of Dona Estela Silva's Mexican Home Cooking School at Casa Carmelita in Tlaxcala, Mexico by friend Andrew Dean Nystrom. Andrew is an award-winning author, editor, and photographer, who has worked on a number of Lonely Planet guidebooks, writes a syndicated column, “Travels with Lonely Planet,” which appears in such newspapers as Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, and San Francisco Chronicle, as well as being a contributor to several travel anthologies (oh, and he is a heck of nice guy, too).

Andrew recently wrote a wonderful article, “Culinary Immersion Course Astounds,” which appeared in The Oregonian, among other places. This syndicated article made me so hungry talking about cinnamon-infused almond chicken, cactus-paddle salad, and wild mushroom soup garnished with chilies and squash blossoms, that I spent yesterday making tamales to compensate for not being able to wing down to Mexico and partake in a class myself, as Andrew had been fortunate enough to do.

My Mexican Home Cooking School is both a culinary school and a Mexican vacation. Run by Chef Dona Estela, the school is located in a rural area outside of Tlaxcala, overlooking green hills and a freshwater lake. Easy to get to, but out of the hustle and bustle of the capital city, this school concentrates on classic Mexican cooking, including the influences that infuse it.

Courses are taught for four hours a day, over the course of a week and are definitely hands-on. Participation is limited to 6 students to achieve a more personal tutelage by Dona Estela. Classes are bilingual, and can be adapted for vegetarians. In addition to daily instruction at the school, there are forays to the market. The school will also arrange guided excursions to local food manufacturers, artisan shops, and archaeological ruins, per each student’s interest. Tuition for the seven-day, six-night program, including meals, drinks and on-site B&B accommodation with fireplace and private bathroom, is $1,200 a person, extra for excursions.

A wholehearted recommendation by Andrew is all that is necessary for me to alert you to this gem. He writes, “By the end of our altogether illuminating and satisfying week, we realized that the curriculum had taught us much more than salsas and soups: It felt more like a cultural-immersion academy, with a dash of delicious down-home cooking thrown in for good measure.” So what are you waiting for?

For reservations: telephone or fax 011-52-246-46-809-78, or e-mail MexicanHomeCooking@yahoo.com

Ginja Cook in Phuket, Thailand

The new J.W. Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa located on Mai Khao Beach on Thailand's paradise island of Phuket, offers not only a relaxing environment, but is now the home to Ginja Cook, a contemporary teaching kitchen offering daily hands-on courses on the intricacies and history of Thai cooking.

The school, while quite modern in most respects, also pays homage to traditional Thai design by incorporating aspects of a Thai Sala. Full of light, the teaching areas overlook the beautiful gardens of the resort, as well as the shining blue Andaman Sea. There are four cooking stations, and classes are limited to a maximum of eight people, which allows for more individual instruction and tutelage.

Courses are available Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Classes include breakfast, a visit to a local Thai marketplace to learn about and purchase ingredients, instruction and hands-on cooking, followed by a sit-down meal of your preparation with your fellow apprentice chefs. You will also receive a cookbooks, spice kit, apron and certificate.

Each day brings a different menu at the cooking school, so you may want to attend more than one!

Monday: Lunch Favorites
Tuesday: Dinner Favorites
Wednesday: Chef's Favorites
Thursday: Ginja Signatures
Friday: Thai Greats
Saturday: Three Flavors

The fee for the full class is $150. A bonus of this program is that children 10-15 can participate, which is a rare accommodation in cooking schools around the world. The fee for the junior culinary class is $75. Reservations are required.

Destination: Bali

This time of year, most of us get to hankering for some warm weather. We are tired of the cold, the wind, the frost, the rain, the snow. We are suffering from SDD (sun deprivation disorder) and we need a good dose of sunshine to cure all that ails us. For many in the U.S. that means a quick trip to Mexico or Baja or maybe the Caribbean. But how about giving Bali a go? Tourism has been down the last several years due to some nasty people with bombs, and tourism in Indonesia overall is down due to the natural disasters which have befallen the area. So, much like I have encouraged you to get on down to New Orleans to boost the economy and enjoy a truly wonderful place, I am encouraging you to pack your bags and hop on a plane to Bali. And while you are there, head on over to the Four Seasons Resort, Jimbaran Bay and attend a class at their cooking school.

The school, open 5 days a week, offers English-only classes for both the novice and experienced cook. Staffed by professional chefs, the classes run three hours (10 am to 1 pm) and have a maximum of 10 participants. (You do not have to be a guest at the resort to attend the class.) A state-of-the-art kitchen with specialty equipment allows you to work in various cooking styles and you get to enjoy your meal with fellow students once the class is complete. You can choose from Balinese Cuisine, Spa Cuisine, or Asian Cuisine. Some classes include a market tour. Prices vary.

Don’t forget to send me a postcard!