Mark and I love to cook. We always try to attend cooking classes when we are in a new country or city. Despite the fact that we consider ourselves to be fairly accomplished home cooks, we always learn something new. It might be an ingredient we have never seen before or a new way of cooking food we are very familiar with. Invariably, we learn about so much more than the cuisine. Food is so bound up with the culture and history of a place. We usually come away from a class with a greater understanding of the destination we are in. We’ve made some lifelong friends along the way, too. Taking a cooking class is definitely one of our favourite things to do when we travel.
I have asked some of my blogging friends to write about a cooking class they have attended. This article is a round-up of the best cooking classes from around the world.
In this article
Bear on Bike Cooking Class, Barcelona
The communication with Alberto before the day was faultless. There was no mistaking him when we turned up at La Boqueria, Barcelona’s oldest fresh produce market. He was the one with the bunches of fresh herbs sticking out of his backpack!
We shopped together for ingredients, picking up loads of great tips along the way. Later, we went back to Alberto’s kitchen in the Raval district and, with a pause to enjoy a tasting board of local goats cheese, aged ham, olives, quince jelly and warm fresh bread, cooked an amazing meal which started with gazpacho. Who knew to sweeten it with watermelon? Incredible! The fish course was sardines with Hasselback potatoes, salad, hot sherry vinegar dressing, and basil mayonnaise. For mains, we had filet mignon (the only time I have ever cooked sous-vide) with parsnip cream. Everything was absolutely delicious!
The whole day was so enjoyable. We laughed and swapped travel stories (many involving food!). We drank sublime wine and ate food that we would never have thought to prepare at home. What’s not to love?
Georgian Cooking Class, Tbilisi
Recommended by Maggie from The World Was Here First.
One of the best things about visiting Tbilisi (or Georgia in general) is the incredible cuisine the city has to offer. However, if you want to learn how to make some iconic Georgian dishes yourself once you return home, then make sure to take a class at Chakandrila Cooking School.
A family-run cooking school located in the Vera neighbourhood in central Tbilisi, they offer bespoke, small classes teaching you how to make Georgian delicacies while showcasing the country’s famous hospitality. Classes are incredibly affordable for what you get. They range from 60 GEL (about $18 USD) for a 2-hour class where you learn to make khachapuri adjaruli, a cheese and egg-filled bread, and khinkali, meat-filled dumplings, to 100 GEL (about $30 USD) to learn how to make an entire Georgian feast. With customised classes and one-on-one instruction, this is truly one of the best things to do in Tbilisi.
Run by an incredibly friendly husband and wife duo, they expertly run you through how to make any number of traditional Georgian dishes while also giving you a complimentary glass of homemade wine. It is a truly intimate environment and one where you can learn about Georgian cuisine while having a lot of fun.
All in all, if you’re looking for an affordable and authentic cooking experience in Georgia, please don’t hesitate to take a class at Chakandrila in Tbilisi!
Sauce at the Langham Hotel, London
Recommended by Victoria Philpott from DayOutinEngland.com.
Clock Kitchen’s Cooking Classes, Marrakech
We loved our day at Clock Kitchen in Marrakech, booked through Cookly. Mark and I were joined by just one other couple for our cooking class so it felt like a private lesson. The first task was to choose which dishes we wanted to learn how to cook from a pretty extensive menu. We came to a consensus and then went shopping for ingredients in the nearby souk. It was so interesting to see how and where the locals shop.
The dishes we chose were:
Taktouka – a warm salad of peppers and tomatoes
Harira – a traditional hearty Moroccan soup
Tangia – lamb with preserved lemons traditionally cooked in a clay pot in the hamman, but which we were going to cook in a pressure cooker
Vegetable Tagine
Caramelised Prunes and Apricots
Blighat b t’mer – date and pastry rolls
Back in the kitchen, we were shown how to prepare each recipe by chef Abdelmoula. His entertaining translator, Mounia, kept us laughing all day!
When we had finished cooking, we got to enjoy the meal on the pretty roof terrace. There was far too much food! We all got to take a bag of date pastries home with us.
Priced at just US$64 each, I felt that the class was excellent value for money. It was a real highlight of our trip around Morocco!
Lima Gourmet Company Cooking Class
Recommended by Lindsey Puls of Have Clothes, Will Travel
If you only have time to do one thing while in Lima, Peru, I highly recommend taking a Cooking Class & Food Tour with Lima Gourmet Company.
The cooking class itself is a small group experience (I had less than 20 people in my class) and is 1 hour long. It costs $40. If you would like to pair this cooking class with a food tour of Lima (like I did) this will take a total of 5 hours and cost $135.
This Peruvian cooking class teaches you how to make the most famous dish in Peru – Ceviche! You also learn how to make the national cocktail – a Pisco Sour. The instructor lets you sample different variations of Pisco before you prepare your own cocktail.
My guide and the chef were both incredibly fun and easy to follow. I am a terrible cook and bartender, but both my Pisco Sour and Ceviche were delicious, thanks to their guidance. This cooking class was one of the highlights of my 10-day trip to Peru!
The only downfall to this cooking class is that it is on the pricier side (at least compared to many of the other tours I experienced while in Peru). I did feel they were justified in charging this price, though, as all of the ingredients used were top notch and very fresh. The instructors and chef really made this a memorable experience as well.
A Cooking Class in Antigua, Guatemala
Recommended by Joanna Davis of The World in My Pocket.
One of the most interesting cooking classes I attended during my travels was in Antigua, Guatemala. The cooking class took the entire afternoon and included a visit to the market and a stroll around town as well. I booked with El Frijol Feliz, but because I was the only customer, they sent me to their collaborators, La Tortilla cooking school. I enjoyed that the class was kept small, with just five of us learning how to cook Guatemalan food.
On the menu, we had pepian – the national dish of Guatemala, tortitas de papa, chilaquilas de Güisquil, tortillas, atoll blanco and rellenitos de plátano. Pepian is a fragrant spiced chicken stew, a fusion recipe between Mayan and Spanish cuisine. Chilaquilas de Güisquil was my favourite dish, slices of chayote (a vegetable from the zucchini family) filled with fresh cheese and then fried. The tortitas de papas are mashed potato patties mixed with onions and parsley fried in milk and chicken consomme. For dessert, rellenitos de plátano are small round plantain balls with a chocolate and refried beans filling, served with hot chocolate on top.
I liked that this cooking class was hands-on, and all of us got to do everything, from chopping the vegetables to flipping the tortillas on the stove. At the end, we got to eat this entire feast, together with wine, which was included in the price.
The cost of this cooking class in Antigua is 50$ and it is well worth it. After my return from Guatemala, I did make the pepian at home and it came out really well.
The Original Taste of Hoi An, Vietnam
Recommended by Jordan Adkins of Inspired by Maps.
I don’t make this assertion lightly, but The Original Taste Of Hoi An is one of the best cooking classes I have ever been to. Administered by Teacher Neville in Hoi An, Vietnam, this cooking class has a level of enthusiasm, community involvement, professionalism, expertise, and entertainment I have never encountered before (or since).
A day with The Original Taste Of Hoi An is broken into two parts. The first part is more of a food tour where you traverse the local markets, street-side stalls, and small eateries of Hoi An. Then, you head to Neville’s custom-designed cooking school workshop. This is where he and his crew help you recreate many of the dishes while stuffing you with as much information and food as possible.
I loved how they described Vietnamese culture through its food, and how I got to sample 45-50 different Vietnamese dishes in just a few hours! Another extraordinary thing is their dedication to social responsibility within the community. The cost of your experience immediately benefits over 40 people, many of whom you will meet on the tour. The cooking school menu is always evolving, but we learned to make pho, spring rolls, Bánh mì, and egg coffee. Delicious!
The Original Taste Of Hoi An experience lasts around 5 hours and costs VND1,600,000 (about US$70) per person. A premium price to be sure, but this is very much a case of you get what you pay for.
Making Ramen in Kyoto, Japan
Recommended by Alyse Madeline of The Invisible Tourist.
Did you know the Kansai region is nicknamed the “Kitchen of Japan”? For this reason, I couldn’t pass up the chance of taking a cooking class in Kyoto using fresh local ingredients! As the only restaurant in the city where you can cook your own ramen from scratch, Ramen Factory is the perfect place to learn how to create this authentic Japanese dish.
Tang Kin Cooking Classes in Vientiane, Laos
Recommended by Marie Moncrieff of A Life Without Borders.
For those wanting to get off-the-beaten-path and immerse themselves in traditional Lao culture, a cooking class is one of the best things to do in Vientiane. Discover how Lao culture is intertwined with its food by getting hands-on at Tang Kin, a home-based Lao cooking class in the Lao capital of Vientiane.
Costing around 250,000 kip (US$28) per person, a cooking class at Tang Kin includes all ingredients and instructions from English-speaking staff to make three main dishes and one dessert. Plus, all classes include a lesson on steaming Lao sticky rice in a bamboo basket, the traditional way.
Classes are relaxed and informal, lasting around three hours. Hosted by Vientiane local, Nok, the classes are run out of her family kitchen, located adjacent to the house on a beautiful shaded terrace.
Only two to six people attend each class, meaning you actually get to take part in everything from slicing vegetables and pounding spices to flipping the sticky rice! The only downside is that cooking in Vientiane’s hot weather necessitated a few breaks in front of the spinning fan.
I decided to cook khao piak sen, a traditional Lao chicken noodle soup, where the rice-and-tapioca noodles are prepared from scratch by hand, as well as jeaw mak keur (eggplant dip) and kao sang ka ya (Lao coconut custard).
The whole experience was interesting, fun and informative, with plenty of explanations about Lao culture and food along the way.
Milagro Tamayo’s Cooking Class, Cuba
Recommended by Ayngelina Brogan of Bacon is Magic.
If you take a Cuba tour, that doesn’t mean you miss out on this opportunity. In fact, quite the opposite, as a guide can arrange for more activities during your free time.
Milagro Tamayo’s cooking school is in Trinidad. It is in her house, which is also a casa particular where you can rent rooms. Many people are unaware that this unique experience exists in Trinidad.
It’s a three hour class for $30 in the heart of the city. You are greeted at the house and offered one of the oldest Cuban drinks, a canchanchara, a delicious blend of rum, honey, soda water, lime juice and ice.
Then you sit down and discuss what you will be making. As I was the only person in the class I requested a few dishes to learn how to cook – fufu, ropa vieja, and flan. We cooked all three as well as a couple of bonus dishes.
A Pasta Making Class in Rome
Recommended by Anda Bartos of Travel for a While.
Taking a pasta class was definitely on my things-to-do list for my dream week in Rome. However, I didn’t actually book any class until getting to Rome. Looking for a class, I found one that focused on making pasta from scratch, plus a Tiramisu dessert. Of course, I couldn’t resist.
I booked for the same day and paid the 54€. The class was held in a restaurant close to the Spanish Steps and took about an hour and a half, plus the time to enjoy the results of our work. It was perfect for me, as I didn’t want to lose an entire day of my precious time in Rome.
I arrived at the restaurant about 10 minutes before the class started. We were invited to a separate area of the restaurant, prepared for the classes. We were 8 people taking the course and we had a fun Italian chef.
The class started with the Tiramisu, which was surprisingly easy to prepare. We started on the fresh pasta as the Tiramisu went into the fridge. Each of us made a serving of pasta from flour and 1 egg. We learned how to make the dough, how to stretch the pasta, and how to cut it.
Then, we labelled our pasta and each of us chose a preferred sauce. We sat at a table with a glass of wine while the restaurant’s kitchen staff prepared our pasta. When it was ready, we savoured the pasta dish and our own Tiramisu as well.
A Cooking Class in Luang Prabang, Laos
Recommended by Roshni Patel of The Wanderlust Within.
Bangkok Cooking Class
Recommended by Caroline Keyzor of CK Travels.
There are many cooking classes on offer throughout Thailand’s capital city Bangkok. We recommend booking ‘Thai cooking with a twist’ through a company called ‘The Market Experience’.
What makes this class special is that it takes place inside the famous 24-hour flower market which is one of the biggest flower markets in the world, and the biggest fruit and vegetable market in Bangkok. The class runs every day from 9am to 1pm with a maximum of 8 people. The price is 2000 Thai baht (about US$63) per person and the dishes can be amended so that they are suitable for vegetarians.
The cooking class starts with a colourful tour around the market to learn about many interesting local ingredients. This is followed by a fun lesson where you learn how to prepare four classic Thai dishes including snacks and desserts. Some of the popular dishes we cooked included Thai Curry (you get to pound your own curry paste using a traditional mortar and pestle!) and Pad Thai (using a butterfly pea blue dye to give it a ‘twist’)! Because the group sizes are small you get a truly wonderful experience with as much or as little help as you require.
At the end of the class, you get to sit down and enjoy all the delicious dishes you have created – a great experience for foodies and fans of Thai food!
Cooking class in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Grandmas’s Cooking School, Chiang Mai
Recommended by Heather Raulerson of Raulerson Girls Travel.
Taking cooking classes around the world is a great way to understand local food traditions and get in-depth knowledge on how to make those same dishes at home. I scheduled one with Grandma’s Cooking School while I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The class fee is US$40, and the cooking class lasts a half-day. The class includes a tour through a local market to see how to choose the ingredients that do not grow on the school’s organic farm.
When we arrived at Grandma’s Village Farm, we were given a tour of their farm and walked among their gardens where they grow tomatoes, squash, edible flowers, and chilli peppers. They even had chickens and roosters. It was fascinating to see where the ingredients came from for the dishes we were going to make that day.
The Thai dishes we were making in the cooking class were Hot and Sour Soup, Khao Soi, and Pad Thai. All the ingredients were already measured and set up for us before we started each dish. I loved this part of the class since the preparation work is my least favourite part of cooking. The instructor walked us through each dish, and then we got to cook. Each dish had different options for proteins or vegetarian and spiciness levels.
The small class has about six students, and at the end of the class, you sit down with all the dishes and everyone shares. Make sure to bring your appetite because there is so much delicious Thai food to devour.
Lanka Cooking Class, Ella, Sri Lanka
Recommended by Lora Pope of Explore with Lora.
Sri Lanka has some of the most delicious flavours I’ve encountered abroad. I knew I had to take a cooking class while there to learn how to bring them home with me! It turns out, taking a cooking class is one of the best things to do in Ella, Sri Lanka.
There are several restaurants in Ella that offer cooking classes but it’s a popular thing to do, so it’s a good idea to book in advance. We hadn’t done this and had trouble finding availability, but luckily Lanka Cooking Class agreed to put on a private cooking class for seven of us.
During the class, we made four different types of Sri Lankan curries as well as roti. The teacher was fun and engaging, getting us all involved in the preparation while clearly explaining the cooking process. He also provided us with a pen and paper so we could make notes to take home.
The best part of the class was sitting down afterwards to eat together. It was one of the tastiest meals I had in Sri Lanka. There was so much food that we couldn’t even finish it all! It was so nice to talk more with the teacher and learn about local life in Sri Lanka. If you’re looking for a nice evening out in Ella, taking a cooking class is a perfect option.
Cooking Stuffed Vegetables in Crete
Recommended by Mansoureh Farahani of Travel with Mansoureh
Crete, the largest island in Greece, is known as a heaven for food lovers. You can’t go to Crete and not take at least one cooking class. Most of the cooking classes in Crete are taught by locals in small villages.
The Stuffed Vegetable Cooking Class is part of an 11-hour tour costing €149 per person. When we were in Rethymno in Crete, we took this tour with Urban Adventures to explore the Cretan culture and visit some historical sites and hidden gems. The tour is usually for around 6 people.
For our lunch, we went to a local restaurant in a remote village, where we took a cooking class. The chef, who was a local woman, taught us how to cook the popular Cretan dish Yemista which is stuffed peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, and other vegetables.
In the class, we all participated in making the vegetables ready for our base. We worked as a team and this made it more interesting. We used local ingredients and Cretan olive oil from the olive farms nearby. The whole process of preparing the dish took around one hour. When the stuffed vegetables went into a preheated oven at 180 °C for two hours, we were served some that had been prepared earlier. We ate what other students cooked and other students would eat what we had prepared later.
Watch Mansoureh’s video of her day out with Urban Adventures.
Japanese Cooking Class
Recommended by Wendy Werneth of The Nomadic Vegan.
One of my fondest memories from my month-long trip across Japan is taking a cooking class in a Japanese home in Kamakura. I booked the class through airKitchen, which is a platform that enables people to open their homes to foreign visitors and share their local cuisine. Our host was a lovely woman named Naoko and her 88-year-old mother!
It was a private class for just me and my husband, so we had plenty of time to chat with our hosts and ask them lots of questions. Even though I’m a foodie, I don’t really enjoy cooking that much, so the best part for me was being able to visit a Japanese home and learn more about the culture and the cuisine. Naoko chose the theme of ofukuro no aji for our class, which is the home cooking that mothers across Japan prepare for their families.
We cooked a variety of dishes featuring local vegetables. My favourite was the misozuke tofu, covered in a sweetened miso paste. At our request, all of the dishes were vegan. Our hosts showed us how to prepare dashi (stock) with kombu seaweed to replace the fish dashi that is often used in Japanese cooking.
The class cost 4500 yen (about US$42) per person and lasted for about three hours. Considering all the delicious food we ate and the local insights we gained about Japan, I’d say it was very good value.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wendy attended a cooking class in person. You can also book a wide range of online cooking classes through airKitchen. From learning how to prepare ramen noodles from scratch to making sushi rolls, to cooking carbonara with an Italian chef, to learning about Polish dumplings, there really is something for everyone! Check out the options here.
Pizza and Gelato Making in Florence, Italy
Recommended by Lee and Stacey of One Trip at a Time.
Anyone who’s been to Italy and had a pizza knows how good they are. But do you know they taste even better if you attend a class that teaches you how to make them yourself? Attending a pizza and gelato making course in Florence for three hours with a maximum of two dozen other people is a great way to spend an evening in this amazing city.
The class teaches you everything about making a pizza, starting with the mound of flour on your table when you arrive, kneading and resting the dough, and adding your choice of toppings before they take it away to be baked. The best part is when it arrives back at your table for you to eat fresh out of the oven.
Whilst the pizza is baking, you are shown how gelato is made. You don’t get to try making this yourself; they just show you the steps. But you do get to try the finished product as a dessert after you’ve eaten your pizza!
The whole class was really well run and great fun. The chefs were attentive and helped ensure you ended up with something that was not just edible, but absolutely delicious. For just over €70 you enjoy a great night of learning, eat a pizza you made yourself, and you get to take home a recipe booklet so you can continue using your skills once you return home.
Cooking Class in Sucre, Bolivia
Recommended by Danielle Mondus of Rambling Companion
After devouring several Papa Rellenas in Bolivia, I decided that it was imperative to learn how to make them. Luckily, La Boca Del Sapo, located in Sucre, offers cooking classes taught in English.
While prices differ depending on the meal selected, the three-hour Papas Rellenas class cost 175Bs ( about US$25) per student. The class was just me and my two travel companions.
Chef Moisés began the class by teaching us about each of the local ingredients and traditional cooking methods. We were able to practice using a batán which is a stone kitchen utensil to grind ingredients in Andean cuisine. Chef Moisés also fried a variety of local potatoes for us to sample.
We then moved on to creating the main course. Papas Rellenas are fried potato balls filled with eggs, cheese and ground beef. Chef Moisés pre-boiled the potatoes to save time. All we had to do was prepare the filling, form the potato balls and fry them. After arranging the finished potato balls in a bowl, we topped them with his signature salsa. It was easy to follow along!
While we enjoyed our “home” cooked meal, Chef Moisés offered us ideas of places to add to our Bolivian itinerary. All three of us felt the class was a great value. We left with full bellies and confidence that we could recreate the meal in our own kitchen.
Online Portuguese Cooking Class
Recommended by Larch Gauld of The Silver Nomad.
Cooking classes are intimate things, you talk about food, you cook, and eat together and enjoy. But what is it the experience like when you are nearly 2,000 miles apart and connected online? Surprisingly it was a lot of fun!
I took part in an online Pastel de Nata Workshop with João from Pastelaria Batalha in Lisbon via Zoom. We were emailed the ingredients in advance if we wanted to cook along so that we were prepared and ready to go.
Pastel de Nata are custard tarts with a crisp outer pastry and creamy custard filling with a hint of cinnamon, a staple in all good cafes and restaurants in Portugal.
João was a brilliant chef and teacher, patient, encouraging and his English was excellent. He talked us through each step from making puff pastry from scratch to the delicious custard. At each stage, he checked our work and also gave us hints and tips about cooking and Lisbon.
With three people in the class, we could go through things very quickly. And the Pastel de Nata were amazing! The class is offered at the bakery in Lisbon, which I intend to do when I can.
I found cooking in my own kitchen more enjoyable as I know where everything is and how temperamental my oven is, but I missed the camaraderie of being in a kitchen with everyone else. I would definitely do an online cooking class again.
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can book an online Pastel de Nata class similar to the one Larch did through airKitchen. Click here for details.
Hawaiian Style Cooking Class in Honolulu
Recommended by Sydney Richardson of A World in Reach
If you’re visiting Honolulu and want to learn how to cook a few traditional Hawaiian dishes, consider taking a class with Hawaiian Style Cooking Classes. This was my first time taking a cooking class on my travels and it quickly became one of my favourite activities that I’ve done.
The Hawaiian Style Cooking Classes are taught by Linda, a talented chef who has over 35 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. The classes are held in her beautiful home with views of the beach and of Diamond Head, one of Oahu’s best hikes. The kitchen was designed with the cooking classes in mind and is the perfect place to learn how to prepare traditional Hawaiian dishes. The class lasts for about 3 hours and has a maximum of 12 students. At the end of the class, you sit down to enjoy your freshly prepared meal with your new friends.
During a regular class, you prepare four “Hawaii Local Favorite” dishes including three kinds of poke, coconut shrimp, Spam musubi, and butter coconut mochi. Poke is diced raw fish served either as an appetizer or as a main course.
Linda also offers occasional premium classes with various themes including Asian Fusion, Greek, and Italian. If you have a certain theme or cuisine in mind, contact Linda directly in order to set up a class.
Classes are US$120 per person and can be booked through Airbnb Experiences.
Smart Cook Cookery School, Krabi, Thailand
Recommended by Mariza Lange of Hoponworld.
Cookly
Cookly is a brilliant website which showcases lots of different cooking courses, classes and schools all in one place. It’s our ‘go-to’ resource when we’re looking for a cooking class in a new destination.
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