For many intrepid explorers, and particularly for Travel Gluttons, food and travel are the best of friends and go together hand in hand. Vacations become opportunities to explore the markets, kitchens, and cuisine of your chosen destination. With cooking lessons, you can improve your skills in the kitchen and the memories which you take home will be much more than the usual photographs and souvenirs.
(Photo Credit: Tanya Braaksma)
From Barcelona to Bangkok, New Orleans to Sydney, and countless cities and countries in between, tasty cooking vacations are popping up all over the globe and offering the chance to spice up any vacation.
Barcelona is a fascinating combination of contemporary and historical architecture, with Gaudí leaving his modernist mark on many of the city’s famous buildings. Las Ramblas is the beating heart of the city, a wide boulevard actually consisting of five ‘ramblas’ and linking Plaça de Catalunya with the waterfront.
If you want to learn how to cook like a local, however, Barcelona Cooking is there to guide you along the way. Morning lessons start with a shopping tour through Boqueria Market and you’re taught to prepare, among other dishes, several kinds of tapas and a Spanish favourite, paella. While you’re cooking you can enjoy, at your leisure, the school’s own Tempranillo and Albariño wines.
On the other side of the world in Bangkok, Thai cooking lessons are always in high demand. Baipai Thai Cooking School offers varying menus each day and best of all, sends you off with tips on how to reproduce the spring rolls and panang curry with chicken you made using ingredients from your local supermarket.
(Photo Credit: Tanya Braaksma)
Once you have a cooking lesson under your belt, the rest of Bangkok is yours to discover. The Chatuchak Market is open on weekends and an entire day can easily be spent here bargaining for clothes, bags, books, and everything under the sun. There are endless ways to entertain yourself in the evenings, and for drinks with a breath-taking view go to Vertigo and Moon Bar on top of the Banyan Tree Hotel and Resort.
When travelling, explore the opportunities you have to make a more tasty vacation and along with delicious meals, you’ll be cooking up great memories.
Tanya is an avid traveller who is happiest when using her camera to discover what delights the world has to offer. She originates from Canada, currently makes her home in the Netherlands, and is on an everlasting journey to visit all corners of the world. 
