21 Jul Plan a Culinary Adventure!
Most of us have specific main dishes or desserts that remind us of childhood. Maybe, in your mind’s eye, you can go back to a hot July afternoon. You’re outside under the tree in the backyard, watching the way the light filters through the green leaves about you. There’s a slight breeze, and you can hear a few cars going down the street in the front yard, hear the neighbor’s lawn mower, and watch the fading white trail of a plane as it goes across the sky. And then, from the open kitchen window, you smell something warm and familiar, something that you don’t even have to taste for it to fill you with happiness. It’s your mother’s tried and true recipe, the cookies you’ve had since you were a small person. At the same time, you hear the whine of the old-fashioned ice cream maker, and everything seems right in the world. Memories like these can still be created when you plan a culinary adventure!
Whatever your specific memory is, food is evocative, taking you to times and traditions that have shaped your life. Maybe it’s as simple as rolling out pie crust and being transplanted to the kitchen of your youth, those times you came downstairs and found your mother at the counter, putting the flour and shortening together into a bowl, and you’d watch her as she sliced them into a mixture using two kitchen knives. When it was done, and as she was rolling out crusts, you’d take the discarded leftovers and eat them, legs resting on a bar stool below. The taste of the dough and the way it felt as you pressed it between your fingers are small things that come back to you now.
Maybe it’s the same with gravy. You learned how to make it on your own by watching, mixing flour with leftover meat fat, adding liquid and seasonings, and a thickening agent. You learned most of the basics from observation, watching, and then practicing those same skills again and again ’til they became second nature, and you didn’t have to read instructions or glance at measurements of ingredients anymore.
If you’re frequently found in the kitchen, and there’s a food you really love, chances are good that you’d like to learn how to make it on your own and serve it to friends. This can seem out of reach, though, if you don’t have someone in your life that is a good cook or has successfully pulled off this specific dish before. This, my friend, is exactly what educational cooking tours are all about—why someone came up with them and why they continue to thrive. Whether you’re looking for an afternoon of sampling local eats in a specific area of town or want to spend a couple of weeks in Italy learning how to make pasta the way your Italian grandmother did, culinary tours that are focused on education are a feast for the eyes and palate alike.
Do you read this and find yourself wanting to schedule your next trip right away? Do you need to get a group of your foodie friends together to pay a chef for a couple of weeks and then start planning all the surrounding details: lodging, getting around the place while you’re there, and airfare?
If this sounds like you, we really only have a few pieces of advice. First, it’s a special group of folks that get excited about how al dente a noodle is or the particular tricks of the trade to get a flaky, beautiful pie crust. We all have our things that we nerd out on, and it’s imperative to get a group together that can’t think of anything else they’d rather be doing than tasting the magic that happens when you add a little bit of butter. Choose your peeps and choose them well because the company for the trip is going to make it or break it.
Second, find out what your group would most enjoy learning how to cook, and then plan a trip with this lens in mind. Secure lodging for everyone, and if possible, stay in the same villa or hotel. Get your airplane tickets together and take turns taking care of meals for the group over your stay.
And lastly, when you’re finalizing the details for how you’re going to get around town during your vacation, don’t forget to reserve a motorcoach. Instead of having to secure rental cars for the individual members of your group, everyone can pitch in for a great rate and instant convenience. Coach drivers are 100% available for whatever itinerary you have. If you’ve got an omelet class in the morning, want to go and see sites in the early afternoon, and return in the late afternoon to begin class again for the evening meal, your driver will be waiting to escort you wherever (and whenever) you want to go.
When you decide to invest in a foodie getaway and plan a culinary adventure, we’d love to be the wheels! Learn more here: https://astrotravel.com/destinations/culinary-tourism/