Naftali Joel - Cooking in paradise : culinary vacations around the world

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

IF THE HEART of a home is the kitchen, then the soul of a region is the cuisine. The cooking vacations in this book lead you into bustling, colorful open-air markets around the world. They teach you the history of traditional dishes, and regional variations, passed down for generations. They bring you the camaraderie of the kitchen, where strangers become friends over simmering pots and exotic spices. They serve you the joy of cooking and the bliss of eating.

You can spend a week in Provence, living in a chateau and learning how to cook authentic Provenal cuisine. Youll taste the regions best wines, go truffle hunting, and share leisurely meals on a garden terrace with local chefs and other guests. Between meals, you can go horseback riding or hot-air ballooning, lounge by the pool with a book, putter around the herb garden, or visit an Armagnac distillery, goat cheese farm, museum, or medieval hilltop town.

Or you might want to float on the canals of Gascony, explore the food shops of Paris, taste the Camembert and calvados in Normandy, or discover the flavors of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace, and other regions.

Perhaps youre more interested in Italy? You can stay in a farmhouse in Tuscany, a restored palazzo in Venice, a private estate in Sicily, or a fourteenth-century convent converted into a luxury hotel in Amalfi. You can live at the family homes of aristocrats or farmers (or, for that matter, of aristocrat-farmers), and study cooking under the direction of famous cookbook authors, celebrity chefs, or home cooks who use recipes handed down from their grandmothers grandmothers.

Or you could visit Mexico, Thailand, Turkey, Greece, Brazil, England, China, Australia, Spain, Morocco, Bali, or India. Or stay closer to homevacationing and cooking in the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, California, West Virginia, or New Mexico.

You will delight in the tastes of world cuisineand in your newfound ability to prepare it. In Italy, youll prepare Wild Mushroom Fricassee, Ravioli with Leeks and Truffles, Scallops in a Creamy Pumpkin Gratin, and Tuscan Bread Soup. In France, youll make a Salad of Goat Cheese, Mesclun, and Balsamic Figs, Roast Pork Stuffed with Prunes and Shallots, Grilled Duck with Chestnuts and Wild Mushrooms, and crme au chocolate with wild stawberries. In Mexico, youll cook Chile Poblanos Stuffed with Squash Flowers and Oaxacan Cheese, wrapped in puff pastry and served with cilantro sauce and pomegranate seeds. In Basque country in Spain, youll learn a recipe for Andalusian Gazpacho with Lobster; in Vienna, Pike in Horseradish Sauce with Saffron Rice; in Morocco, Chicken Stew with Pickled Lemon and Olives; and in Thailand, Hot and Sour Barbecue Beef with Chile-Lime Dressing. You can focus on fish or pastry or appetizers or vegetarian dishes or whatever else you have a taste formost programs are very flexible, and will teach you exactly what you want to know.

But cooking and eating are just the beginning. You can also visit the sunken gardens in Venice or a remote temple on Bali. You can have a guided tour of Pompeii or a lesson in falconry or a day of visiting artisans studios. You can dine with friends of your hosts, and be invited into the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants. You can attend a silent truffle auction, visit the Picasso Museum, attend local festivals (from harvest fetes in France to Day of the Dead festivals in Mexico), explore the outdoor markets of Vietnam, enjoy a Brazilian high coffee, or go snorkeling, windsurfing, and sea-kayaking. Golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, and horseback riding facilities are common, as are opportunities for hikes and bike rides, lazy days by the beach or in the garden, and shopping for antiques, art, crafts, clothing, gourmet foods, and more.

The possibilities are almost endless: Some people even fall in love.

* * *

After she was laid off from her job in advertising, Cynthia Nawrot decided she needed two things: a vacation, and a new career based on her love of food and cooking. She heard about a cooking vacation program in Mexico, and was on her way.

I arrived at the schoolMexican Home Cooking () in Tlaxcala, she says, and fell in love with the food, the history, and the area. The food is nothing like you get in the States, or even in most restaurants here in Mexico. The recipes were passed down to Estela, one of the chefs, from her grandmotherthe alta cuisine of Mexico.

And Tlaxcala is a charming colonial cityone of the first things I did was visit a baroque church nearby, the church of Our Lady of Ocotlan. While I was there, I asked the Virgin of Ocotlan to send a loving and sincere man into my life.

After my week was up, I returned home. But there was much more to learn before I could start a catering business, so I asked Estela and her husband, Jon, if I could come back and apprentice with them for three months.

They agreed, and it was incredible. Not only did I learn to cook, but Estela and Jon brought me into their family and their traditions. And I met one of Estelas brothers, Rene, a lawyer who lives in Mexico City.

For him, he says it was love at first sight. For me, it took a little longer. But now, well, the wedding is this September, at Our Lady of Ocotlan Church.

I never planned to stay and live here in Mexicobut I definitely got what I asked for.

* * *

There are more than a hundred and fifty cooking vacations in this book. They range from two-day intensives to monthlong, multiple-country tours, from formal, elegant, dress-for-dinner resorts with world-famous chefs to casual, homey, gather-around-the-kitchen-table-with-a-bottle-of-wine programs with home cooks. There are programs that focus on travel, with two or three cooking classes over the course of a two-week vacation, and there are programs that focus on cooking, with four or five hours a day spent in the kitchen. But most are vacations first and schools second: If you want to cook all day, you can. If you want to go sightseeing and return home for a meal, you can do that, too.

Some offer lectures on history, culture, and art. Some offer spa services, from massage to yoga to prana therapy. Some offer classes in art, crafts, language, and sports. Some have full days plannedyou might bike thirty miles, go on a private tour of a museum, stop at the market for shopping, and cook a five-course meal before having dinner and drinks at a beautifully set table in front of the medieval fireplace. And some will just point you in the direction of interesting attractions and then encourage you to wander around. Some have set menus. Some will customize their meals to meet any dietary needs.

We spoke to students or read testimonials from every program in this book. Theres no question that each program is perfect for some people. But how do you find the ones that are right for you?

The first thing, of course, is to browse this book. Then, after youve narrowed down your choices, contact all the programs in which youre even marginally interested. Our experience in writing this book has been that the people who offer these programs love travel, food, and people. They will be happy to answer your questions. Here are some concerns to keep in mind when you speak with them: