A little while back, I took a cheese-making course in the wilderness outside a mountain village in India. You might wonder, "How does one end up on a former tea plantation 7,000ft above sea level, attempting to milk a cow (and failing miserably)?" Well, I'd already got a knack for a few curries, and cheese happens to be among India's hottest new foods.
Moments like that are why I tell friends who are traveling: cooking classes are one of the most rewarding things you can do on any international trip. Whether you're learning to make a traditional cuisine or a trendy Gouda, few experiences are more memorable -- or better for exploring a new country -- than learning to create your own feast.
Call me a millennial, but I rarely cook at home (my vegetable peeler has been MIA for months). It's not that I don't enjoy it, but I travel and work a lot. Well that, and restaurant doggy bags are pretty great.
But cooking on holidays is a whole separate game, one of my travel obsessions. Here's why you should find yourself in a kitchen the next time you go abroad:
You get to know a country's real cuisine
I've gone for new experiences, like making cheese, but usually try to learn the local cuisine -- mostly because, as a tourist, finding authentic fare isn't always a cinch. Take Rome. Despite being an obvious food destination, the restaurants you'll find between the Coliseum and Trevi are likely to be packed with tourists (most likely, annoying ones).
That's why I stayed at the Beehive on a recent trip, a cute eco-hostel that offers cooking classes. The menu was no-frills – pasta sauces, walnut pesto, and zucchini in basil and almonds – but authentic. The hostel owner, Steve, is adamant about teaching only what people will go home and make (it probably won't be pasta).
"I got started doing the classes because we had guests who wanted to learn and there wasn't anything else available or accessible to their budget," he said. "So I figured, what the hell, I'll just do it."
Michelle, another tourist on a foodie pilgrimage, said the class was the trip's biggest highlight. "My flight to Rome arrived around noon and when I got to the Beehive I was tired with a sincere need to be horizontal for at least a couple of hours," she said. "I knew I would be jet lagged, groggy, and hungry waking up, so the cooking class was perfect. I signed up and didn't think twice because homemade Italian food would be my first meal in Rome. Who would argue with that?"
To cook like a local, you have to shop like one
These classes aren't just about sharp edges and hot surfaces -- they're about gathering foodstuffs, an essential skill in a new city. I lived in Bangkok for almost three years before taking a Thai cooking class, and wish I'd done it much sooner.
We started by buying fresh ingredients in one of Bangkok's oldest slum markets. We bought our curry paste from a hidden, 50-year-old shop that sells out of spice every day before noon. Till then, my favorite diet was street food and mom-and-pop restaurants. My green curry wasn't close to what the auntie next door could whip up, but at least I knew how to appreciate what goes into her creations.
You learn more than recipes from teachers
I'll never forget going to "Cooking with Nonna," a class taught by sweet Italian grannies. "Cooking has always been my passion," said Giuliana, my group's Nonna. "I love it because it gives me a chance to practice my English." With a translator's help, Nonna instructed us on how to make gnocchi from scratch with a gnocchi paddle (harder than it looks, folks). In turn, we got to grill her on the history of tiramisu as we blended up mascarpone and eggs for the caffeinated dessert. "Well," she said, "it started with a bar." "Nonna, it wasn't a bar," the translator said. "It was a brothel." Nonna went on to explain, very sweetly, why tiramisu literally translates to "pick me up." And I've not looked at tiramisu the same way since.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider