From Tuscany to Bali: 12 cooking schools worth planning an overseas trip around

There are so many ways to holiday in Tuscany. Villa hire, hotel crawls, cycling tours, staying out of – and plunging into – the heaving streets of Florence. But how about living like a local? Or, better still, hanging out with one?

Australian-Japanese food writer Emiko Davies lives in San Miniato, a postcard-pretty medieval landmark between Pisa and Florence. Her Tuscany knowledge is evidenced in all that she’s published since first moving here in 2005: several extremely beautiful cookbooks, detailed blogs and online guides to eating and hanging out. And her engaging professional sommelier husband, Marco Lami, is Tuscan born and bred.

When the pair decided to open a cooking school and wine bar in Lami’s home town, it hardly seemed a stretch. It had been Davies’ dream for years. “When we were writing the business plan,” she recounts, “I remembered I’d written a similar plan way back in 2007. It was for running wine classes and tastings in FIorence – at the top of a medieval tower with a rooftop.”

The medieval tower may be missing but Enoteca Marilù, which opened last year, oozes its own historic charm. On a squeezy lane under low, gold-ochre arches, this wine bar and cooking school sits off the town’s sleepy main square. Its slender, courtyard-facing spaces were for many decades the laboratorio or production space for the town’s Slow Food-listed butchery, Macelleria Falaschi. “Salami, blood sausages, cured meats, they were all made in this same kitchen,” Davies says. “It goes back almost 100 years.”

Today’s kitchen almost didn’t happen, though. “When we saw this place, we immediately felt this was the thing we had been waiting for,” says Davies. “But we didn’t have enough money to fund the renovation. A kickstarter campaign was our only hope. And we had 30 days to see if it would work.”

‘When we were writing the business plan, I remembered I’d written a similar plan way back in 2007.’

Emiko Davies

Magic happened. Financial pledges poured in. “It was amazing,” Davies marvels. “I couldn’t believe how many people – so many I didn’t know – said ‘I’ve used your blog’, ‘I wanted to thank you for your cookbooks’. It was a wonderful way to be connected with my community. People cheering you on and wanting to see your dream work. Our accountant couldn’t understand it!”

And so, on a sunny morning in late summer, I join Davies and six cooking-class pupils, all Aussies, by San Miniato’s weekly markets. “What time should our driver pick us up?” asks Jack from Adelaide. “Around 4,” says Davies. “Or maybe 5? Let’s see what time we finish lunch.”

After admiring mild elephant garlic bulbs, zucchini for stuffing and red onions “the size of a baby’s head” from nearby Certaldo, Davies selects a mix of shiny green and deep red tomatoes. “Notice they are ugly, but they are for making sugo so it doesn’t matter,” she explains. “And the green ones give a nice flavour to salad.”

In no time, we’re around a kitchen bench at Enoteca Marilù, hands washed, iced water sipped. All bare brick, arches and pale timber floors, the space has been beautifully renovated and furnished with flea market purchases, such as an ancient wooden table painstakingly sanded back to life. There are lovely local ceramics for sale, Davies’ books and shelves of wine – the natural, minimum-intervention variety.

Today’s agenda includes turning those tomatoes into sugo for eggplant parmigiana, baking a fabulous floppy-dough focaccia (schiacciata) with uva fragola (concord grapes), and filling ravioli with pear and ricotta, all from the market. There’s coffee, pickles, cheese and raw Falaschi sausage to snack on, a glass or two of local wine (grazie, Marco), and later, a long lunch.

Apron’d up, we begin blanching and peeling tomatoes and slicing eggplant. It feels convivial and cosy. Long-time fan Sarah is here from Melbourne with her sister, Beth, drinking in every word. “I’m always talking about Emiko’s recipes,” she confesses. “Emiko does this, Emiko does that. I booked in the class before even getting leave approved!” Poh and Aldrin from Perth also made it a destination. “We planned our entire trip around this. And boy am I glad we did,” Poh says, beaming.

The eggplant parmigiana is ready to bake. Davies rolls the super-sticky focaccia dough while we taste the butcher’s sausage. “Everything is salty here, just not Tuscan bread,” Davies says, blobbing the dough, with wet hands, into a baking dish and splashing in a little red wine.

By now everyone’s comparing notes on their Tuscan journeys and quizzing Davies for tips. “How did you learn cooking?” Sarah asks. “By eating,” she responds. “And I like traditional recipes. Old cookbooks. Talking to people – cheese makers or the person at the fruit stall. Someone told me about the wine on the focaccia. Everyone has a thing they do differently.”

Finally, we’re rolling pasta for pear and ricotta-filled ravioli. “How much filling?” asks Aldrin. “A cherry size.” The final product is impressive. “We could open a pasta shop,” Davies enthuses.

And then, of course, there’s lunch – parmigiana, schiacciata, those ravioli. Wine from Marco. And more conversation.

“It was warm, casual and delicious,” Poh says later. “It felt like a day spent among good friends,” says Sarah. “I’ve completed cooking courses in Australia and the running time is always strict and can feel so restrictive and sterile. I knew this experience would be different when Emiko said the class would end when we finished eating. I was hooked!”

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, it was well after 5pm when lunch finally wrapped up, after a special day with the locals.

For more details and bookings, see enotecamarilu.com

Focaccia con le olive

Emiko Davies’ go-to focaccia recipe. Prepare the dough the night before you want to bake it, or 2-3 hours ahead of time. To make the grape version, swap the olives for grapes, splash on a little red wine and sprinkle a tablespoon or two of sugar over the top at the end.

INGREDIENTS

• 7g active dried yeast
• 400ml tepid water
• 500g plain flour
• 1½ tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 150g pitted olives
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

Step 1

Prepare the dough by dissolving the yeast in a few tablespoons of the tepid water in a small bowl.

Step 2

Sift the flour into a large bowl (preferably earthenware or even plastic, these hold warmth better than a metal bowl) and add the yeast mixture and salt, along with the rest of the water, bit by bit, working the dough after each addition. You can do this in a food processor or by hand with a wooden spoon. Add a tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil to the dough and mix well. This is a very sticky dough so don’t be alarmed; it is meant to look almost like a batter.

Step 3

Drizzle in a little more of the olive oil to protect the surface of the dough, then cover with a damp cloth and set it in a warm place, away from draughts, until it doubles in size (about 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature). If you are preparing this the night before, you can leave the dough in the bowl to rise in the fridge. It will rise slowly at this temperature and be ready by the morning. This longer rise will help develop flavour.

Step 4

To assemble the dough, heat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line a 20cm x 30cm rectangular baking tin with baking paper.

Step 5

Drain the olives. Wet your hands with water (this will prevent the dough from sticking to your hands) and scoop roughly half of the dough out of the bowl onto the tin. Spread the dough into a rough rectangle no more than 1cm thick. Sprinkle over some of the olives, then scoop the rest of the dough out of the bowl and distribute over the top. Cover with more olives.

Step 6

Drizzle olive oil generously over the top and use your fingers to gently push down on the surface of the dough all the way to the bottom of the tin to create little craters all over the dough. Sprinkle with salt and let the focaccia rise for about 30 minutes in a warm spot, away from draughts.

Step 7

Dimple the dough with your fingers as before, then bake for 30 minutes or until the dough becomes deep golden and crunchy. Remove from the oven and drizzle over the remaining olive oil to give it a nice shine and sprinkle with more salt. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. This is best served and eaten on the day of baking.

Serves 6-8

Great cooking experiences around the world

Adding a cooking class to your travel itinerary is a wonderful way to connect to local culture, people, places and, of course, food. Here are some recommendations from travellers and locals in the know.

Made in China

Now that China has welcomed back travellers, why not explore its fascinating culinary traditions first-hand? Start by reading China expert Fuchsia Dunlop’s deeply informative and entertaining cookbook Invitation to a Banquet (Penguin), then perhaps book a tour. (Fuchsia collaborates with the excellent WildChina Travel, for example.) In Beijing, consider Black Sesame Kitchen, founded by Chinese American food writer Jen-Lin Liu. In a traditional courtyard setting, the open-style eatery serves multi-course dinners and offers convivial lunchtime cooking classes based on local market ingredients. Further afield, in Sichuan – where all those good flavours come from! – there’s a museum dedicated to the south-western province’s cuisine. Apart from multiple historic displays, Chuancais Museum also offers fun classes. Details are scarce on its website but Chinese tour companies can help you book.

Best of British

Forget London and go British regional for real field-to-plate adventures. The School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire takes you from sausage-making and fermentation to advanced charcuterie and even a four-week artisan summer school. Get your hands dirty at The Pony Cooking School in Chew Valley, near Bristol, with foraging expeditions, workshops and workshops and classes. Head west to the Welsh border, to explore wild plants with Forage Fine Foods′ Liz Knight, before returning to her kitchen to cook and eat them. Ethically focused E5 Bakehouse runs terrific baking classes in East London but you can also go more regional and learn fermenting in Suffolk, via E5’s collaboration with Fellows Farm.

Paris? Go!

Food markets equal food heaven, right? And where better than Paris. Classes at La Cuisine Paris replicate the French market-to-table tradition, shopping at one of Paris’ best markets, and eating the meal you’ve cooked afterwards. Atelier P1 offers sourdough baking classes for small groups. Partipants leave with a recipe book and a little pot of sourdough starter. And you can’t be in France without cheese. For all you ever need to know about making it, try Paroles de Fromager for tastings, milk-y, rennet-y workshops and more.

Spice it up in Kerala

Cochin in Kerala is one of India’s most magical cities. Plunge into its spices, food history and traditions with excellent classes followed by lunch or dinner at a beautiful home in Fort Kochi. Hosted by the well-known instructor and culinary consultant Nimmy Paul, your adventure into Keralan flavours and techniques may even feature a deep-dive into the Syrian Christian food culture.

Rock the kasbah

And yes, a Morocco medina! Head to a typical souk (market) with a chef, in the still-traditional city of Fez. Then it’s back to the attractive Cafe Clock, with its designated instruction kitchen, to develop your couscous, b’stilla or tagine technique. Near Marrakech, there are some beautiful organic garden-based alternatives, run by the charming Chef Tarik. Take tea as you find out about the origins of Morocco’s multi-layered culinary history.

Bali high

Escape the tourist crowds and head to its lesser-known eastern coast, around Candidasa town, where Balinese culture and tradition is still very much part of the locals’ daily life. You’ll get a glimpse of it during an early stop at the Amlapura morning market to gather ingredients (and have morning tea) before spending a few hours at the charming Bali Asli restaurant and cooking school, complete with views of the awe-inspiring Mount Agung. With head chef Dewa Ariawan, or maybe even owner-founder Penny Williams, you’ll put together a traditional flower offering before preparing a many-course lunch. I treasure memories of a day here alongside my extended family.

Thanks to culinary experts Fuchsia Dunlop, Xanthe Clay, Alice Quillet, Christine Manfield, Simon Marnie and Carol Prior (By PriorArrangement) for their recommendations.