| Fold a measure of adventurous dining into a batch of epicurean
travel and you have the rise of spa and resort cuisine: culinary programs where
you’ll be tasting, slicing, dicing—and acquiring killer recipes to
take home.
EXOTIC SPICE
Four Seasons Chiang Mai, Thailand
What’s cooking Students gather around the resort’s
native Thai chef, who enlightens them on the medicinal qualities and historical
facts of certain dishes while he introduces the many types of Thai noodles and
divulges the secrets of creating killer curries from scratch. Take plenty of notes,
because soon you will attempt to recreate it all at an individual cooking station.
Class ends as the whole group sits down at a large teak table to communally enjoy
the dishes prepared.
Local flavour During a visit to the herb garden to
collect ginger, lemongrass, Thai chilies and other ingredients for the tom kha
kai, a chicken and coconut milk soup, you might notice the water buffaloes lolling
in the nearby rice paddies. Some of the garden’s herbs and spices are also
used at the spa; try the ylang-ylang and pink lotus mask or a pandan leaf wrap.
The kitchen Set amid soaring banyan and bamboo trees
and overlooking the jungle-covered hills of the Mae Rim Valley just outside of
Chiang Mai, the open-air kitchen pavilion is decked out in rich timber floors,
zinc exhaust fans and glass jars filled with exotic ingredients.
Check in Four Seasons Chiang Mai offers daily cooking
classes that focus on appetizers, spa cuisine, spicy salads and many Thai traditional
specialties; plus three-night Thai Culinary Packages (from $865-$1,000/night).—C.M.
CUISINE OF THE SUN
Casa de Sierra Nevada, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
What’s cooking Pastel de tres leches, huitlacoche,
chilaquiles: Mexican ingredients and dishes are nothing if not exotic-sounding
and -tasting. But the chef at this cooking school, set in the picturesque colonial
town of San Miguel de Allende, makes it all look easy. By the end of class you
will have learned how to make pastel de tres leches, the iconic Latin cake soaked
in three (fresh, evaporated and condensed) milks; how to utilize indigenous ingredients
like cactus, chiles and huitlacoche, the hard-to-pronounce but delicious corn
fungus; and how to prepare staples like mole and chipotle-infused sauces.
Local flavour During a field trip to the neighbourhood
mercado, the chef gives tips on stocking a pantry and guides students on selecting
the best and freshest herbs.
The kitchen San Miguel native Chef Gonzalo Martinez
heads the Sazon Cooking School, which is set inside an 18th-century hacienda and
features antique pottery, colourful tiles and hanging copper pots.
Check in The luxury boutique hotel
Casa de Sierra Nevada
offers both one-hour cooking classes for hotel guests and
complete five-day, four-night Culinary Adventure Packages in collaboration with
Sazon (from $1,461 to $2,250).—C.M.
MIND OVER MANNERS
Miraval Resort, Catalina, Arizona
What’s cooking The modus operandi at the Miraval
Resort near Tucson (there is also a similar Costa Rica Miraval Resort location)
is balance and the goal is learning to live in the present. During a guided meal,
called Mindful Eating, a nutritionist will ask you to eat in silence for 10 minutes
and to try setting your fork down after every bite. The idea is to carefully taste
the foods you’ve selected from the buffet, paying attention to the textures,
the flavours and the aromas. You might discover that, even though every day for
breakfast you eat yogurt, you don’t actually like the taste of it—you
just eat it out of habit. Without the normal distractions surrounding mealtime,
you might also notice the point at which you become full. And stop overeating.
Local flavour During a desert walk with a naturalist,
you’ll stimulate all your senses, spotting native butterfly species and
exploring the habitat of the Sonoran Desert.
At the spa, don’t miss a full body exfoliation using a natural and fragrant
sugar scrub infused with prickly pear.
The kitchen Surrounded by acres of flowering succulents,
prairies of wild flowers and gushing rivulets, cooking demonstrations at Miraval
focus on making healthy, lighter versions of favourites like tiramisu and wild
mushroom and barley risotto.
Check in Accommodations, all meals, activities and
a daily spa treatment are included in Miraval’s program packages, including
the signature Mindful Eating experience (US$545-$890/night). —C.M.
SUNSHINE AND MOONLIGHT
Rockwater Secret Cove Resort, Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia
What’s cooking Instead of partaking in meal
preparation, you’ll earn your dinner during an invigorating evening paddle
to a remote island, where chef Steven Ewing and his team welcome you with appetizers
and wine glasses in hand. While you relax at the beach or by candlelight in the
safari-style tent, the chef prepares a three-course gourmet dinner (such as smoked
Alaskan black cod rolled with baby bok choi and grilled shitake).
Local flavour While the sun goes down, you will paddle
among seals, porpoises and otters as your guide explains the secret underwater
life of the surrounding marine park. The next day, book a rejuvenating deep tissue
massage at the open-air Spa Without Walls, situated on a bluff overlooking the
ocean, or in the privacy of your tent.
Check inThe two-night Moonlight Kayaking package in
a tenthouse suite, including the gourmet kayak paddle and dinner, two breakfasts
and one lunch, runs from May to September ($1,200 per couple).—C.M.
TEXAS TANG
Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin, Texas
What’s cooking Expectations are high at the
Number 2-rated destination spa in America (as named by Condé Nast Traveler),
both for dining and pampering.
Executive chef Terry Conlan—the author of popular cookbooks based on the
cuisine served at the resort—brings in a brigade of world-class chefs from
across America and Europe to teach Culinary Experience programs the second week
of every month. These programs might include anything from hand-rolling sushi
to learning to stop, smell and pick the herbs in the potager garden.
In April, for instance, “green market guru” and cookbook author Richard
Ruben teaches guests some of his signature and healthy cooking practices.
Local flavour Lettuce, tomatoes,
peppers and cucumbers come from Lake Austin Spa Resort’s own gardens in
summer.
And though this is a spa resort, it’s still Texas: there’s real cream
and bacon in the food and wine on the table—even though Conlan’s menus
ring in at just 1,200 calories to 1,500 calories a day. Nearly edible spa treatments
in the elegant, Asian-inspired spa pavilion include a pumpkin body wrap, rosemary
sea salt scrub and a ruby red grapefruit refresher.
The kitchen The waterfront Lake Kitchen feels as homey
as your best friend’s own kitchen table, with an adorable collection of
critter-shaped cookie jars (like owl, chicken and piggy) that line the demonstration
counter and seem to condone a little bit of indulgent fun. Cooking classes in
the morning are followed by wine and cheese tastings and other food-related fun
in the afternoons.
Check in Three- to seven-night packages (from US$1,455
to $6,340) include the Culinary Experience and the various cooking classes happening
each day at no extra charge; spa packages also available, or treatments are available
à la carte from the spa menu.—C.R.
BEYOND PAD THAI
Echo Valley Ranch & Spa, Jesmond, British Columbia
What’s cooking The wild west
meets the far east at this resort northwest of Kamloops. During a one-on-one consultation,
you can learn to adapt meals for special diets and allergies, to start a kitchen
garden and to make the best pad Thai you’ve ever had. Combined with an overview
of must-have kitchen gadgets and knife skills, tutoring on the fundamentals of
soups, stocks and sauces, and the basics of wine pairing, you’ll leave with
a well-rounded culinary introduction.
Local flavour This is a working ranch, so collecting
eggs, feeding the horses and roping are all par for the course. You’ll also
gain insight into the medicinal attributes of Asian herbs and spices and receive
a lesson on ruesri dat ton, an ancient Thai stretching practice.
The kitchenChef Kim Madsen, who has cooked for Norweigan
royalty and received the Medaille Cordon Bleu from France, presides over an open-concept
kitchen where up to 10 students get hands-on experience cooking as a team.
Check in The one-week Learn to Cook
Like a Pro Package includes accommodations, all meals and one treatment at the
Thai-themed Baan Thai spa ($2,360).—C.M.
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