Eat It Up:

Eat It Up:

Cooking Vacations To Fill Your Plate

By Robert McGarvey

It was at a cooking class at the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ where I vividly saw why I had never been able to make the delicately crispy glaze that distinguishes a tasty Crème Brulee from the soggy ones I always made. “You need a blow torch,” said pastry chef Richard Ruskell. “That’s the secret.” Home cooks, he explained, usually try to achieve the glaze by using the oven’s broiler, but burnt fingers are the main byproducts. Then he lifted up a small blow torch, ignited it and, whoosh, he glazed another Crème Brulee.

“Where did you get the blow torch,” I asked and I expected to be told the tiny unit was sold only to restaurants and only at exorbitant prices.

“Home Depot,” Ruskell said. “Hardware stores are a pastry chef’s secret weapon.”

I laughed --but I also learned and, increasingly, that’s the kind of lively instruction that happens in cooking classes. The good news for hungry vacationers is that many of the nation’s great hotel and restaurant kitchens now are opening up for travelers who want to pick up some tasty how-to’s. From week-long classes that will equip you to put on a formal multi-course feast to classes that last a couple hours and teach you to cook a tasty dish or two, there are lots of culinary lessons offered nowadays. Such as?

Chef & Sommelier for a Day

The Dining Room at the Hilton, Short Hills, NJ.

Learn the how-to of cooking contemporary American cuisine (“with a French accent”) in an American Automobile Association top-rated five-diamond restaurant where, every Thursday, two guests plunge into the kitchen experience at 3 p.m. The Chef de Cuisine --second in command in this busy kitchen -- will put you to work chopping and dicing and you’ll get hands-on learning with everything from appetizers through dessert (ask how to write “happy birthday” in chocolate on a cake. The pastry chef loves to show this technique). At 7 pm you join the sommelier for a half-hour wine class. The night concludes with a sit down dinner where you taste the kitchen’s output. Price: $150. Guests may join you at dinner for $105 apiece. (973) 379-6870.)

Chef Allen’s New World Cuisine.

Aventura, FL

From mangoes to plantains and pork, a “New World cuisine” is bubbling out of south Florida and one of the leaders is Chef Allen Susser and his Chef Allen restaurant. For students who want to learn the nuances of New World cooking --a blend of Caribbean, Latin American, and Floridian --Susser’s cooking school offers both regularly scheduled group classes and one-on-one sessions. Topics range from “Cool Cooking” (think mango and salsa) to “A New World Thanksgiving.” Prices vary from $45 for a two-hour demonstration class to $195 for a 5 hour hands-on private class. (305) 935-9011)

Jane Butel’s Southwestern Cooking School

Albuquerque, NM

In New Mexico, folks argue about the merits of green chile versus red, but they also are quick to assert that Southwest cooking is a lot more than peppers. Find out the details of the real Southwest cuisine from Jane Butel, author of 15 Southwestern cookbooks, in her week-long and weekend classes --where students learn how to roll tamales, make salsa verde and roja, fry up jalapeno skillet bread, and throw together “El Ultimos Chimichangas.” Prices are $695 for the weekend class (inclusive of three hands-on sessions and hotel accommodations); $1695 for the week-long school (lodgings included). (800) 472-8229.)

The Greenbrier Gourmet Cooking Classes

White Sulphur Springs, WV

Deep in the Cold War, when the US government wanted a bomb shelter for dignitaries at a safe remove from Washington, DC, it built a top-secret hideaway (code-name: Project Greek Island) under a wing of the Greenbrier Hotel in the Allegheny Mountains. The shelter is still there --it’s a centerpiece of the Greenbrier’s daily tour of the property --but, better still, nowadays the bunker’s kitchen serves as the classroom for the five-diamond resort’s hands-on cooking classes. Classes, held Monday through Saturday, run 3-1/2 hours and explore themes such as “The Latest Trends” (pesto stuffed salmon, truffled Yukon Gold potatoes, and bacon balsamic Swiss chard have starred in recent classes), “Cooking Greenbrier Light” (seared snapper, for instance), and “Canapes and Appetizers” (featuring miniature crabcakes with avocado relish). Class size is limited to 12. Price: $100 per class (accommodations extra). (800) 228-5049.

Erna’s Elderberry House Cooking School

Oakhurst, CA

A citadel of California-French cooking, Erna’s Elderhouse sits just a few miles from rugged Yosemite National Park, but in the 7-1/2 acres that house the restaurant and an intimate, nine-room castle hotel, Chateau du Sureau, an AAA five-diamond elegance prevails. In the classes (led by hotel-restaurant founder Erna Kubin-Clanin) students log three long eight-hour days as they learn to cook dishes such as carrot soup with blood oranges, zinfandel glazed shallots, buttermilk-spinach spaetzle, and grilled pears. Class size is limited to 12 and, the school promises, individual interests can be catered to --just speak up. Price: $650 (inclusive of lunch and dinner daily; hotel accommodations are additional). (209)-683-6800.)

Inn to Inn Cooking Vacations

Hudson Valley, NY

Mix great old inns with a bucolic setting that is shockingly close to New York City (just 30 minutes north of Manhattan) and you’ve got the recipe for Inn to Inn Cooking Vacations, a three-day program that features classes at three historic Hudson Valley inns (one dates back to 1751). Classes last two hours, and there are never more than eight participants (classes are held in the inns’ kitchens --some of which are tiny). Chefs at some of these inns -- culled from 11 that have banded together and including Aubergine in Hillsdale and Old Drovers Inn in Dover Plains -- are climbing to celebrity status but the intimate class size assures plenty of personal attention. Cooking focus varies with enthusiasms of the individual chefs --and daily menus can include tortilla soup or Maryland crab cakes. Price: $250 for three days of classes (accommodations are extra). (914)-591-4503.)

Camp Napa Culinary

Napa Valley, CA

Want good food, wine, and a relaxed learning experience? Vacationers hunting for a little learning and a lot of tasty atmosphere should head to chef Hugh Carpenter’s Camp Napa Culinary, a week-long tour of wineries plus daily hands-on cooking classes. Special treats stud the schedule. One afternoon, for instance, the class makes appetizers at the Culinary Institute of America’s west coast campus, Greystone. On other days, esteemed but reclusive wineries open their doors for tastings by Carpenter’s campers, and the class gets to mingle with winery owners and vintners, including the Cakebread family whose winery (Cakebread Cellars) serves as something of a base camp for the week. Carpenter (a celebrated expert in “fusion” cooking) leads many of the classes; others are taught by guest chefs from local restaurants and wineries. Price: $1440 (accommodations extra). (707) 944-9112.

Spice, Inc.

New Orleans, LA

When the New York Times featured chef Susan Spicer, the headline read: “The Quiet Star of New Orleans.” The tasty news is that Spicer now runs Spice, Inc., a bustling New Orleans cooking school. Many of the classes --taught by Spicer as well as guest chefs, and covering not just New Orleans style cooking, but also “Contemporary Spanish,” “Classical French Creole,” and more --are demonstration only, but on some Saturday nights there are “hands-on dinner parties”, where a small class gets to make the food, then eat it. Themes for the four-hour evenings vary --one recent night was “Slow Burn” (spicy hot food); another was “Are you Game?” --but the meals always feature a selection of wines and, sometimes “Guest Diners that add some local color or good conversation to the meal,” says Spicer. Price: $75. (504) 558-9992.)

Cooking School of the Rockies

Boulder, CO

Are you serious about learning more about cooking? Go to Boulder, CO where the Cooking School of the Rockies offers hands-on five-day classes for both beginners and more advanced cooks (with class size limited to 12). The “Basic Techniques” class takes participants through knife skills, sauces, sauteing and so forth, as students poach pears in red wine sauce, make lemon mousse with red currant sauce, and grill tuna with orange basil beurre sauce. When you have a lock on those skills, there are Basic Techniques II, III, and IV, all five-day sessions that explore more advanced techniques. Another five-day series explores “Pastry Techniques” and students are guided through sweet bread baking (coffee cakes, muffins), pies, cream puffs and eclairs. Price: $425. (303) 494-7988.)

Want more choices? A good starting point: “The Guide to Cooking Schools” from ShawGuides, which fills a staggering 73 pages with small print listings for “nonvocational/vacation” classes in the US alone. (Price: $19.95 plus shipping from ShawGuides, PO Box 12895, New York NY 10023.) But there are many more options for hungry vacationers. Cooking classes are fast multiplying, in venues ranging from cookware stores to community colleges. And, yes, celebrity chefs from cable TV are busy putting in stops at cooking schools around the country. No matter your location or budget, check around and you’ll find plentiful classes that soon enough will let you dazzle in the kitchen.

Show Me

Your druthers are simply to eat the good stuff coming out of these kitchens? Good cooking suddenly is becoming a national passion -- a half-dozen states hold tasty “wine and food festivals” and wherever there are top-rated hotels and wineries, there are special events that show off the best in contemporary cuisine. Here’s a small sampling of premium events:

Cuisines of the Sun

Kohala Coast, HI

Sometimes called “the ultimate summer camp for foodies,” Cuisines of the Sun is held every August at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel on Hawaii’s Big Island. It’s a five-day carnival of cooking demonstrations by culinary stars --in one area a baker will be turning out great bread, in another soul food will be simmering, in a third vintners will be pouring their wines. For those who want to watch, demonstration classes are plentiful. For those who want to wander around, nibbling and sipping and living the gourmet’s life, that’s fine too. Price: $850 (lodgings are additional; $2760 buys double occupancy at the five-diamond Mauna Lani plus entry to all Cuisines of the Sun events). (888) 424-1977)

On The High Seas: Crystal Cruises

The boom in culinary pursuits hasn’t been ignored by cruise lines, many of which have been busily filling their calendars with guest chef programs. The most ambitious --and possibly best of breed -- is Crystal Cruises “Wine & Food Festival,” which brings aboard special guest chefs for cooking demonstrations and lectures. Among the guest chefs: Andre Soltner, former chef/ proprietor of New York’s Lutece; Celestino Drago of Ristorante Drago in Los Angeles; and Jeremiah Tower, chef/proprietor of Stars restaurants in San Francisco and Singapore. In ’98, 23 Crystal sailings features foodie happenings --and the number keeps growing each year. (Crystal Cruises, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles CA 90067.)

Grand Chefs on Tour

Wailea, Maui, HI

Another Hawaii foodie extravaganza, Grand Chefs on Tour sponsors a series of three-day events staggered throughout the year. Celebrity chefs are prime attractions and, in ’98, the red-hot Emeril Lagasse (a star on the TV Food Network), Martin Yan (PBS’s “Yan Can Cook”), and Thomas Keller (chef at Napa Valley’s legendary restaurant, The French Laundry) all logged appearances. Daily schedules are relaxed --there are cooking demonstrations for those who want to watch; food cooked by the superstar chefs is there to be sampled; and prestige vintners --in ’98: Robert Mondavi, Wild Horse, and Joseph Phelps among others --hold tastings. Lunches cost $35, dinners (including a wine tasting) cost $85. Lodging (rates start at $295) is extra. (800)-659-4100)

Culinary Institute of America

Hyde Park, NY and St. Helena, CA

America’s premier school for aspiring professional chefs, CIA’s New York State and Napa Valley, CA campuses both house restaurants where diners can sample cooking that frequently is at the cutting-edge of tomorrow’s culinary trends. At the Hyde Park, NY main campus, there are four restaurants --American Bounty, Escoffier, Caterina de Medici, and St. Andrew’s. At the St. Helena, CA campus there’s the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. Reservations are advised for all restaurants. For Hyde Park, call: (914) 471-6608; for St. Helena, call (707) 967-1100.

This article initially appeared in NEW CHOICES (1998).

Also see: www.mcgarvey.net