Simply gorgeous places to learn culinary skills
Ireland,dinner party,Coast,cooking tips
Dunbrody Cookery School, County Wexford
Dunbrody Cookery School, County WexfordSet in 200 dreamy acres of gardens on the Hook Peninsula on Ireland’s southern coast, this Georgian manor house is an elegant place to learn how to whip up fine food using high-quality local ingredients at the cooking school. One-day courses might take in Soups & Breads, Seafood & Shellfish and Fusion Cuisines. Also, there are two-day Dinner Parties for Six courses. One-day courses cost around €150 per person (includes lunch). Dunbrody Country House Hotel & Restaurant, Arthurstown, New Ross, County Wexford (00 353 51 389 600,
dunbrodyhouse.com).
Baking perfected
Southwest,baking,Coast,cooking tips
Island Bakery Holidays, Isles of Scilly
Island Bakery Holidays
Isles of Scilly
Converted from a lobster pot-maker’s barn on the unspoilt, Gulf Stream-washed island after which it is named, St Martin’s Bakery hosts craft bakery holiday courses covering a range of bread-making techniques. Run from Wednesdays to Mondays (with Sunday as a free day) in January, February, March and November, the cost is around £745 (inclusive of helicopter transfer from Penzance, cottage accommodation, evening meal on arrival and lunch every day). The cost for non-participating partners is around £295. St Martin’s Bakery, Moo Green, Higher Town, St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly (01720 423444, stmartinsbakery.co.uk).
Scrumptious Scottish cuisine
Scotland,Coast,cooking tips
CO Oct07 Kinloch Lodge, Isle of Skye
Kinloch Lodge
Isle of Skye
Best-selling cookery writer Claire Macdonald has been hosting practical residential courses at her Highland hideaway for 16 years. Morning tuition, celebrating local ingredients, gives guests time to explore the magical setting by the shoreline of Loch Na Dal. Three nights’ accommodation with breakfast, lunch and dinner, and two mornings’ informal tuition, costs from around £435 to £555. Sleat, Isle of Skye (01471 833333, claire-macdonald.com).
Best for celebrity chefs
Ireland,Coast,cooking tips,celebrity chefs
Ballymaloe Cookery School, County Cork
Ballymaloe Cookery School
County Cork
Part of a 400-acre estate near Cork, the cookery school and kitchen gardens attract guest chefs such as Skye Gyngell and Antony Worrall Thompson. Subjects include Christmas Entertaining Parts I and II, and Sustainable Seafood. One-day courses cost around €165 to €235. Ballymaloe House, Shanagarry, Midleton, County Cork (00 353 21 464 6785, cookingisfun.ie).
Fantastic for fish
Southeast,Southwest,shellfish & seafood,Coast,cooking tips
FishWorks Seafood Cookery School
FishWorks Seafood Cookery School FishWorks, the award-winning group of restaurants and fishmongers created by Mitchell Tonks, offers cookery courses at its restaurants in Christchurch (Dorset), Richmond (Surrey) and Bristol. In Bristol, the open-plan layout easily adapts to a demonstration theatre for the courses held on Mondays. Having been instilled with the confidence necessary for buying fresh fish, students cook a seasonal menu before trying the dishes, with wine, over lunch. The one-day course costs around £175. 128 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol (0117 974 4433,
fishworks.co.uk).
Best for local produce
East Anglia,rural issues,Coast,cooking tips
Aldeburgh Cookery School, Suffolk
Aldeburgh Cookery School
Suffolk
The former police station of the Suffolk resort of Aldeburgh has been reinvented as a cookery school by respected food writer Thane Prince. Courses are tailored to the seasons using local produce. The wide-ranging programme includes Great British Fish and Men in the Kitchen. All courses
are one-day, include lunch with wine and cost around £125 to £140. 84 High Street, Aldeburgh, Suffolk (01728 454039, aldeburghcookeryschool.com).
Best for British food
East Anglia,British food,Coast,cooking tips
Morston Hall cookery school
Morston Hall
Norfolk
Close to Blakeney Point and its seal colony, North Norfolk’s newly extended 17th-century country house is owned and run by chef Galton Blackiston – a Michelin star-holder whose menu revolves around seasonal produce. He conducts half-day demos from February to November (not July), with titles such as Return to Real Cooking and Galton’s Favourites. They cost around £56 (including coffee and lunch). Morston, Holt, Norfolk (01263 741041, morstonhall.com).
Best for wild food
Scotland,Coast,cooking tips
Myres Castle cookery school
Myres Castle
Fife
Housed in the Victorian kitchens of the 16th-century Myres Castle (right) – now a five-star hotel – the school’s programme highlights chef Christopher Trotter’s interest in sourcing produce from the Howe of Fife and Scotland generally. Day classes – incorporating wine tasting, lunch and castle tour – cost around £125. Residential courses are also available. Auchtermuchty, Fife (01337 828350, myrescastle.com).
Best for families
Southwest,Coast,cooking tips,family life
Ruth Jones of the Manna from Devon cookery school
Manna From DevonCookery classes, demonstrations and tastings take place in a kitchen in the Victorian Fir Mount House – also a two-bedroom B&B – overlooking the River Dart in Kingswear, South Hams. Run by chef, food writer and broadcaster Holly Jones (left) and her husband David, the school offers a family- and child-friendly timetable with classes such as Family Barbecue and Pasta Making for the Family. More advanced, two-day sessions include the Sourdough Weekend. A one-day course costs from around £70 for adults and (where appropriate) £15 for children. Fir Mount House, Higher Contour Road, Kingswear, Devon (01803 752943,
mannafromdevon.com).
Best for classic seafood
Southwest,shellfish & seafood,Coast,cooking tips,celebrity chefs
Padstow Seafood School, Cornwall
Padstow Seafood School
Cornwall
At Rick Stein’s school, students are encouraged to enjoy the fruits of their labour. The six-day, residential Original Fish & Shellfish Cookery module merges time learning new skills with a trip to Newlyn fish market, an afternoon at The Seafood Restaurant and a day discovering classic dishes from The Savoy. It costs £2,250 with seven nights’ B&B. Riverside, Padstow, Cornwall (01841 532700, rickstein.com).
