Javascript is not enabled.

Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again.

Skip to content
Content starts here
CLOSE ×
Search
CLOSE ×
Search
Leaving AARP.org Website

You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

I’ve Taken 15 Cooking Classes Around the World. Here’s What I Learned

Being taught to cook favorite dishes is a gift that lasts beyond the lesson

a person taking a cooking class
Participating in a cooking class while traveling is a tactile experience. Here, a cooking demonstration at La Maison Arabe in Marrakech.
Courtesy Nour Eddine Tilsaghani/La Maison Arabe

In South India, I suddenly realized that every Indian restaurant in the U.S. I’d ever eaten in never featured the food of this tropical region, save for a dish here or there. In Bangkok, I ate the best pad Thai I’ve ever tasted. In Marrakech, Morocco, I learned the secrets behind dishes that combine meat cooked with fruit, such as chicken stews with dates, or chicken with green olives and lemon, which I adored at restaurants. Same in China’s Sichuan province, famous for its fiery foods: I have yet to meet a dish too spicy for my taste. 

I love to dive deep into a culture and history when I travel. I’m not alone. AARP’s Lifelong Learning survey of adults 45-plus found that 55 percent were actively learning something new, and 42 percent called themselves lifelong learners. History was the topic of most interest at 43 percent, while interest in educational travel opportunities came in at 35 percent.

Instead of just looking at sights and munching food without a second thought, I like to do something tactile to feel like an active participant and to engage more deeply with the physical world around me. A cooking class is the ultimate souvenir: a gift that keeps on giving, not just a trinket. It’s also a practical skill whose lessons I apply constantly as I cook for myself and others. And when I crave a certain dish at home, I don’t need to spend at a restaurant: I can make it myself. I’ve taken 15 cooking classes in France, Italy, Mexico, Bali, Malaysia, Morocco, India, Thailand, Scotland, Fiji, New Orleans, San Francisco and New York over decades of traveling.

Sure, dining in a foreign country is one way to immerse yourself. “But taking it to the next step and learning how to cook that food is even more immersive … [as cooking instructors] share educational context about the ingredients, the history of the dishes, and their cultural cooking methods,” says Kelsey Knoedler Perri from Road Scholar, a tour operator for older adults that provides cooking classes on many of its tours, from Sicily to Savannah, Georgia.

“One of my favorite things to do is take a cooking class,” says Charu Khanna of Discovery Travel in Dana Point, California. Khanna, a travel agent for over 35 years, has made “a pizza in Florence [Italy], a four-course meal in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and kung pao chicken and dumplings in China.”

My experiences around the world

Coconut palm trees abound in Kerala, a south Indian coastal state, so its dishes often feature coconut milk or grated coconut, and lots of seafood. Thanks to my class with Nimmy Paul in her home in Kochi, India, any time I cook string beans, it’s Kerala-style. I add grated coconut, turmeric, mustard seeds and chile pepper. When I cook fish, it’s often in coconut milk with cinnamon, cloves, onions and ginger. 

When I heard we were going to cook panda dumplings in my cooking class in China, I was startled. We’d just seen the adorable teddy bear-like animals, China’s most beloved export, at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding the day before. Hearing we’d be making panda-faced dumplings, with black beans for the eyes and mouth, on balls of dough at the Sichuan Cuisine Museum, outside Chengdu — whew. We’d already made kung pao chicken, a stir-fry with scallions, soy sauce and dried chiles; and mapo tofu, a very spicy dish of fermented chili bean paste, tofu cubes and ground beef, in woks at our individual cooking stations. 

a cooking class in china
In China, the writer shows off panda-faced dumplings with black beans for the eyes and mouth.
Courtesy Sharon McDonnell

At La Maison Arabe, a hotel in Marrakech, we cooked chicken tagine (a stew) with olives and preserved lemon in earthenware vessels with cone-shaped lids (also called tagines) as we watched our cooking teacher and close-ups of her hands on large video screens. Before that, we got an overview of Morocco’s rich use of spices such as cinnamon, cumin and turmeric, all easily found in U.S. supermarkets. Ingredients were neatly piled at our cooking stations in a room adorned with Moroccan geometric tile patterns.

In Bangkok, I learned to make my favorite Thai dish, tom kha gai (a soup of chicken in coconut milk with lime juice and lemongrass); plus pad Thai, the popular rice noodle dish with shrimp and tamarind paste; and chicken with cashew nuts at Amita Thai (now closed). A tour of our teacher’s garden, where we saw the tiny bird’s-eye chiles, kaffir lime leaf and other ingredients we’d soon be using, began our wonderful class, which ended when we ate the fruits of our labor on her canalside patio.

afternoon cooking class
Road Scholar includes cooking classes on many of its tours. Here, a class at the International Academy of Italian Cuisine.
Courtesy Road Scholar

How to find cooking classes

I found cooking classes in guidebooks and on hotel websites. TripAdvisor, Viator (a TripAdvisor company) and GetYourGuide sites also list many. Most classes are about three hours long, and some include visiting a food market. Book before your trip to secure a spot, and read the menu: Some teach certain dishes on certain days. Read reviews so you know what to expect. Nonworking websites and reviews dating from a few years ago are red flags that a school may be closed.

Compared to watching a YouTube cooking video, my classes are much more fun: I’m in a foreign country, I meet and talk to fellow classmates, and I get a recipe booklet to take home. “Even my mom, who hates cooking, agreed [our cooking class] was the highlight of [our Savannah tour]” due to the chef’s comic style, says Road Scholar’s Perri.

Unlock Access to AARP Members Edition

Join AARP to Continue

Already a Member?

AARP Travel Center

Or Call: 1-800-675-4318

Enter a valid departing date

Enter a valid returning date

Age of children:

Child under 2 must either sit in laps or in seats:

Enter a valid departing date

Age of children:

Child under 2 must either sit in laps or in seats:

Enter a valid departing date

Age of children:

Child under 2 must either sit in laps or in seats:

Flight 2

Enter a valid departing date

Flight 3

Enter a valid departing date

Flight 4

Enter a valid departing date

Flight 5

Enter a valid departing date

+ Add Another Flight

Enter a valid checking in date

Enter a valid checking out date


Occupants of Room 1:



Occupants of Room 2:



Occupants of Room 3:



Occupants of Room 4:



Occupants of Room 5:



Occupants of Room 6:



Occupants of Room 7:



Occupants of Room 8:


Enter a valid departing date

Enter a valid returning date

Age of children:

Occupants of Room 1:

Age of children:


Occupants of Room 2:

Age of children:


Occupants of Room 3:

Age of children:


Occupants of Room 4:

Age of children:


Occupants of Room 5:

Age of children:

Age of children:

Child under 2 must either sit in laps or in seats:

Enter a valid start date

Please select a Pick Up Time from the list

Enter a valid drop off date

Please select Drop Off Time from the list

Select a valid to location

Select a month

Enter a valid from date

Enter a valid to date