Four holidays for foodies
A holiday on the Rhone offers glorious scenery and delicious food
A French food and wine odyssey
A holiday on the Rhone is a "real cork-popper", says Jeremy Lazell in The Sunday Times Magazine, thanks to the numerous vineyards you'll pass through. But if you also want some fine French fare to soak up all the wine, then take a trip with Belle France. The firm offers a six-night cruise on Le Phenicien, which offers top-notch accommodation in en-suite cabins. As well as visiting vineyards, you will also enjoy cookery classes with three of the region's top chefs. They even accompany you on visits to the local markets.
• The trip costs from £2,379 per person, including cooking classes, excursions, tastings, gourmet meals and a free bar on the boat. Call 0870-405 4056, or visit www.bellefrance.co.uk to find out more.
A spicy tour de force
The southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have long been popular with Indian holidaymakers "hungry for their winning cuisine", says Jeremy Lazell. You can simply head there independently and eat well every day, but "tour with an epicurean guide and you're in a new dimension". Guests on the 15-night Taste of India tour from Tropical Locations are accompanied by experts in the cuisine of each region and taken to markets, spice plantations and acclaimed local restaurants. The tour includes a meal at Bukhara, which is the best restaurant in India, "according to those in the know", says Lazell.
• The Taste of India Tour costs from £3,737 per person, including flights from London, transfers and most meals. Call 0845-277 3344, or visit www.tropical-locations.com to find out more.
The Scottish cookery course
Learn how to make the very best Scottish cuisine at Nairn's Cook School in the Trossachs in Scotland. Nick Nairn will show you how to prepare scallops, cook the perfect steak and bake a chocolate cake. Nairn, who is famous for his frequent appearances on Ready Steady Cook, is "an entertaining teacher, able to do an almost perfect impersonation of Jamie Oliver while still instructing his students in a simple, straightforward way", says Nicola Barry in The Sunday Express.
As well as learning how to whip up Scottish culinary delights you can learn anything from how to put on an 'Easy Posh Dinner Party' to 'Canny Cooking', which will show you how to eat like a king on a pauper's budget.
• Cookery classes cost from £165 per person. Call 01877-389900, or visit www.nicknairncookschool.com for more information.
Learn to BBQ the Aussie way
"As a rule, Australians can whip up a barbecue on the beach quicker than you can say 'G'day'," says Adrian Bridge in The Daily Telegraph. So there is no better place to learn how to improve your technique. The Sydney Seafood School in Sydney's fish market offers a seafood barbecue course. The four-hour session promises to teach you how to barbecue fish, shellfish and squid "to perfection". Make sure you allow some time to look around the market, which plays host to huge displays of oysters, lobsters, crabs and barramundi.
The school was set up in 1989 to help encourage locals to buy the market's more exotic produce and by 2006, 10,000 students were passing through its door each year. The school offers an array of courses - but they sell out fast, so book early.
• The seafood barbecue course costs A$145. For more information, visit www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au, or call 00 61 2 9004 1111.