Gourmet Tours That Give You a Deep Taste of the Gastronomy of a Place. Hand Made Burrata in Puglia, Italy.

Gourmet Tours That Give You a Deep Taste of the Gastronomy of a Place

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These gourmet tours will give you a deep taste of the gastronomy of the places they’re taking you to, from Puglia, where you’ll learn to make fresh burrata cheese, to Provence, where you’ll forage for ingredients and learn the art of picking edible plants and flowers.

You’d think someone who hosts her own culinary tours in Cambodia and Vietnam and who spends a bit of each day crafting itineraries built around cooking, eating and drinking would have had her fill of food, wouldn’t you?

Yet, still I find myself scrolling the Luxury Escapes website each day in the hope there’ll be a tantalising new food tour to excite my taste buds. Today I found not one but five gourmet tours that got me salivating.

I’m now dreaming about Puglia and learning to make fresh creamy burrata. Browse the gourmet tours, below, and see if they don’t get you checking flights.

And if the idea of learning to make pho noodles in Hoi An or fish amok in Siem Reap excites you more, I still have two spots left on my Vietnam food tour in July and some places left on our Cambodia culinary tours.

Gourmet Tours That Give You a Deep Taste of the Gastronomy of a Place

Gastronomic Tours of Puglia – 7-9 Day Luxury Small Group Tour $4,999

On these week-long small group gourmet tours of Puglia, which can be extended to nine days, you’ll get to explore one of our favourite regions in Italy. We spent a week in the Puglia countryside living like locals in a traditional trullo just outside Alberobello on our 2010 yearlong grand tour and fell madly in love with the place. On these Puglia gourmet tours, you’ll get to do cooking classes with Italian chefs, learning to make the local handmade pasta, and gain access to artisan producers, including Puglia’s oldest existing olive oil estate, a prestigious local winery, and a burrata maker, who’ll teach you how to make this heavenly cheese (pictured above). You’ll also get to set sail on the Adriatic Sea on a private sailing boat and stay in a stunning historic hotel, a 17th-century farmhouse, and a luxurious Palazzo. A highlight of this itinerary is a tour of the rambling gardens of the Masseria Montenapoleone estate where you’ll collect fresh ingredients for your hands-on cooking class in which you’ll learn how to create authentic orecchiette pasta, among other specialties, with celebrated chef Gianna Greco at her cooking school, followed by a feast of the delicious Italian dishes you have created.

Gourmet Tours of Slovenia – 8-Day Luxury Small-Group Tour $5,499

On these 8-day luxury Slovenia small group gourmet tours (with just six people!) you’ll get to indulge in an array of gastronomic experiences – from meals at Michelin-starred restaurants and private cellar wine tastings to cheese and olive oil degustations, as you discover Slovenia’s natural wonders. We spent just a short time in Slovenia some years ago, on our way from Italy to Croatia, and are very eager to return. Culinary highlights of these Slovenia gourmet tours include a memorable meal cooked by one of the world’s best chefs, Ana Roš, at her renowned restaurant Hisa Franko, as well as an exclusive dinner by another of Slovenia’s most acclaimed chefs, Tomaž Sovdat at Dobra Vila. Other culinary highlights include an authentic home-cooked meal and a hands-on cooking class in Šmartno, a beautiful medieval town where you will learn all the secrets of the Brda region gastronomy, lunch at a picturesque location in the heart of the Triglav National Park, a private wine-tasting experiences with local winemakers, a visit to a rural olive oil producer followed by a tasting and masterclass.

Culinary Tours of the South of France – 9-12 Day Luxury Tour $5,499

You’ll get to eat your way through the French Riviera and Provence on one of these small group Southern France gourmet tours (maximum of 16 travellers), which include a food tour in Nice involving much sampling of local cheeses, pastries, wine, and the finest ice cream on the French Riviera. You’ll set sail on a private cruise of the coast’s azure waters, enjoy wine tastings in private vineyards of Côtes-du-Rhône with a world-class sommelier, learn the secrets of French cuisine during a cooking class in Provence, and get access to private vineyards in some of the best wine regions in the world. Meals include multi-course wine and food pairings, a typical lunch in a local bistro, and tasting of regional specials, such as cheeses and pastries. Highlights include shop for fresh produce at the celebrated Cours Saleya market, exploring one of the finest wine areas in the world with expert Kelly McAuliffe, a former sommelier for Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse, foraging for ingredients in the foothills of the highest mountain in Provence, and learning about the art of picking edible plants and flowers.

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A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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