You don't have to have Masterchef-winning ambitions to enjoy a cooking school break in the UK, especially when many cooking schools offer much more than culinary lessons.
Some throw banquets at the end of the day or have their own restaurants; others have beautiful kitchen gardens or surrounding countryside to explore. And there are those where you can stay the night in rooms, cottages or converted stables.
Seeing as a full day in the kitchen often ends with dinner and a glass of wine, it makes sense to stay overnight and make a break of it. Here are half a dozen schools worth traveling for, picked by Nick Wyke, founder of Looking to Cook, the UK’s leading cookery schools directory.
1. Thyme at Southrop in the Cotswolds
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The range of kitchen-based or countryside courses at this cookery school based at Southrop Manor in Gloucestershire includes hands-on experiences such as bread-making, cheese-making, charcuterie and preserving. Those who like to go native can try foraging, butchery and game. A strong emphasis on cultivation and locally sourced produce is inspired by the school’s own vegetable garden.
The estate has five luxury vacation rental cottages, suitable for groups, families or couples, which offer a quirky take on the grand English country house experience. The cottages have been renovated largely by local craftsmen using local materials.
If you’ve hung up your apron, come sundown the nearby 17th-century Swan Inn on the village green has an award winning restaurant and is in easy walking distance from the Manor.
Visit their website for prices and course information.
2. Llanerch Vineyard Cookery School in the Welsh Vale of Glamorgan
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Head of the cooking school, food broadcaster and writer Angela Gray describes her venture at the Llanerch Vineyard as the “culmination of an exciting 30-year career”.
The kitchens, newly minted in 2011, are fully equipped with gadgets, multi-function ovens and a mighty four-oven Aga. One or two-day courses focus on themes such as baking, game cookery, knife skills and bread-making. The vineyard is also open for tours or can be explored by guests at leisure, and the wines can be put to the test at Llanerch bistro, which serves locally sourced Welsh food.
To complete the experience, there is a choice of farmhouse accommodation, B&B studios - where vines creep up the walls - and vacation rental cottages based in renovated farmhouse stables. Cardiff is only ten miles away and for those seeking some sea air, the stunning Gower Peninsula is not much further.
Visit their website for prices and course information.
3. The Walled Garden Cookery School in Cornwall
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Leiths-trained chef Kate Benson runs only a handful of three or five-day residential cooking courses a year, taking her inspiration and ingredients from the gardens and 22 acres of Cornish countryside that flank Tresillian House.
As well as kitchen gardening advice from head gardener John Harris, students also receive artisan tuition from local butchers, fishermen, foragers, pastry-makers and chocolatiers.
Accommodation is in smart rooms with views over orchards and an ornamental fountain. There are two evenings off to explore the local area and restaurants - Newquay is just 3 miles away.
Visit their website for prices and course information.
4. Eckington Manor, Worcestershire
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Eckington Manor pairs up the warm and winning combination of a state-of-the-art cooking school with luxury bed and breakfast. The Manor is situated in Worcestershire’s fruitful Vale of Evesham in the middle of a 260-acre farm that supplies ingredients for the school, cook shop and restaurant. Courses include bread-making, game and fish, as well as Aga cookery.
The courtyard is just a short stroll from the school and provides the setting for 15 boutique bedrooms with private bathrooms. Rooms are furnished with silk wallpapers, designer furniture and large comfortable beds dressed in Italian cotton and topped with plump, Siberian goose down pillows. Features such as antler chandeliers, antique furniture, exposed beams and brickwork lend a rustic country home feel to the five gold-star accommodation. Mid-week and weekend cook and stay packages are available.
Visit their website for prices and course information.
5. The Yorkshire Wolds Cookery School
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This all new cooking school is on a working pig farm and has a well-equipped, pristine teaching kitchen. Graded courses reflect local and seasonal foods and include Yorkshire – Born and Bred, Seasonal Dinner Party Entertaining and the occasional opportunity to learn Michelin-standard techniques from James Mackenzie, chef-proprietor of the Pipe and Glass Inn, one of Yorkshire’s growing band of starred restaurants.
The accommodation is simple and neat including six guest rooms, each named after a local village, and a three-bedroom vacation rental cottage overlooking the Wolds. Walk off lunch on one of several marked trails starting out from the farm.
Visit their website for prices and course information.
