Thai taste tour

Travel agents call it a five-day Thai cooking frenzy. Based in a family home in Chiang Mai, travellers who relish hot, sour, spicy and sweet Thai dishes receive culinary instruction.

Class participants help to prepare every dish, as well as eating them, and the course includes shopping for ingredients at markets. The accommodation-and-tour cost is $510 a person.

For those who prefer the idea of Indian food, a four-day school for tourists is run in Delhi. The course includes cooking demonstrations in Malabar and Mughlai cuisine, representing northern and southern Indian cooking styles.

Accommodation is included in the price of $850 a person (airfares not included).

Contact: for both cooking tours, call Flight Centre on freephone 0800 354 448.