As we often tell in this blog, tasting traditional dishes has become an incentive for many tourists, who organize their trips with this desire as their number 1 objective. But if we give a twist to this idea, we find that this pleasure is multiplied even more if the dishes to be tasted have been cooked by the tourists themselves: this is what happens in cooking courses or gastronomy workshops, which are often organized in the countries of our catalog. Here are some examples that can serve as inspiration.
Turkey: much more than kebab
Turkish cuisine is one of the most famous in the world, but it is also much richer and more varied than what we can find in the usual fast food restaurants. And there is nothing better to discover it than to sign up for a gastronomic workshop, where you will be taught how to prepare the delicacies Turkish delicacies. And that’s not just a saying: Turkish delicacies or lokum are traditional sweets with a gelatinous texture, like jelly beans. You will find them everywhere in market stalls, but they can also be prepared at home, as shown in these courses.
Another iconic sweet that is easy to learn in these courses is baklava. baklavaIts filo dough, syrup and chopped nuts are an art in itself. But these workshops not only teach pastry, but also sweet dishes, such as the meze: small bites made with vegetables, fish and other ingredients, which are also very artistic, due to the care taken in their preparation and presentation. In addition, some of these courses include a trip to the market to buy fresh products, as a complement to the experience.
Jordan: tradition and adaptation to the environment
In Jordan you can also find numerous local cooking courses, where you can learn typical dishes of Middle Eastern cuisine, common to other neighboring territories such as Palestine and Israel. But we have decided to highlight a workshop that is organized in the heart of the country, Dana, because of its relationship with tradition and the masterful way of adapting to the climatic conditions. We are talking about the fruit drying workshops that take place in the corner of the Dana and Feynan Biosphere Reserve, whose terraces provide the environmental conditions for the cultivation of fruit trees.
When it is time to harvest, the women pick them by hand and dry them directly under the sun. And when they have lost all their moisture, they are ready to be adapted for the table, thus becoming a delicious dessert for the whole family. Participating in this process is a gastronomic and ethnographic experience.
Morocco: workshops that turn into banquets
Moroccan gastronomy is not only famous and appreciated for its taste, but also because it is often associated with feasts and banquets with which to feast. And that can happen at the end of a local cooking course, since they are designed to elaborate different traditional dishes, and feast on them at the end. Among the dishes to be prepared are the famous tajines, with their unmistakable clay pots in the shape of a chimney, as well as other cooking utensils that are only used in this country, which is a cultural plus to the experience.
But these are just a few examples of gastronomic workshops in the countries in our catalog. In addition to this, there are other options that include meetings with local families to cook together the most common everyday dishes. So if this is one of the wishes for your trip, you can contact us to elaborate an unforgettable activity.
