For healthy eaters

Daylesford, Oxfordshire

Half- and full-day courses at this Cotswolds stalwart offer options for those seeking to restore some balance to their diet (particularly in the wake of the festive period). Relax, Restore and Cleanse is four hours of healthy cookery, yoga, massage and mindfulness; Happy Gut, Healthy Body teaches how getting the most out of your body depends on what you put in; and an ayurvedic cookery class has lessons in getting the most out of ingredients to meet the needs of your body type. All take place in a swish stone barn in lovely farmland – with a market garden from which to pluck ingredients. You could do a lot worse than a head-clearing January day here.

• Courses from £95pp, daylesfordcookeryschool.co.uk

For pork and pastry lovers

Bray’s Cottage pork pie course, Norfolk

Step aside Melton Mowbray: East Anglia has something to say. Sarah Pettigree of Bray’s Cottage makes Norfolk pork pies a few miles from Blakeney on the county’s north coast, and has mastered the art of encasing local pork – laced perhaps with chorizo, chilli or onion marmalade – in crisp, golden hot water crust pastry. Now she’s sharing her knowledge by holding classes at bakery Macarons and More in Norwich throughout 2016.

• One-day course £140 with lunch, perfectpie.co.uk

For cheese lovers

Wilde’s, Tottenham, north London

Eccentric “urban cheesemaker” Philip Wilton, who ditched management consultancy in favour of making his most favourite of foodstuffs, runs Wilde’s Cheese in Tottenham and is now a familiar face around London farmers’ markets. His one-day courses teach you to make three types of cheese – curd, mozzarella and a hard, Wensleydale-style one – taking you through the cheese production process, from the arrival of sweet whole milk from an East Sussex farm to heating, adding rennet, taking its temperature, cutting the curds, and fashioning these into different cheeses. At the end, you can take all your creations home. The hard cheese needs to be stored in your fridge for a few months before it is ready, so this really is a gift that keeps on giving.

• One-day course £150 with cheesy lunch, wildescheese.co.uk

For fish lovers

Corrie Cook School, Argyll, Scotland

True to its name, the Fish, Fillet and Fry package at this cookery school promises nautical adventures on the school’s boat and classes in how to prepare and cook your catch. Courses are available as one day or two nights – we recommend the latter for escapist value, not to mention a five-star billet. Expect a fishing day during which you’ll spot seals, dolphins and eagles, a tour of distilleries in nearby Oban or Jura (not to mention a dram or three) and maritime-themed meals. Courses are for a maximum of six people, so this would be a great option for a group of friends with pescatarian interests.

• £95 one-day course; £375pp for two-day, two-night course inc B&B at Corrie House, corriecookschool.com

For getting back to basics



Loaf Cookery School, Birmingham

Central to this cookery school’s mission is a desire to bring back “forgotten skills” in an urban setting. These might include foraging wild food, butchery, homemade bread, preserving, smoking and even building earth ovens. It also runs affordable classes in ethnic cuisines, like an evening of making dosas (Indian pancakes with fermented flour) or Chinese bao (steamed buns). The school is attached to a community bakery and aims to let you take what you learn and run with it back in your own kitchen.

• Courses from £60pp, loafonline.co.uk/cookeryschool

For pasta mastery

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Neil Borthwick and Angela Hartnett making pasta. Photograph: Charlotte Hu Photography

Merchant’s Tavern, London

Angela Hartnett is the consummate teacher, generous, clear and no-nonsense as she schools (with head chef Neil Borthwick) groups of no more than 10 in the principles of pasta-making. (There are also occasional butchery and market shopping courses.) The pasta course is a masterclass in making ricotta-and-spinach tortelli, farfalle and tagliatelle, afterwards enjoyed paired with wines from the restaurant. You walk away with what remains of your creations – not to mention a new skill set.

• Saturday courses 10am-2pm, £95pp, billetto.co.uk

For vegetarians

The Parsnipship, Bridgend, Wales

Over the past seven years, this vegetarian cookery school has watched its staple ingredients – beans, lentils and other meat-free offerings – evolve from “tree-hugger” product to super foods. Its one-day courses combine demonstration and hands-on practice to fire guests – vegetarian or otherwise – with inspiration for meat-free dining. The pumpkin and amaretti salad with saffron yoghurt and pomegranate got our juices flowing.

• £150 with lunch, theparsnipship.co.uk

For Indian cuisine

Sweet Cumin, Somerset

From the basics of cooking with spices to elaborating on existing skills with a view to intensifying flavour, Somerset-based home cook Bini Ludlow runs her students through the tenets of Indian cookery. Bini’s background is in (mainly vegetarian) Gujarati cuisine, but she offers half-day, full-day and tailor-made classes in a wealth of cuisines. These include more Punjabi-based north Indian recipes, Indian street food and even a workshop inspired by Bradford’s curry culture.

• Half-day £85, sweetcumin.co.uk

For seasonal eating

Vale House Kitchen, Bath

Field to Fork food courses at this beautiful school near Bath respond directly to the seasons, from a two-day game shooting experience and a marmalade day in winter, to fly-fishing, lamb cooking, and an introduction to foraging when spring arrives. The intention is to give you a taste of country life and nature’s bounty over the course of a year.

• From £180pp, valehousekitchen.co.uk

For Japanese food

Yuki’s Kitchen, Crystal Palace, London

These 2.5-hour evening courses walk you through the essential ingredients and techniques of Japanese cookery. Yuki is known particularly for her Sushi At Home class (she has written a book of the same name), which demonstrates the surprising ease with which sushi can be made in a domestic setting, with nori seaweed, a mat and a sharp knife. The ramen course is sure to be a winner, too, if in January you’re in need of some respite from festive fare. Classes are for no more than seven, so make for an intimate setting in which to sip sencha tea and pick Yuki’s brain while feasting on umami-filled delights.

• From £60, yukiskitchen.com

• This article was amended on 21 December 2015. An earlier version said that Sweet Cumin is based in Bradford, rather than Somerset.

