Red Bridge Cooking School

Hoi An, central Vietnamese cooking. This is market-to-table in the most literal order. You tour the Hoi An market, take a boat of about 25 minutes along the river to the school, walk its herb garden, and only then start cooking. The chefs demonstrate each dish first and you then make it yourself, a format that suits nervous cooks well. One reviewer describes steaming rice paper batter and making a traditional shrimp pancake, both techniques that travel home easily. The half-day class runs every day of the year. A longer deluxe day adds an organic farm visit and four dishes, and a two-hour evening class in the Ancient Town covers three dishes if your days are already full.