My husband and I just got back from the RS Best of Spain tour. Before the tour we took a half day cooking class in Barcelona and had a total blast. We're planning on taking the Best of Ireland tour next year and I'm curious about the food and culinary scene in Ireland. I was also interested in taking 1 or 2 cooking classes in/around Dublin before our tour starts. Has anyone done this and have recommendations to share?
Posted by
Sapulpa, OK, USA
6526 posts
I don't have anything useful to share on this topic; I'm just glad to see we're not the only ones ditzy enough to already be planning their 2017 trip! We just got back from Villages of South England two weeks ago, and now we're thinking Villages of Italy for 2017. Or France. Maybe.
Posted by
Alexandria, VA, USA
127 posts
Rebecca,
I took the BOI tour last year. Ireland is trying to become a foodie nation. Most of the food was very good but also very basic. It is more about the quality of the ingredients than it is about the techniques. I had the best mushroom soup I've ever had on this tour. I didn't see any opportunities for cooking classes.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15781 posts
I admit it, the only reason I looked at your question was because I never associated Ireland with cooking classes, even after 2.5 weeks there.
Just about every pub makes a thick vegetable soup for lunch and serves it with brown soda bread and butter - yummy and filling and cheap, around €5. Pub dinners are good too, many have separate rooms for diners, often upstairs, away from the music.
Spend your timing seeing sights the tour skips. There are two theatres (Abbey and Gate). The Literary Pub Crawl is excellent. And you can do your own crawl through Temple Bar and enjoy the music.
Posted by
Portland, OR
238 posts
Although it's a bit far afield, Ballymaloe Cookery School (and organic farm) in County Cork is quite well-known and they do offer some half day courses in addition to their regular certification program. They also have a hotel and restaurant--we had a delicious lunch there last fall.