Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
near home. That way, you'll be getting pointers on locally grown produce and cuisine that
you can readily put to use in your own kitchen.
Adventures in Thai Cooking.
For an exotic adventure to a foreign land—without the ex-
pense of international travel or even the bother of getting a passport—try Adventures in
Thai Cooking in Oakland, California. Award-winning cookbook author Kasma Loha-unchit,
who was been teaching cooking classes since 1985, offers intensive five-day courses in Thai
cuisine. Loha-unchit grew up in Thailand and learned to cook at her mother's side, and she
has written two topics about her native country's subtle spicing:
Dancing Shrimp: Favor-
ite Thai Recipes for Seafood
and
It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions and the Joys of Thai
Cooking
.
Unlike some cooking schools, with their six-burner stoves and antiseptic institutional-
ized kitchens, Loha-unchit's class is held right inside the cozy kitchen of her own home. She
weaves stories about her life and Thai culture into the casual, homespun classes as well.
Tuition includes five all-day workshops, preparation of seven to ten dishes a day, meals
throughout the day, and food field trips to such places as Oakland's Chinatown. The five-day
workshops are held in July and August and cost $550. Although accommodations are not
included, Loha-unchit sends a list of nearby B&Bs and motels upon registration and makes
daily pickups from the local BART subway station for guests staying outside of Oakland.
Kasma
Loha-unchit,
P.O.
Box
21165,
Oakland,
CA
94620,
510-655-8900,
www.thaifoodandtravel.com.
BBQ University.
Barbecue guru Steven Raichlen guides guests through a crash course on
grilling, smoking, and barbecuing. Among other things, the savvy author of
The Barbecue
Bible
will introduce you to dry-rub ribs from Memphis, “Smoke-la-homa” brisket from
Oklahoma, and Wisconsin-style bratwurst. You'll also learn how to grill unconventional
items from soup (grilled corn chowder) to nuts (coco loco brûlée), plus all the major food
groups—barbecue food groups, that is: smoke-roasted prime rib, Memphis-style baby backs,
beer-can game hens, cedar-planked salmon, and more.
The campus for BBQ U is the Culinary Arts Center at The Greenbrier, a historic resort
in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The Greenbrier has been offering cooking classes
since 1977, way before there was a Food Network. Of course, The Greenbrier has been doing
most everything in the hospitality field since before there was any network TV. Welcoming
guests since 1778 and taking its present form in 1910, the 6,500-acre estate nestled in the
beautiful Allegheny Mountains has been a World War II hospital, employer to Sam Snead,
who served as The Greenbrier's golf pro off and on from 1936 until his death in 2002, and
