A cooking school is an institution devoted to education in the art and science of cooking and food preparation. There are many different types of cooking schools around the world, some devoted to training professional chefs, others aimed at amateur enthusiasts, with some being a mixture of the two. Amateur cooking schools are often intertwined with culinary tourism in many countries. Programs can vary from half a day to several years. Some programs lead to an academic degree or a recognized vocational qualification, while others do not. Many programs include practical experience in the kitchen of a restaurant attached to the school or a period of work experience in a privately owned restaurant.
A class at the Raymond Blanc cooking school in Oxford, England
Ana Barrows teaches a cooking class for adults in 1913 St. Louis, Missouri, in this sketch by Marguerite Martyn.
Culinary work at the School of Hotel Management at Vels University in Chennai, India
Culinary tourism or food tourism or gastronomy tourism is the exploration of food as the purpose of tourism. It is considered a vital component of the tourism experience. Dining out is common among tourists and "food is believed to rank alongside climate, accommodation, and scenery" in importance to tourists.
France is a country that has been strongly associated with culinary tourism with both international visitors as well as French citizens traveling to different parts of the country to sample local foods and wine.
Pierogi in the Countryside Museum in Radom (Muzeum Wsi Radomskiej w Radomiu), Poland
A home dinner in Bali, Indonesia (2016), made as part of a food tour
The oldest bar serving dough named pasztecik szczeciński in the center of Szczecin (Poland), a popular destination for tourists visiting the city. Pasztecik szczeciński is one of traditional dishes of the Western Pomerania.
