DESTINATIONS — INDIA & THE INDIAN OCEAN
Savour the taste: dinner on the beach at The Oberoi Mauritius
Keep it in the family: Shanti Maurice offers a Grandma’s Kitchen experience
meet the famous stilt fishermen at coastal town Unawatuna. For cutting-edge cuisine try
Premier Holidays’ Colours of Sri Lanka trip, which includes food- focused activities along with more mainstream sightseeing across its nine-day duration. Think top- flight city restaurants and chef-led demonstrations combined with visits to local food markets, a cinnamon plantation, and learning to cook with a farmer and his family. The tour costs from £1,629 including SriLankan Airlines flights, eight nights’ four-star accommodation, on a half-board
basis plus five lunches, and an English-speaking guide. Those who prefer to make their
own way around can also add in a cooking class to whet their appetites. Premier Holidays can incorporate a culinary workshop at Colombo restaurant Upali’s by Nawaloka into its tailor-made itineraries, giving guests a brief history of the country’s cuisine, an introduction to spices, and a chance to create their own Sri Lankan curry (from £25).
l MAURITIUS: ISLAND TIME Enjoy a change of pace when it comes to cooking in Mauritius – this island’s fusion cuisine is a combination of Indian, African, French and Chinese influences, and can be easily explored from the comfort of its signature beachfront hotels. Take The Oberoi, Mauritius,
for example, which offers complimentary cookery classes with the hotel chef to learn classic recipes for fish curry or fish rougaille, before completing the session with a spot of wine- tasting. Centara Grand Azuri
Resort and Spa, meanwhile, celebrates its Thai heritage and Mauritian setting with cooking lessons combining both countries’ cuisines, followed by a chance to taste the flavour fusions at Lazuli restaurant (approximately £30). Shanti Maurice doesn’t just ask its staff to get involved with passing on a few culinary skills – it gets their families in on the act. Grandma’s Kitchen excursion offers guests the chance to dine at home and learn cooking secrets with the grandmother of one of the resort staff. Whip up honey lamb with cinnamon, fish curry spiced with tamarind and coriander, and a pineapple bomb dessert, then sit down to dine on those culinary creations. But if clients aren’t convinced by the idea of dining out on their own efforts, go with the professionals: Constance Hotels & Resorts holds its own culinary festival each year, pairing up six Michelin-starred chefs with six in-house cooks to create some mouth-watering masterpieces. The 10th annual festival takes place next year from March 21 to 28 at Constance Belle Mare Plage. TW
SAMPLE PRODUCT
Feeling peckish?: sample street food in Delhi
Western & Oriental’s Taste of India tour starts at £3,499 for 14 days, including British Airways flights, domestic flights, accommodation, chauffeur-driven car and a
private English-speaking guide.
westernoriental.com 020 7666 1234
Intrepid’s Real Food
Adventure Sri Lanka costs from £1,275 for 15 days, including 14 nights’ hotel accommodation, 14 meals, tours and tastings and local transport. Flights extra.
intrepidtravel.com 0844 499 8487
A week’s half-board at
Constance Belle Mare Plage in Mauritius costs from £1,895 with Caribtours in March 2015, with flights, transfers, and use of an airport lounge in the UK.
caribtours.co.uk 020 7751 0660
5 June 2014 —
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