(Park Hyatt, Saigon)

With the youngsters back in class, maybe it’s time for the oldies to learn a trick or two, too.

With the upsurge in TV cooking shows, many of us could be excused for feeling a little, er, left behind in the culinary stakes. When even children are offering to ‘plate up’, and you realise you are not entirely sure of the difference between a macaron and a meringue, or even a kohlrabi and a cabbage, maybe it’s time to up your kitchen skills!

(Casa Barilla, Sydney)

Cookery schools vary enormously. Most offer the chance for you to participate 'hands on', which means you will be chopping and sautéeing along with the chef or your co-cooks. But with supervision. You won't have to fly solo, and there will always be someone to ask for help if you don't understand a term or what to do with an ingredient.

(Victors Food, Sydney)

Often there will be a part of the lesson where the class will observe the teacher as he or she demonstrates a technique or the preparation of a dish, and this is particularly so when you are in the presence of a high-flying guest chef with much to share and show.

(Blue Elephant, Bangkok)

Some cookery schools also organise outings to local produce markets or wineries, and arrange wine tastings or other food related experiences, to enhance the package.

                        (Greekalicious, Sydney)

Often your co-students will also be non-professionals, you will quickly realise that while some may be more experienced cooks, no one will know it all. That is the beauty of cookery. It is so complex and varied, that there is something for everyone to learn. The other good thing is that people who really love food and cookery, are generally delighted to share their knowledge, without wanting to score points off someone who knows a little less.

The net result will be greater confidence in the kitchen, a better understanding of the ingredients you use, and what to do with them, a bunch of tested recipes, some great memories, dozens of innovative ideas for serving your food more attractively, and new friendships that you are sure to make as you chop and stir and mix over the hours, or in some cases days, that you are in class.

Hey, that sounds like a sure-fire recipe for success!

(Food & Culture Academy, Seoul, Korea)

Over the next few days we will be rounding up a good selection in Australia and around the world for you to learn more about. Better dust off your aprons!

Then for those who like a little scenery with their dishes, people like McIntosh & Bowman, Australia's largest cheese education and appreciation company, have taken it a step further. Since 2006 they have supported and promoted cheese makers who use the kind of traditional cheese making techniques that are endangered by modernisation and standardisation in the food industry and are proud advocates of ‘Slow Food’ principles, that promote biodiversity and quality in artisan cheese and farming practices in general.

Not content to simply share their secrets about Australian wine and cheeses, they pack up the goodies, and their guests, and transport them to the little island in Sydney Harbour that most people have seen but which not everyone has visited: Fort Denison, aka Pinchgut.

Here, with the weathered 19th-century stone walls behind and the glorious spectacle of Sydney Harbour in front, they show their classes which wine goes with which cheese and why.

Claudia Bowman (née McIntosh), of the ‘McIntosh & Bowman’ partnership is the face of the company which also offers beer and cheese tasting experiences as well as cheese-making classes and special one-off events pairing whisky or champagne with cheese, and even a Tasmanian cheese tour.

Have you attended a cookery school? What did you like best about it?