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fertilizers and pesticides "Here", said Chef Jeanne on our first gourmet foray out of Africato France's Champagne district, "here, life is one great feast,where champagne is the guest of honour." Suddenly, steamed pud andmutton chops seemed light years away as we set to work learning howto cook gougere de gibier (dense, cheesy choux pastry with agame-meat filling), garlic snails and creme brulee.Subsequently, in Holland and Belgium, I learned how to makechocolates. On one memorable occasion, chocolatier Christian Vanderkerten ofthe famous Chocolatier Manon in Brussels showed us how hotchocolate cooled best when poured over an old marble tombstone. Manon had inherited his chocolate recipe book from his grandfather,from the days when, instead of sending you to the pharmacy, adoctor would prescribe a visit to the chocolatier who then made upmedicinal chocolates for your ailments. Fine ingredients like hot,red peppers and orange peel went into the dark chocolates weconcocted. In Holland, I also learned how to incorporate edible(pesticide-free) flowers in elaborate meals, in Tokyo's TsukijiFish Market, how to source the very best ingredients for sushi and,several continents and cuisines later, I am always mentallysharpening my cooking knives, anticipating another great culinaryadventure. In B.C., this has involved learning how to make authentic bannockand, under the guidance of an aboriginal chief, split-roasting afresh salmon alongside a beach fire. Another oceanic cookingopportunity happens this summer at Saltspring Island's HastingsHouse where nascent chefs can not only catch their crab, but alsolearn how to prepare it in the inn's kitchen. While, up-country,vegans and vegetarians can team up with the cooking team at theAlive Resort north of Vernon where we have learned some of ourtastiest vegetarian recipes.In Vancouver, as good a place to start as any is at The Cookshopnear City Hall, where nightly lessons showcase the talents of someof our top Pacific Northwest Chefs.On the other side of our country, where Quebec City lays claim tobeing the gourmet heartbeat of Canada, from July 29 to Aug. 11 chefEric Arrouze leads a regional cuisine program put on by UBC'sContinuing Studies Department. The deal with Chef Eric is that every morning he takes studentsright to the heart of Quebecoise cuisine during a three-hourculinary arts class. Grilled quail salad, blueberry tartlet of LacSt-Jean and home-made maple ice cream are some of the disheslearned, prepared and eaten. Afternoons are devoted to walkingaround places in the old city and l'Ile d'Orleans, before eveningsspent savouring the specialities of outstanding local restaurants. Down in our neighbourhood to the south, I once nearly sliced afinger off with a mandoline, a type of stainless-steel slicer, thefirst time I ever used one while learning to make a jicama salad atSalish Lodge above Snoqualmie Falls in Washington state. Further south, Portland is one of our favorite cookingdestinations. Transplanted Aussie Barbara Dawson owns the In GoodTaste Cooking School which capitalizes on fresh, locally-grownOregon bounty. On Sept. 11, Cory Schreiber (Wildwood Restaurant)will focus on my favorite fruit: the tomato, teaching students howto make heirloom tomato salad with arugala pesto and grilled sweetonions, cold red tomato soup with curried creme fraiche and localDungeness crab; whole braised fish in tomato sauce with fennel,green olives and orange, with a dessert of yellow tomato sorbetwith fresh melon and mint. A July 14 class is devoted to cooking from CSA (Community SupportedAgricultural) bounty -- to help folk who are suddenly faced withboxes loaded with wonderful produce, but who don't know what to dowith them. Foodies who put this class on their calendar, might wantto consider biking there on the famous July 12, 200-mile Seattle toPortland bike ride. Other Good Taste highlights include the wildgame class (Sept. 26) which coincides with the start of local gameseason and usually sells out each year. And then there are the guest chef authors: people like John Ash(from Napa) cooking from his book From Earth to Table, SusanHermann Loomis (an American living and teaching cooking classes ather school in France); Joanne Weil (another Napa PBS star), AndreaNguyen (who teaches Vietnamese cooking) and cheese maven PaulaLambert. Across the waters in Ireland, Darina Allen of whom the ObserverFood Monthly says "there's not much this gourmet grande damedoesn't know," runs the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School. Her book,just out, A Year at Ballymaloe Cookery School is for keen cheffieswho just can't make it to Ireland this year. Once again, season iskey, with my favourite fungi -- wild mushrooms -- turning up infall soups and venison stews. Hotels are magnets for fine chefs and educational cookingopportunities. A foodie colleague just returned from cookerylessons in Chang Mai, Thailand's Four Seasons Hotel where, duringan appetizer blitz, her highlight was learning how to make canapesof dragon fruit with stuffed with duck. In Italy, the Hotel Ancora in Cortina will, on request, teachguests how to make such delicacies as white asparagus pudding withtaleggio cheese fondue and balsamic syrup gratinated with smokedricotta cheese, ravioli with saffron, wild herbs, ricotta andtoasted pine-nuts cream and risotto with certosino cheese, beansand quail breast blanched with thyme and tiramisu. Just in fromFrance, A La Carte Cuisine put on three- seven-night cookingcourses in country Chateaux and Bijou Hotels, complete with visitsto plum orchards and duck farms. Meanwhile, Germany has always been one of my favourite gourmetdestinations, ever since a friend taught me how to cookpfifferlinger (chanterelles) and schweinshaxen (rotisserie cookedpork shank). Once again, in Germany's exciting capital of Berlin,hotels come up trumps. Although one can feel in Berlin that with1,500 events happening on any given day, it's hard to pick, if thekitchen stove beckons, there is always the option of joining one ofthe city's many hotel kitchen parties. Places like the Stuttgarter Hof have attracted the likes of ChefMarkus Semmler, who, every Wednesday evening from 6 to 10 p.m.invites passionate food lovers to a four-course After Work CookingEvent. First off, the dishes are discussed over a leisurely glassof prosecco. Guests then don aprons and gather around Chef Markus'sstove to cook (and eat) meals such as baked goat's cheese salad,braised leg of rabbit with creamy polenta and fruity mango mousse.Culinary Salons also happen in Charlottenburg where folk learn howto cook leek cannelloni with iced crab, mini squid and blackvinaigrette. In Toronto, another company has capitalized on many a traveller'slove affair with good food. Horizon & Company, one of Canada'sleading boutique travel companies, sends customers on EpicureanAdventures, a series of culinary journeys built around some of thehottest food destinations and emerging culinary trends -- this yeartaking tours to Hungary, India, Indochina, Morocco, Normandy,Tuscany and Spain. While my home continent is not yet firmly on the culinary map,visitors to its 54 countries often remark on the sheer tastiness oflocal produce, whether it is a fresh cob of East African maizeroasted over a "jiko" (charcoal burner), or a fresh pan ofquivering, orange halva from the narrow streets of Lamu Island inthe Indian Ocean. In Africa, we attribute this tastiness tomineral-rich soils, not yet degraded by artificial fertilizers andpesticides. As a result, "matoke" (hot, mashed plantain bananas)with groundnut sauce, the national dish of Uganda, is hard to beat. On a recent visit to Kampala, I teamed up with Chef Harriet.Together we visited the local market to source our produce, then,with assistant Chef Janet, learned how to peel the matoke bananasand ritually boil them swathed in banana leaves on a "jiko", beforeserving them with groundnut sauce. Ideal for vegetarians, matoke is the poutine of Uganda and, natch,tastes best on its home turf. But I've already got plans toreplicate it in our Vancouver kitchen, if only I could source a"jiko."