From the lively streets of Thailand to the vibrant food scenes of Peru, culinary enthusiasts can dive into local cooking traditions and master recipes straight from the experts.

Lucy Aitchison, a trainee surgeon from Sydney, is pounding a stalk of lemongrass with a cleaver. While attending a conference in Bangkok, she jumped at the chance to join a cooking class led by a Thai chef. 'I don’t often have the time to cook at home,' she explains. 'But this class offers so much more than TV shows or cookbooks—you get to learn from the locals.'

The class began with Chef Goong Sreesopon giving Aitchison and her fellow students wicker baskets before guiding them through a bustling market. The vibrant stalls overflow with fresh produce, and the seafood is so fresh it’s practically still swimming.

Sreesopon shared tips on how to pick the perfect chicken for each dish (a yellower skin signifies tougher but more flavorful meat) and how to identify the freshest eggs (choose those with rough-textured shells).

The participants booked their session through Cookly, the world’s largest platform for cooking classes. Founded in 2014 in Bangkok, Cookly offers over 1,000 classes across 150 locations in more than 30 countries. CEO Benjamin Ozsanay moved to Bangkok from Berlin that same year, seeking adventure and drawn to the digital nomad lifestyle.

Raised in a food-loving family with a French mother and a Turkish father, Ozsanay’s entrepreneurial spark came after watching a video of British chef Jamie Oliver learning to cook curry from a renowned chef in Bangkok. 'I found out she offered cooking classes, so I tried to book one,' recalls Ozsanay.

It seemed simple enough, but it wasn't. 'I filled out a form and waited. By the time I got a response, I had already left Bangkok to travel. I never had the chance to take the class,' he recalls.

Ozsanay dug deeper and discovered that the issue was widespread – despite being a favorite activity for tourists, many cooking classes were offline, making them difficult for travelers to find. Recognizing an opportunity, he teamed up with his friend Etienne Marleau-Rancourt to create Cookly. The platform now employs 35 staff members. While big names like Expedia and TripAdvisor also list cooking classes, Ozsanay points out that Cookly is the only global booking platform dedicated exclusively to culinary experiences.

Cooking with Fire

When they arrived at Sreesopon’s cooking school, a cozy converted home tucked in a quiet residential lane, the students unpacked their baskets of ingredients and slipped into purple aprons.

The meal is prepared in a cozy, family-style setting, with everyone gathered in a circle on the floor.

The first dish on the menu is a rich, aromatic tom yum soup. Sreesopon guides the group through making coconut milk by massaging shredded coconut in warm water, turning tamarind into a paste, pounding lemongrass to release its distinctive scent, mashing ginger, and chopping up straw mushrooms, tomatoes, spring onions, coriander, and fiery purple bird’s eye chilies. The group then heads outdoors to simmer the ingredients in mini woks with tofu, shrimp, and chicken.

An enthusiastic teacher, Sreesopon’s face lights up whenever she talks about her passion for cooking. 'My students always tell me how much they enjoy shopping at the market for fresh ingredients. I let them handle the money and pay for the produce so they can learn the real local prices,' she says.

After cooking – and savoring – the tom yum soup, the class moves on to prepare a classic pad thai. Sreesopon explains the intricate balance of flavors: 'We add tamarind for tang, fish sauce for saltiness, coconut sugar for sweetness, and roasted chili powder for heat.' The students also make Massaman curry, a beloved dish from southern Thailand.

Janno Ketolainen from Estonia shares that this is his first cooking class. 'I used to travel purely for fun and sightseeing,' he says. 'But now I’m more interested in immersing myself in the local culture, especially through food.'

He represents a growing trend among travelers.

Ozsanay observes, 'Travel is evolving. People are increasingly eager to try new experiences, learn something new, and food offers a fantastic way to dive into a country's culture.'

Cookly offers classes across the globe, from India to Spain to Mexico. The experiences range from formal cooking schools to home-based lessons, with instructors including skilled Japanese sushi masters and an 82-year-old Italian 'nonna' who specializes in making fresh pasta by hand. Erik Wolf, Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association, states, 'For a visitor, there’s no better experience than enjoying local food in a local’s home,' adding that 'authenticity is the top priority for today’s food-loving travelers.'

Ozsanay observes a growing interest in unique culinary experiences. Adventurous travelers in Bangkok are cooking with ants' eggs, while others are participating in 'Pachamanca' classes in the Peruvian Andes, where food is traditionally cooked over hot stones in an underground pit.

The class concludes with a dessert of fresh mango paired with sticky rice, infused with a stunning sky-blue color from butterfly pea flowers. 'I love seeing how people connect with the lessons,' says Sreesopon. 'They leave with a piece of our culture to take back to their own countries.'