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Ultimate Foodie Bucket List

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Many start a new year with a list of health proclamations about eating-healthy-this and not-eating that. While we always encourage mindful eating, we think it’s much more fun to challenge your palette with new and interesting things, pushing the boundaries of flavour and tasting foods you’ve never even heard of (it's why we love cooking classes!). For the people who wake up thinking about what to make for breakfast, lunch and dinner - consider this your ultimate resource. Welcome to your Foodie Bucket List.

Cook the way your ancestors did, over an open fire

1. Cook Over an Open Fire

This year, make something over an open fire (not just a hotdog or s'mores). Maybe it’s Paella which is common in Spain, or perhaps try your hand at naan bread!

Alternative Proteins including legumes and even bugs are friendly on the wallet and high on the nutrition

2. Eat Some Bugs (or Maybe Just More Legumes)

We challenge you to eat an insect...or at least look for other sources of protein. Make Meatless Monday occasionally stretch to Tuesday, too. Want inspiration? Start simple. This enchilada cooking class includes a fabulous homemade guacamole, topped with crickets. Although they're optional, we say go for it!

This is the year to master your signature dessert

3. Master Your Signature Dessert

Maybe you’ll find your inner baker, or perhaps you'll want to master an impressive no-bake dessert like Tiramisu or Apple Strudel from Scratch. Regardless, decide on a dessert you want as your personal signature - and master it.

Experiment with new spices and discover new dishes from around the world

4. Scour the Spice Market

Whether its Za’atar, Turmeric, or Togarashi - we challenge you to visit a market or grocery store and buy a spice you’ve never used before. Bring it home and then find an authentic dish to make. We think your mouth will be very happy. Check out our Spice Advice for some tips!

Everyone's perfect burger is slightly different. Whether yours is grilled or panfried with pickles, find your own perfect burger

5. Find Your Perfect Burger

Some want cheese, others want it with mayo, mustard, and extra pickles. Some want grilled onions, others want it stuffed with bleu cheese and topped with bacon. We never judge, this one is all about you. Make it your quest to find your perfect burger. Book a team class with friends and family and you can whip up one together!

Master your home's speciality, the dish you can easily whip up and everyone seems to love

6. Master Your "Home Meal"

Find your inner home chef. Create a dish that is your 'home meal' - one that is your staple, what you're known for, one that you've experimented with, adjusted, perfected, and everyone seems to love. You can do it!

Learn how to make old fashion candy

7. Make Old Fashioned Candy

There's something fantastically whimsical about old fashioned candy. Experiment with old school treats like peppermints and toffee - the kids will love you!

2017 is said to be the year of the Sherry cocktail

8. Up Your Cocktail Game

Maybe it's with your favourite spirit or a liqueur you've always been curious about - try your hand at a new cocktail and invite the friends over for some serious sampling.

Shucking an oyster is a great skill for anyone who loves to entertain

9. Shuck an Oyster

Invite over friends for a dinner party, lay out six oysters for each person, and watch everyone be amazed by your skills. Or not. Shucking oysters is pretty darn hard. But we believe you can do it! Okay, need some help? Check out our Oysters 101 Guide.

Japanese food goes well beyond sushi, this year explore Japanese dishes you've never heard of

10. Go Beyond Sushi

Whether it’s seaweed snacks, Onigiri, Japanese pickles, or Okonomiyaki - go beyond sushi and dive into more traditional and authentic dishes. Go on and eat a Japanese dish that you can’t pronounce.

Find weird fruits and find out what they taste like!

11. Devour Weird Looking Fruit

Go to the grocery store and pick out the weirdest looking fruit you can find, go home, eat it and then learn all about it.


RELATED: VIDEO CALL A CHEF FROM ITALY, TURKEY, SPAIN AND MORE COUNTRIES AND MASTER THE WORLD'S MOST ICONIC DISHES.


Book a private cooking class with a master chef, live in Italy.




Invite over the crew and eat cereal for dinner

12. Eat Cereal for Dinner

Sometimes life gets super busy, so why not have fun with life's crazy times? During your busy season, invite over the friends and ask everyone to bring their favourite cereal - you supply the milk (extra points for 'special milk' spiked with some bourbon!). Snuggle up with blankets on the couch, hover over your bowls and maybe even throw on some cartoons in the background.

Embrace nutritionally rich foods like sauerkraut, tempeh and lassis

13. Explore Fermentation

Fermented foods like Sauerkraut, Kimchee, Kombucha... are proven to be very healthy and known to provide important nutrients, recalibrate your immune system and add good bacteria to help aid in digestion.

This year, try to understand the depth of anchovies and find a dish you enjoy

14. Appreciate Anchovies

We can understand why anchovies are so alienating. They can be fishy, they're rarely used properly (in North America), and we guess they can look a little weird but anchovies add wonderful depth to meals. If you want a great recipe, check out the traditional Peperonata recipe.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

15. Be Mindful and Celebrate Simple Cooking

One of our favourite recipes is Simple Roasted Tomatoes. Cover them with olive oil, a liberal amount of salt and pepper, and then let them roast in the oven until nice and caramelized. Not only does it celebrate the ingredient, but it let's the tomatoes find their inner awesomeness with slow roasting. Find your favourite one-ingredient dish that you transform into something incredible.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

16. Discover a New Cuisine

If you’ve never tried Jamaican, this is the year to seek out Jerk Chicken. Filipino is all the rage right now, try to find some local Lechon. Never got passed Butter Chicken at the local Indian hotspot? You’re totally missing out. Try Vindaloo or Rogan Josh. Thai will change your life, go ahead - order it spicy.

Online Thai Cooking Class

Private cooking classes with master chefs, live in Thailand. Rated Best Of by Forbes, WSJ and tens more.



Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

17. Eat Your Way Through the Regions of Italy (at Home)

Italy is a food mecca. Experience the country and flavour profiles from Calabria to Liguria. Our regional Italian cooking classes will help you find an even deeper appreciation for Italian cuisine.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

18. Become a Regular at the Local

No place fancy, not a diner by a celebrity chef, just a good old fashion local haunt where you have your favourite stool and everyone knows you when you come in.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

19. Boil A Lobster

Lobster requires nothing but butter to be delicious, but even experienced cooks find lobster a challenge. Any gourmet should know how to boil and prep lobster and have a couple of good standby recipes for those special occasions. In a matter of minutes you can have a epic meal your friends will rave about. We can help you with our Lobster Cooking Class.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

20. Serve Your Red Wine Cold

Whaaaa?!?! says (almost) every wine snob out there. Yes, this is part of Culinary Checklist. According to Bloomberg, several red wine styles including Beaujolais and Grenache actually taste better when chilled. It’s said to bring out the brightness. Rather than listening to what you’re supposed to do, drink your wine the way you like it best. It’s that simple.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

21. Travel Just for for a Culinary Experience

Now of course, if you can hop a plane to South Korea to experience authentic Bulgogi - amazing, but this culinary checklist doesn't require you travel so far. Maybe there's a restaurant an hour and a half away from where you live that has fantastic burgers. Make the trip! It'll be worth it.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

22. Buy a Truffle (and use it!)

Black Truffles are one of the world's most rich and luxurious delicacies. The intense aroma, earthiness - with a slight garlickiness, butteriness - but not really... the flavour of a freshly grated truffle is truly an experience. In the Umbria region of Italy, where they're harvested - pasta topped with freshly grated truffles is a norm. Why can't you be so lucky?! Splurge on a real truffle.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

23. Order Table Side Service

Whether its fresh mozzarella or guacamole made right at your table - seek out table side service, and watch the magic happen!

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

24. Preserve Anything

Save money, stock your pantry, eat fresh - what other reasons do you need? Peaches and Sun-dried Tomatoes, here we come.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

25. Eat at a Restaurant With a View

If you can secure a seat at the restaurant on the top floor of the CN Tower, you'll be dining in one of the world's tallest structures admiring a sprawling view of downtown Toronto. Restaurants on the beach are so calming. Restaurants outside world monuments like the Taj Mahal - total bucket list. Find a restaurant with a truly stunning view and eat in near silence.

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Rated "Best Gifts" by Forbes, Vanity Fair, Oprah, and tens more.

The Chef & The Dish Cooking Classes >


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The Chef & The Dish

Ultimate Foodie Bucket List

Updated: Oct 24


Many start a new year with a list of health proclamations about eating-healthy-this and not-eating that. While we always encourage mindful eating, we think it’s much more fun to challenge your palette with new and interesting things, pushing the boundaries of flavour and tasting foods you’ve never even heard of (it's why we love cooking classes!). For the people who wake up thinking about what to make for breakfast, lunch and dinner - consider this your ultimate resource. Welcome to your Foodie Bucket List.

Cook the way your ancestors did, over an open fire

1. Cook Over an Open Fire

This year, make something over an open fire (not just a hotdog or s'mores). Maybe it’s Paella which is common in Spain, or perhaps try your hand at naan bread!

Alternative Proteins including legumes and even bugs are friendly on the wallet and high on the nutrition

2. Eat Some Bugs (or Maybe Just More Legumes)

We challenge you to eat an insect...or at least look for other sources of protein. Make Meatless Monday occasionally stretch to Tuesday, too. Want inspiration? Start simple. This enchilada cooking class includes a fabulous homemade guacamole, topped with crickets. Although they're optional, we say go for it!

This is the year to master your signature dessert

3. Master Your Signature Dessert

Maybe you’ll find your inner baker, or perhaps you'll want to master an impressive no-bake dessert like Tiramisu or Apple Strudel from Scratch. Regardless, decide on a dessert you want as your personal signature - and master it.

Experiment with new spices and discover new dishes from around the world

4. Scour the Spice Market

Whether its Za’atar, Turmeric, or Togarashi - we challenge you to visit a market or grocery store and buy a spice you’ve never used before. Bring it home and then find an authentic dish to make. We think your mouth will be very happy. Check out our Spice Advice for some tips!

Everyone's perfect burger is slightly different. Whether yours is grilled or panfried with pickles, find your own perfect burger

5. Find Your Perfect Burger

Some want cheese, others want it with mayo, mustard, and extra pickles. Some want grilled onions, others want it stuffed with bleu cheese and topped with bacon. We never judge, this one is all about you. Make it your quest to find your perfect burger. Book a team class with friends and family and you can whip up one together!

Master your home's speciality, the dish you can easily whip up and everyone seems to love

6. Master Your "Home Meal"

Find your inner home chef. Create a dish that is your 'home meal' - one that is your staple, what you're known for, one that you've experimented with, adjusted, perfected, and everyone seems to love. You can do it!

Learn how to make old fashion candy

7. Make Old Fashioned Candy

There's something fantastically whimsical about old fashioned candy. Experiment with old school treats like peppermints and toffee - the kids will love you!

2017 is said to be the year of the Sherry cocktail

8. Up Your Cocktail Game

Maybe it's with your favourite spirit or a liqueur you've always been curious about - try your hand at a new cocktail and invite the friends over for some serious sampling.

Shucking an oyster is a great skill for anyone who loves to entertain

9. Shuck an Oyster

Invite over friends for a dinner party, lay out six oysters for each person, and watch everyone be amazed by your skills. Or not. Shucking oysters is pretty darn hard. But we believe you can do it! Okay, need some help? Check out our Oysters 101 Guide.

Japanese food goes well beyond sushi, this year explore Japanese dishes you've never heard of

10. Go Beyond Sushi

Whether it’s seaweed snacks, Onigiri, Japanese pickles, or Okonomiyaki - go beyond sushi and dive into more traditional and authentic dishes. Go on and eat a Japanese dish that you can’t pronounce.

Find weird fruits and find out what they taste like!

11. Devour Weird Looking Fruit

Go to the grocery store and pick out the weirdest looking fruit you can find, go home, eat it and then learn all about it.


RELATED: VIDEO CALL A CHEF FROM ITALY, TURKEY, SPAIN AND MORE COUNTRIES AND MASTER THE WORLD'S MOST ICONIC DISHES.


Book a private cooking class with a master chef, live in Italy.




Invite over the crew and eat cereal for dinner

12. Eat Cereal for Dinner

Sometimes life gets super busy, so why not have fun with life's crazy times? During your busy season, invite over the friends and ask everyone to bring their favourite cereal - you supply the milk (extra points for 'special milk' spiked with some bourbon!). Snuggle up with blankets on the couch, hover over your bowls and maybe even throw on some cartoons in the background.

Embrace nutritionally rich foods like sauerkraut, tempeh and lassis

13. Explore Fermentation

Fermented foods like Sauerkraut, Kimchee, Kombucha... are proven to be very healthy and known to provide important nutrients, recalibrate your immune system and add good bacteria to help aid in digestion.

This year, try to understand the depth of anchovies and find a dish you enjoy

14. Appreciate Anchovies

We can understand why anchovies are so alienating. They can be fishy, they're rarely used properly (in North America), and we guess they can look a little weird but anchovies add wonderful depth to meals. If you want a great recipe, check out the traditional Peperonata recipe.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

15. Be Mindful and Celebrate Simple Cooking

One of our favourite recipes is Simple Roasted Tomatoes. Cover them with olive oil, a liberal amount of salt and pepper, and then let them roast in the oven until nice and caramelized. Not only does it celebrate the ingredient, but it let's the tomatoes find their inner awesomeness with slow roasting. Find your favourite one-ingredient dish that you transform into something incredible.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

16. Discover a New Cuisine

If you’ve never tried Jamaican, this is the year to seek out Jerk Chicken. Filipino is all the rage right now, try to find some local Lechon. Never got passed Butter Chicken at the local Indian hotspot? You’re totally missing out. Try Vindaloo or Rogan Josh. Thai will change your life, go ahead - order it spicy.

Online Thai Cooking Class

Private cooking classes with master chefs, live in Thailand. Rated Best Of by Forbes, WSJ and tens more.



Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

17. Eat Your Way Through the Regions of Italy (at Home)

Italy is a food mecca. Experience the country and flavour profiles from Calabria to Liguria. Our regional Italian cooking classes will help you find an even deeper appreciation for Italian cuisine.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

18. Become a Regular at the Local

No place fancy, not a diner by a celebrity chef, just a good old fashion local haunt where you have your favourite stool and everyone knows you when you come in.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

19. Boil A Lobster

Lobster requires nothing but butter to be delicious, but even experienced cooks find lobster a challenge. Any gourmet should know how to boil and prep lobster and have a couple of good standby recipes for those special occasions. In a matter of minutes you can have a epic meal your friends will rave about. We can help you with our Lobster Cooking Class.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

20. Serve Your Red Wine Cold

Whaaaa?!?! says (almost) every wine snob out there. Yes, this is part of Culinary Checklist. According to Bloomberg, several red wine styles including Beaujolais and Grenache actually taste better when chilled. It’s said to bring out the brightness. Rather than listening to what you’re supposed to do, drink your wine the way you like it best. It’s that simple.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

21. Travel Just for for a Culinary Experience

Now of course, if you can hop a plane to South Korea to experience authentic Bulgogi - amazing, but this culinary checklist doesn't require you travel so far. Maybe there's a restaurant an hour and a half away from where you live that has fantastic burgers. Make the trip! It'll be worth it.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

22. Buy a Truffle (and use it!)

Black Truffles are one of the world's most rich and luxurious delicacies. The intense aroma, earthiness - with a slight garlickiness, butteriness - but not really... the flavour of a freshly grated truffle is truly an experience. In the Umbria region of Italy, where they're harvested - pasta topped with freshly grated truffles is a norm. Why can't you be so lucky?! Splurge on a real truffle.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

23. Order Table Side Service

Whether its fresh mozzarella or guacamole made right at your table - seek out table side service, and watch the magic happen!

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

24. Preserve Anything

Save money, stock your pantry, eat fresh - what other reasons do you need? Peaches and Sun-dried Tomatoes, here we come.

Embrace mindful and simple ingredients

25. Eat at a Restaurant With a View

If you can secure a seat at the restaurant on the top floor of the CN Tower, you'll be dining in one of the world's tallest structures admiring a sprawling view of downtown Toronto. Restaurants on the beach are so calming. Restaurants outside world monuments like the Taj Mahal - total bucket list. Find a restaurant with a truly stunning view and eat in near silence.


RELATED


Private Cooking Classes at Home

Video call a chef who lives in Italy, Thailand, Spain and more countries for an awesome night-at-home.

Private one-to-one cooking classes with a chef watching, coaching and cooking with you from across the world.

Rated "Best Gifts" by Forbes, Vanity Fair, Oprah, and tens more.


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Join Our Community of Foodies

Transport Your Kitchen for the Day.™