Healthy Cooking Classes
Author: Julie Keller
July 2007
Columns
Parisian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli once said, “Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale.”
For all these reasons and more, hosting a culinary class or demonstration, particularly one featuring healthy ingredients, is an excellent team-building option for your next meeting. Properties around the globe are embracing this trend and offering healthy-cooking classes for meetings, as a fun break for meeting-goers and their spouses.
Carol Ann Payne-Johnson, owner of The Travel Corner, a Smyrna, Ga.-based company that specializes in planning business meetings and incentive travel, recently hosted the annual meeting for Caribbean Equity Reinsurance Limited at The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun. She scheduled a spouse event at the resort’s new Culinary Center, where interactive lessons in food and wine are conducted in a professionally equipped kitchen overlooking the Caribbean. Payne-Johnson says the event was such a big hit, “that so many of the men who were involved in the meeting wanted to participate after hearing about it,” so she added one class after the meetings were over just to accommodate them.
It is cooking’s universal appeal that makes it an excellent choice for meetings. And a focus on healthy cooking, which makes attendees feel more energized and dynamic, is also a great way for them to bond. As culinary guru James Beard once said, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”
“It puts people of different levels within the company all on the same playing field,” says Rory Dunaway, the chef at the Culinary Center at The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun.
IN THE MIX
A number of properties have embraced the healthy cooking class trend. At the Culinary Center at The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun, fresh local ingredients are used for all sessions. “All the recipes are very healthy because we understand that the guests are very health conscious,” says Culinary Center Chef Rory Dunaway. “Most of the menus include a fresh salad containing local seafood or some type of soup, an entree of seafood or chicken that is usually sautéed in a small amount of oil, steamed or oven roasted. The desserts usually contain local fresh fruits and contain very few calorie-heavy components.”
The Ritz also features a Spa Cuisine class among its offerings, which focuses on creating wholesome meals while respecting natural flavors and following healthy guidelines. “Through the class they realize that eating healthy can be tasty,” says Dunaway.
The outdoor Piazza terrace at Miramonte Resort & Spa (Indian Wells, Calif.) provides a picturesque setting for group cooking classes offered specifically for meetings. Kampgrounds of America (K.O.A.) recently hosted a meeting there where a series of cooking classes was coordinated with each meal. Each class matched what was on the menu and a demonstration with those menu items was performed.
Meanwhile, at Enchantment Resort (Sedona, Ariz.), classes involving the healthy fare offered at the resort’s award-winning Mii amo destination spa are available for groups, the most popular of which is the Chef’s Challenge team-building event. “The meeting attendees are divided up into teams, and using an array of healthy ingredients placed before them, they create three courses—an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert,” explains Alexa K. Hokanson, director of communications. “Because our staff chefs are nearby and occasionally interact with the teams, attendees pick up cooking tips and learn about the food preparation during the fun.”
The trend is growing, too. At the famed Rancho La Puerta destination spa in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico, cooking classes featuring the resort’s home-grown organic ingredients were so popular with guests that a brand-new cooking school is scheduled to open in late 2007. La Cocina Que Canta is a 4,500-square-foot facility featuring a large hands-on classroom/kitchen, a cookbook library and a culinary gift shop, all set in the heart of the spa’s famous six-acre organic farm “Tres Estrellas” (Three Stars), where fruits, herbs, and vegetables can be found. When it opens, the school will be an excellent option for all resort guests, including healthy-minded groups.
A healthy dining option can also be relatively cost-effective. Payne-Johnson says that when she hosted her sessions at The Ritz, she paid for 14 guests per session at approximately $100 a head. While this was more expensive than some Cancun options, like parasailing or a boat trip, she says she got her money’s worth, particularly after one fun-filled session wound up lasting four hours rather than the scheduled two. “Compared to a spa visit, it’s great, it lasts longer and it’s so much fun,” she says. “If you choose a less-expensive option like parasailing, you don’t learn anything, and you don’t come away with that camaraderie you develop from being with people you know.”
TAKE-HOME BENEFITS
Group cooking sessions also offer great options for creative takeaways. Guests who partake in the cooking classes at The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun receive a packet with printouts of all of the items they created. They also receive a complimentary, embroidered apron. Many other properties also have cookbooks created by their chefs, which also makes for a memorable take-home gift. But aprons, cookbooks, and other memories from the classes are just the beginning for meeting-goers who have partaken in a healthy cooking lesson. “I think it is a trend for our clients to see their attendees relieve stress and to take something home with them from the experience,” says Enchantment’s Hokanson of the resort’s Chef’s Challenge event. “So for those who want cooking on their agenda, it works that they take a healthier food approach home with them too.
“Beyond a takeaway gift, a healthy group cooking session can have more long-term benefits, as well. Guests have shared their experiences with us of how they learned healthier eating habits while at the resort and have continued them at home,” explains Ayara. “That’s why we are here—we hope to provide guests with the tools and inspiration to engage in healthy living and then continue those habits at home and in the workplace.”
RESOURCES
At the Culinary Center at The Rtiz-Carlton, Cancun
