Apron Up Hanoi: Five Dishes and the City's Biggest Market

Three and a quarter hours, and a class that takes people who have never cooked and people who are planning to open a Vietnamese restaurant, and finds something for both.

It starts at the largest market in Hanoi, a short walk from the school in the Old Quarter. That has a practical benefit beyond the class: you come out knowing where to buy what for the rest of your trip.

Then the ingredients, the spices and the Vietnamese produce that have no equivalent at home, and five of the dishes Hanoi eats most, cooked from beginning to end rather than assembled. A vegetarian version runs for anyone who wants it.

Everything gets eaten, with Vietnamese rice wine passed round the table, and you leave with a recipe booklet and a certificate.

Up to fifteen people, in English, with the chef speaking it. Coffee and tea included. The room is wheelchair accessible.