Barcelona wasn’t built overnight, but you can certainly master the picada in an afternoon. Short courses—from weekend intensives to a few hours at a posh hotel—suit both the skilled and the amateur and have the power to transport you far beyond their confines.
If the idea of toiling over a hot stove leaves you cold, how about popping into the kitchen of a famous cook—at a country house in France, on a remote Greek island, or in a Venetian palazzo, with plenty of time for market tours, wine tastings, and leisurely meals?