ARTISANAL FOOD TOURS IN ASIA

Cheese fiends – get excited! You can now enjoy homemade buffalo mozzarella in Asia. The Laos Buffalo Dairy has thrown open the doors to its farm in Luang Prabang. Guests can learn how to milk the buffaloes, feed the super cute calves and cook up a mozzarella dish or two with an international chef in its kitchen.

Go behind the scenes at Young Master Ales, Hong Kong’s biggest and most decorated craft brewery. Find out more about how they create their award-winning tipples during the tour, then take a seat at one of the aged oak barrels and enjoy a tasting session within the brewery where you get to try avant-garde beers such as forest berry sour ale and Cha Chaan Teng Gose with local lime. You will also be gifted a piece of Young Master Ales glassware to mark your visit.

Pod chocolate couldn’t be any fresher – the cocoa beans are grown and fermented on the island. You can visit the boutique chocolate factory in Bali and try each ingredient at each stage of production as the skilled staff break down the raw cacao into cocoa nibs, then turn them into an array of different bars including chilli, cinnamon, goji berry and coconut and sea salt flavours. You can even create your bespoke bar to take home.

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Take a trip to Cambodia and tour La Plantation, one of the country’s most famous Kampot pepper farms. Find out more about the spicy pepper that arrived from China in the 13th century and took the country by storm. Discover black, green, red and even white varieties as you walk through the farm with your guide (you can even taste as you go). Then sign up for a cooking class and learn how to create an array of spicy, peppery treats – including Kampot pepper ice cream. The socially aware farm also supports a school in the village.

If you could have all the tea in China, you should probably pick the famous Anji White Tea. Head to Alila Anji where you can take a tour of the tea plantations that surround Tian Fu Lake. When prepared correctly, Anji White Tea has been described as liquid silk. The white buds need to be harvested quickly by hand, then rolled into needles before they darken. The season only last 30 days during the spring time so ask your Lightfoot Travel Designer to book you a space.