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From the fresh produce on the Caribbean island of Anguilla to the exotic flavors of Thailand, these four culinary adventures will pique your appetite for romance.

If the way to someone’s heart is through the stomach, then these yummy delights are sure to get the romance cooking! Culinary adventures and cooking classes are a hot topic in travel today—and with good reason. You get the chance to experience local cuisine and customs in a hands-on environment. We crossed the globe for different destinations that guarantee to sizzle, amaze and, of course, please your palate.

Thailand

This magical land offers an array of wonderful dishes at a fraction of the price you’d find at many other popular honeymoon destinations. Here, you can spend the day jungle-trekking in an open-air Jeep or kicking back at an exquisite tropical beach. Then, in the evening, you can feast on multicourse meals that won’t break the bank.

Food facts: Traditional Thai food borrows from many cultures, including Indian and Chinese. Chilies and red curry lend it a spicy kick; piquant marinades feature coconut juice, lime broth and oyster sauce.

Get cooking: The JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa’s Ginja Cook School, which opened in the city of Phuket in September 2006, specializes in traditional Thai cooking. (Classes in other Asian cuisines are also offered.) All Ginja Cook School’s kitchens are open air and face the sea, so the ocean breeze is never far—even when you’re working over a hot copper pot. You can feast on the fruits of your labor in the classroom kitchen or take the meal outside to the resort’s beach, where a private butler will help you set the scene. If you sign up for a personalized afternoon session, you’ll enjoy the extra treat of dining while the sun slips behind the horizon.

Diehard foodies will love the Ginja Cook Day package, which includes a seminar and lecture demonstration, a visit to a traditional Thai marketplace, hands-on preparation and, the best part, eating. You’ll try to master regional specialties like green papaya salad, spicy noodle dishes and fish steamed with citrus, fresh from the sea. Choose a Japanese class and you’ll learn the basics of the sushi hand roll. Or book a private lesson and a resident chef will help you create your own specialized menu. There are also classes like the popular mixology seminar, in which you learn the art of creating cocktails. You can also opt for the resort’s private dining service. A chef who specializes in the cuisine of your choice will whip up a meal as a private butler prepares the table. Your dinner can be served in your room or outside in a sala, a bamboo-roofed, open air gazebo-like structure with views of the ocean.

Accommodations: The breathtaking five star JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa sits on Mai Khao beach and features endless tropical gardens, three pools, a luxurious spa and a peaceful wellness center. Large guest rooms and suites have private balconies or terraces and black granite bathrooms with deep soaking tubs (800-228-9290; marriott.com).—Meredith Franco Meyers

Scottsdale, Arizona

Set against the stunning natural beauty of the red Sonoran desert and its giant saguaro cacti is an adventure-lovers playground called Scottsdale. Here you’ll find endless hiking and horseback-riding trails, countless golf courses, a number of world-renowned spas and a burgeoning dining scene. Every day has postcard-perfect weather and cool nights that are great for stargazing.

Food Facts: Arizona’s clean living and nature-loving attitude extends to its food scene. Organically raised game meats and produce are menu staples, and local herbs and spices, like desert oregano, lavender and chili peppers, are incorporated into many recipes. Barbecue and mesquite-smoking are popular regional cooking methods that produce high-flavor, low-calorie dishes.

Get Cooking: Scottsdale’s Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa emphasizes healthy eating and food preparation. A new, large organic garden is the centerpiece of the resort’s cuisine and cooking-instruction program. Sign up for a series of Light & Easy Cooking Classes and learn to create spa cuisine utilizing some delectable ingredients straight from the property’s garden. Classes begin with a tour through the citrus trees, heirloom-tomato plants and edible flowers and past an outdoor mesquite-burning fireplace. You’ll try your hand at stirring up spiced chili-rubbed meat and preparing yogurt-based desserts, and you can even learn how to make fresh wheatgrass juice. Another session gives tips on replicating these healthy meals when you’re on the go. Later, eat the fruits of your labor on the café’s stone terrace, where you can enjoy views of the garden’s waterfall and, of course, those amazing boulders.

Accommodations: The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa is set on 1,300 acres of pristine land in the Sonoran Desert. The resort’s minimalist design takes prime advantage of the location’s natural beauty, and nary a hallway or balcony is without a fabulous view. The hotel boasts 160 guest casitas and 55 villas, 6 restaurants, 2 golf courses, 8 tennis courts, as well as the legendary spa (theboulders.com). —Sharon Boone

Anguilla

The island of Anguilla is a Caribbean paradise that’s home to 33 pristine beaches; quaint, colorful townships; and friendly faces. In addition to an unbeatable culinary scene, there’s a happening music community that showcases calypso, reggae and jazz.

Food Facts: Anguilla is known among connoisseurs as the “cuisine capital of the Caribbean” and draws from myriad influences that include Mediterranean, French, Creole and Indo-Chinese. Although spicy grilled lobster and crayfish are the island’s specialty dishes, you’re as likely to find an intricate soufflé or garlicky shrimp with pasta as you are a jerk chicken salad with roasted plantains and Anguillan fish soup, a flavorful blend of local fish and vegetables.

Get Cooking: Food lovers flock to the beachfront resort, CuisinArt Resort & Spa, for a chance to savor the fresh flavors from the resort’s hydroponic farm—the only one in the Caribbean. Unleash your inner “Iron Chef” in the hotel’s Hands-On Class, where you and nine other students work together under the tutelage of a chef to prepare a three-course lunch. You’ll create artful dishes such as grilled mahi mahi and passion-fruit couli and hot chocolate soufflé with banana rum sauce. Take the two-and-a-half-hour Master Class, and you’ll tour the property’s expansive farm and pick ingredients (like tomatoes, lettuce and herbs) to be incorporated into your lunch. In the kitchen you’ll watch a demonstration as the chef prepares the delectable meal. For dinner, go to the resort’s Santorini restaurant, which serves French-influenced cuisine with a Caribbean twist. Standouts include cucumber gazpacho with crayfish, and Poach Anguillan Lobster served in a spicy coconut-milk sauce.

Accommodations: With its whitewashed walls topped with bold blue domes, the CuisinArt Resort & Spa has the luxurious look and feel of the Greek Isles. The 93-room hideaway has an enormous azure pool and an unbeatable spa, which incorporates fresh garden ingredients in its treatments. Start with the 50-minute Anguillan Coconut Pineapple Scrub and follow with the spa’s signature couples massage, performed on a stone terrace overlooking the ocean (800-943-3210; cuisinartresort.com). —Sharon Boone

The Bay of Islands, New Zealand

The Bay of Islands on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island feels as though it should be a secret hideaway. The breathtaking South Pacific scenery includes more than a hundred nearly uninhabited isles, crystalline bays, long sandy beaches, as well as a sky known for being one of the bluest in the world. The idyllic mainland boasts wild forests and green stretches dotted with sheep and cows and fruit trees. And the historic town of Kerikeri has a laid-back vibe, friendly people and great organic food.

Food Facts: In a culinary environment where market-fresh cuisine is king, chefs work with the artisanal ingredients and locally grown produce, as well as New Zealand-raised lamb and area seafood that includes Orongo Bay oysters and green-lipped mussels. The region is also home to a burgeoning wine scene.

Get Cooking: The Magnolia House, at a vineyard in Kerikeri, offers a full-day Farmer’s Market and Cooking Workshop, which begins with a tour of the farmers’ market to gather ingredients like avocados, dried oyster mushrooms and thin-skinned Maori potatoes. You’ll stroll among booths selling organic handmade sausages, free-range eggs and Edam, a semihard cow’s cheese, as well as sweet local honey and delicious breads. After a hands-on cooking session at the Magnolia House, your day concludes with visits—and tastings—at three nearby wineries. On The Gourmet Food and Wine Day Tour, you’ll visit an organic farm and small manufacturers of cheese and olive oil and chocolate before lunch and wine tastings (magnoliahouse.co.nz).

Accommodations: Enjoy the romance of a boutique vineyard and a seaside inn with a stay at Omata Estate in nearby Russell. Located on the bay, the intimate property offers 12 guest rooms, wine tastings and charter-boat excursions. The one-bedroom boathouse suite offers sweeping views of the ocean via floor-to-ceiling windows and a private beachfront deck (omata.co.nz).—Fran Golden