Epicurean experts the Edinburgh New Town Cookery School have one-day cookery courses teaching everything from cooking with game to baking artisan bread, curries to French cuisine, gluten-free to Japanese, vegetarian to Vietnamese, desserts, shellfish, knife skills, patisserie, even healthy eating for those with New Year's resolutions in mind – all of which can be bought as gifts, or you can buy gift vouchers towards the cost. They can even email the vouchers, making them perfect for last-minute presents.
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Far more slick and stylish than any cookery school situated inside a brewery has any right to be, the spanking new Tennent's Training Academy in Glasgow does so much more then beer – how about a day of cooking, curry and comedy? Your loved one will be talked through assembling their own curry before sitting down to enjoy it with a pint, then being whisked off to a comedy club to finish off the night. For those more into patatas bravas than poppadoms, the Spanish tapas, sangria and salsa experience is a safe bet – cook up a bite-sized storm with sangria in hand, then head off to Arta in the Merchant City to learn some Latin moves. Both available from Gift Experience Scotland.
For food obsessives, the star they really want to see on top of the tree is Michelin-shaped. Restaurant Martin Wishart has vouchers starting from £50 and options including lunch for two or a tasting menu experience, while Paul Kitching's 21212 vouchers are available for any amount and they'll personalise them for you too. At Tom Kitchin's The Kitchin , gift vouchers start from £29.50 per person for a three-course lunch and from £75 per person for a tasting menu experience, or from £50 towards the cost.
For pint-sized foodies, a sushi making class is great fun – this one for beginners in Glasgow from Buy a Gift has a minimum participation age of just six and lasts only one hour, making it perfect for miniature attention spans, for £49 per person.
Or for something decidedly grown-up, how about a seven-course banquet in an opulent 15th-century Highland castle? Ackergill Tower sits on the sea cliffs near Wick and uses only locally sourced Scottish produce, some of it grown on the Tower's own 3,000-acre estate – £90 per person from Virgin Experience Days . If you fancy springing for a post-prandial room too, you'll be greeted by a four-poster bed and a roaring fire, or, if you opt for the tower's treehouse, a 7ft-wide circular bed under a cut-out ceiling made for stargazing.
