If you think you might have a budding Gordon Ramsay or Angela Hartnett in your midst, what better way to find out than send your child on a gourmet cookery course

Most of us had our first contact with cooking in our mother's kitchen, baking cookies or at least helping set the dinner table. For many of us that is as far as we ever got, others made the leap to heating microwaveable dinners and some - very few actually - became skilled chefs. Maybe if we had started out with a lesson or two from a Michelin-starred chef, things would have been different and more of us would be able to make something more than just a plate of pasta or heat up a frozen lasagne.

Fortunately our children have the advantage. Today a number of highly talented and motivated chefs offer kids a chance to hone their budding culinary skills at specially designed gourmet cooking courses. And as a special perk, the children are kept busy all day leaving you free to do as you please.

One of the best is at the spectacular Villa San Michele in Florence, which offers a four-day, three-night course, which includes hors d'oeuvre preparation classes with chef Attilio Di Fabrizio and an afternoon class entitled Circus of Sweets with the head pastry chef, where kids learn to prepare two desserts to share with their parents. On departure, each child receives a personalised chef's hat and apron. And while the kids are enjoying the classes, parents have time to see the sights of Florence or whatever it is parents do when their kids aren't around.

In the heart of the English countryside, Michelinstarred chef Raymond Blanc's offers a one-day course for kids at his famous Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. Especially designed by the chef himself, the goal here is to show kids the fun side of cooking, to open their eyes to healthy food options and also teach them a few of Raymond's secrets and techniques.

The course is divided into two sessions. The morning session is taken up with the kids preparing their own gourmet lunch while the afternoon is given over to sweets as they get a chocolate tasting and, believe it or not, learn to make a perfect soufflé. Open to guests and non-residents alike, the day includes morning and afternoon tea and each child leaves with a certificate for a good day's work.

Let's be honest. Your son or daughter may not surprise you with a four-course gourmet dinner anytime soon but these courses do give the children involved a great first contact with food preparation and cooking and you never know where it might lead in the future... - Guy Fiorita

Courses at Villa San Michele from €2,889 for two parents with child in a superior double room. www.villasanmichele.com

Day course at Le Manoir, £200 per child. www.manoir.com