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12 | www.travelweekly-asia.com PRODUCT: FOOD & WINE Cookly is an online marketplace that connects foodies and travellers to cooking schools and other culinary activities. It was founded in Bangkok by Benjamin Ozsanay and Etienne Marleau-Rancourt, who met in Thailand and were looking to book a cooking class online, but with little luck. COOKLY KNOWS HOW TO OPEN THE BEST KITCHEN DOORS in search of an authentic culinary experience will benefit from Cookly's central online database, and appreciate the easy, Airbnb-like booking process," Ozsanay says. He says the "real appeal of Cookly" comes from the combination of cooking, travel and discovery into one, easy-to-organise and hassle-free experience. Ozsanay says food is a bridge between a country and its culture and borrows a quote from the International Culinary Tourism Association: "Because eating We'll remember a meal much longer than we will a visit to the museum. The marketplace will feature an easy "Airbnb-like" booking process. By Ian Jarrett Top: Anantara Chiang Rai Cooking School; Right: Phuket Thai Cooking Academy ingredients. involves all five of the human senses, we'll remember a meal much longer than we will a visit to a museum." Cooking plans to expand regionally and into Australia, India and Europe, with planned activities to include wine tastings, food tours and mixology classes. Cookly recently launched an affiliate system that allows partners in the travel industry such as hotels and travel agents to book through Cookly with a commission in return, or at special rates. Spain's Tomatina festival, dubbed "the world's biggest food fight, this year saw 160 tonnes of ripe tomatoes offloaded from trucks into a crowd of more than 22,000 revellers who packed the streets of the small town of Bunol for an hour- long battle. Locals and visitors pelted each other with tomatoes, leaving the streets of the town awash with red pulp. The Tomatina started in 1945 when local youths brawling in the street seized tomatoes and other produce from a greengrocer's stall and let loose. Local authorities in 2013 made Tomatina an annual event on the tourism calendar and charged for entry. A RIPE AND RED CELEBRATION IN SPAIN Credit: mmeee/iStock "Both Etienne and myself grew up in environments where food always played a big role in our lives. I'd definitely consider myself a proper foodie who loves to cook and try new local dishes while travelling," says Ozsanay. Cookly aims to connect locals and travellers to professional chefs and established top restaurants and cooking schools in cities throughout Southeast Asia, including Bangkok, Hanoi, Hua Hin, Krabi, Phuket and Bali. Cooking schools currently working with Cookly include Baipai Thai Cooking School (Bangkok), Hanoi Cooking Centre, Grain Cooking School in Ho Chi Minh City by Australian/Vietnamese celebrity chef Luke Nguyen and Bambu Bali Cooking School. "Travellers to Southeast Asia