Bon Appetite!

Several days ago I went to my first of several cooking classes. I learned quite a bit and had lots of fun. The Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School picked me up from my home (Elegant Lanna) and transported us to a nearby market where the instructor spoke about the various ingredients and how some of them are used. We then were able to walk around the market for about 20 minutes.

We arrived at their school on a farm which was very beautiful. The set up was really nice too. We were able to select from a nice selection of dishes we wanted to prepare. We took a walk around the garden as the instructor explain more about produce and how they work together in our various dishes.

The first table we worked at we learned how to make a curry paste. I guess I am really naive because I thought that curry were just the dry spice put together and you just add it to your food or to make a sauce you add coconut milk or something. This was a major learning experience for me. In a mortar with a pestle I pounded together a variety of ingredients such as shallots, chilis, lime rind, cummin seeds just to name a few and "voila" my curry paste. It does take some work but well worth it.

We learned about the variety of rices at the market but he went into more detail during this aspect and he started cooking jasmine and sticky rice. We proceeded to our work stations where we learned how to use the tools in the kitchen. Then based on what we selected we began the cooking. The instructor was informative and had a wonderful sense of humor.

After the first set of dishes we prepared we had a chance to eat what we made. When I ate my Tom Yam Kung (w/Shrimps) soup I was blown away. I even made a comment...."did I make that?" That was my favorite thing that I made and there were other dishes I enjoyed too.

Some of the other dishes I prepared was Kaeng Kiao Waan Gai (Green Curry with Chicken), Pad Si-ew (big noodles), Phad Kaprao Gai (Chicken w/Basil Leaves), and Bod Fak Thong (Pumpkin in Coconut Milk).

The course was a full day. You eat several times with plenty to take home with you. It was cool too because we had a chance to share each other dishes. Before taking us back home they gave us a nice little cooking book of the items that we prepared. I will be taking several more course trying a variety of schools. I really like the folks at the Thai Farm Cooking School.