lemon grass, galangal and kaffir lime

yesterday, i took a thai cooking class here in chang mai. there are a number of thai cooking schools here in chang mai. how to choose? my first day here i was tired from my train ride,so i took it easy. wandered the streets and decided to check out a few of the schools. the most advertised one was closed, the one at my guesthouse seemed empty and not interesting. then i turned down a side street looking for a different advertised one. there in an open air, large room, dark wood floors and walls - very thai - a small class of purple apron clad people sat around a table chopping, who knows what - but it smelled great - all the way from the street! so i choose that one and i would reccomend it to anyone visiting chang mai... but will have to look up the name...

the day started at 9:30 the next morning. in typical thai style, things didn't get going until 9:50 at the earliest! first my classmates and i sat onthe floor around a long table. we were given coffee or tea. we all introduced ourselves and had some small talk. the 2 women running the class asked us each what 5 dishes we wanted to cook. I choose spring rolls, coconut chicken soup, pad thai, papaya salad, sweet and sour chicken, and green curry paste and then a green curry dish.

then we walked to the market. our teacher taught us all about the different vegetables used in thai cooking. the market was pretty neat -lots to look at and completely a local market. then back to the house. first up - pad thai. first we went to the chopping table and commenced chopping vegetables for the dish. using a nice sharp cleaver and a small round wood cutting board. then to the open air kitchen area in the back. first the teacher showed us how to make it and then we each made it - then back to the low table to eat and try each other's dishes and then on to the next dish.

And that was how the day progressed. learning, cooking and then eating. it was lots of fun and totally relaxed. i felt like i learned a lot, but that i wasn't nessarily in school. i was still relaxing on vacation. and we ate a ton! at the end of the day we were given a cook book and we sat around for a while all chatting and feeling too stuffed and comfortable to move!

if you wanted a serious cooking class - then maybe this one isn't for you- but if you are looking for an enjoyable way to spend a day on vacation while still learning a bit about thai cooking, then i totally recommend this school.