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Back to school

Cooking school, that is.

Attending a cooking class had never really been at the top of my list. But they are popular here in northern Thailand, and with some of the best food in the world, why not?

"Yummy" was our teacher for the day, and her name turned out to suit her well. After picking up 9 of us from the city, we headed to a market where we were the only "farangs" in sight. She schooled us on different types of rice and herbs we would soon be cooking with, and then gave us some time to peruse on our own. It was a feast for the eyes.





We then headed further into the countryside and down some back roads before arriving at their facility. There are three open air kitchens with maybe 10 cooking stations each. Outside is an organic garden boasting fruits, vegetables, and herbs used only by the classes. We sampled fresh herbs from the garden that smelled and tasted incredible. There was basil, "hot" basil, ginger, tumeric, and lemongrass, among others. Kaffir lime leaves may have been my favorite.




We cooked, ate, and rested (digested) the day away with lemongrass and basil tea during breaks. The morning started with morter and pestle to prepare our curry paste for later...my menu for the day:

Tom yam soup with shrimp


Tofu spring rolls with scratch Thai dipping sauce, crispy and fresh out of the hot oil


Papaya salad. Uses green (not ripe) papayas, very savory. Ate it all before a photo happened.

Green curry with chicken, including pea-sized "bitter eggplant" and slightly larger "sweet eggplant," different than the big purple common in the west.


Chicken stir fry


Mango with sticky rice, a pretty common dessert. So sweet. Mangos so ripe. Rice was colored blue with iris flowers and topped with sesame seeds and mung beans.

All the food was superb and the people and atmosphere made for a memorable day. We all left with full stomachs and a cook book of what we just made. Here's hoping I can recreate these on my own....

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