A Review of my Recent Cooking Class in Chiang Mai, Thailand

As a chef, as well as a long-term traveler, I have tried several cooking classes in my global wanderings.  So it was only natural that I would investigate the numerous cooking classes available here in Chiang Mai.  I digested (no pun intended) around a dozen brochures and read a number of often contradictory online reviews.

I finally took the plunge selecting a cooking class at Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School.  They promote themselves quite well around Chiang Mai.  They offer half and full day courses in town and a full day course at their farm.  I signed up for the latter.  The day started with a pickup at my guesthouse.  We went to the local market to learn about traditional Thai ingredients.

Berri explains the finer points of Thai rice usage.

Then we drove 20 minutes out of the city to their sustainable farm which is based on HRH the King’s new Theory of Agriculture and Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy.  The 1.6 acre farm is lovely and the cooking facilities are clean and well organized.

Green papaya and Chinese kale are among the many ingredients grown here.

We were given a tour of the farm and were then welcomed with Meang Kum, a traditional Thai greeting.  These are plates containing items of the five essential tastes in Thai cooking:  sweet, salty, spicy, bitter and sour.  The items are rolled together in the betel or lettuce leaf and quickly consumed.

Meang Kum

When I arrived, I was a bit concerned to find that the class had grown from six to about 15 students.  I like small classes; however, in this case the size worked to my advantage.  Each student is allowed to choose one dish each from six different categories to learn to prepare.  Since between us all, every possible dish was chosen, I actually learned to prepare 23 different items.  These are the dishes that Berri demonstrated.  The ones in bold are those that I actually cooked.

1.  Stir Fried

• Pad Thai
• Cashew Nut with Chicken
• Pad See Uw
• Hot Basil Stir Fried

2.  Appetizer

• Spring Roll
• Green Papaya Salad
• Glass Noodle Salad

3.  Soup

• Tom Yum
• Coconut Milk Soup
• Tom Sab

4.  Dessert

• Sticky Rice with Mango
• Banana in Coconut Milk
• Deep Fried Banana

5.  Curry Paste

• Red Curry Paste
• Green Curry Paste
• Panang Curry Paste
• Massaman Curry Paste
• Khaw Soi Curry Paste

6.  Curry

• Red Curry
• Green Curry
• Panang Curry
• Massaman Curry
• Khaw Soi Curry

In the process, I got to prepare three of my very favorite Thai dishes!

Green Papaya Salad

Ingredients for Massaman, Green and Red Curry Pastes

Berri spoke of the importance of emotions in the preparation of food.  As the chef at HeartMath for 15 years, this is something I know quite a bit about.  We did a lot of research and practice there on the effects of positive emotional states on the preparation of food (they do improve the taste).

While grinding green chilies, kaffir lime leaves and other ingredients to a pulp in a large mortar for example, I was told to get angry, but smile.  The thought still makes me laugh!

Do I look angry enough?

End product: my green curry paste, a decent upper body workout.

The day finished with a feast and was over all too soon.  We were given a well-detailed cookbook with all of the recipes to keep.  I am really looking forward to adding more Thai dishes to my repertoire.

I paid 1,000B (about US$35) for the course and it was well worth it.  Half day courses are available in town for 700B.  This review is my own and I received no compensation whatsoever for writing it.  If you are in Chiang Mai, look for their brochures or contact them at http://www.asiascenic.com/

As always, your comments and any questions (cooking class or otherwise) are welcome below.  All comments are answered by me as quickly as possible.

You can view more photos from the class here.Tweet