Thai Farm Cooking School

That's me with a tasty plate of pad thai.

If you were to forget about the beaches and the Buddha and the friendly atmosphere in 'The Land of Smiles', and came only to eat, you would have a happy mouthful.  Thai cuisine is unique and delicious.  Its a mysterious blend of fresh ingredients with rice, fish sauce and chilli to delight your taste buds with spicy, sweet and sour flavors.   

I'm a self appointed foodie.  One of my greatest pleasures in travelling is to provoke my palate with samples of different foods from around the world.  In Thailand the food is cheap enough in restaurants that I tend to eat out twice a day.  I have been enjoying various versions of my favorite Thai dishes immensely, but I was still lacking understanding of how they were made.  The infamous Pad Thai, I ate almost every day, but the flavor remained a mystery.  Now as my time in Thailand is coming to a close, I decided to find my way into a kitchen to see how it was made.  I thought it would be a great souvenir, to have the know how and skill to create local specialties at home.

Master Chef Embee demonstrates how to stir fry.

To this end, I joined a tour to the Thai Cooking Farm.  In Chiang Mai there are many cooking schools, but this one stands out from the crowd.  The lessons take place on an organic farm outside of town.   After we had collected everybody from their hotels we went to a market and learned about the ingredients: fish sauce, mushroom sauce, soy sauce and pickled radish, coconut milk and different kinds of rice.   We had 10 minutes to explore the market, but Embee, our guide, warned us not to eat too much, not to spoil our appetite for later. 

When we arrived at the farm we started cooking rice because it takes a while.  Then we put on funny hats and walked leisurely around the farm to collect whatever ingredients were in season - which amounted to a handful of herbs, but I appreciated the effort and the smells of all the leaves and lemon grass nonetheless.  We walked back to the kitchen with our fragrant bouquet, put on aprons and got to work grinding curry paste with mortar and pestle.  Embee asked how spicy we liked it, and I said 'I like spicy', but I was a bit scared of the number of chilies she gave to me.  I threw them in the bowl anyways and beat them while Embee theatrically cried "Harder, harder!". She said that you would know when to stop because the air would become too spicy to breathe...

On we went, making food and eating food.  I learned to make six dishes: green curry, sweet and sour vegetables, pad thai, tom yum soup, papaya salad, and mango with sticky rice for dessert.   Embee encouraged everyone to taste test while we cooked, and to make adjustments by adding more fish sauce or more chili.  Behind the scenes, there was a kitchen crew who helped with preparation and took care of the cleanup, leaving the students with the fun parts: the cooking and the eating.  And I ate everything.  Super Yum!

The class solved the mystery of a few sneaky flavors and taught me the art of high heat stir frying, which is fast and preserves the flavor and nutrition of the food.   It reminds me how much I love food.  I enjoyed it so much that I will probably go back for seconds. 

If youre hungry, visit the Thai Farm Cooking School