Tasty Fun at Thai Orchid Cookery School
Who doesn’t like Thai food?!! I love to eat it, I’d just never cooked it, and not being the world’s greatest cook, I didn’t know what to expect. But after a high recommendation from other guest house visitors, my Aussie friend Soraya and I headed to the Thai Orchid Cookery school for a day of cooking and eating…
It’s owned and run by a lovely young couple who have been sharing their cooking skills for 7 years now. It’s well organized, professional, fun, friendly, and best of all for me, easy to follow. They have enough cooking stations in their outdoor kitchen to accommodate 10 budding Thai chefs.
There were 7 in our class (from Australia, US, UK, Hong Kong, and Germany), and we each got to pick an appetizer, a soup, a curry, a main dish, and a dessert to make. Soraya and i chose different dishes so we got to try almost all of them. (And you get to take a cookbook home with you that includes all of the recipes!)
They took us through step by step. I made cooked spring rolls…
…coconut chicken soup, yellow curry, Phad Thai, and mango with sticky rice, and Soraya made chicken satay, Tom Yum soup, green curry, cashew chicken and banana cake – all soooo good!
The couple took turns demonstrating, and then we each went to our own station to cook, with them there to guide us and answer any questions. They even showed us how to garnish.
After cooking (and consuming) the appetizer and soup, we went to the market…
…where she showed us tons of different Thai ingredients, what they were and what they were used for, and we got to smell them as well (all fun but for the durian!)
Speaking of Durian, after the main course they let us try various fruits, including mango, pommello, a special kind of apple, and yes, stinky durian. It actually tasted way better than it smells. It smells so bad that hotels put up signs banning it. Our teacher said that some hotels, if you bring one into your room, will make you pay for the night after you leave, as the room will smell too bad to rent out.
We all passed the class with flying colors, and it was a feast enjoyed by all!
Well written&!great photos. I enjoyed the cooking class very much & having so of us cooing different things helped U.S. to savour &!enjoy so many fishes! That’s the tip if there are two of you doing a cooking class – opt for different dishes & share!
Thanks, good advice, Soraya!