Learning to cook Thai food

Anyone who knows us knows that RG and I both love to entertain and to cook. One of our favorite trips ever was the day we spend at a Tuscany wine tasting and cooking course. On our second day in Thailand we met a couple from Canada that had just come from Chiang Mai and were raving about the cooking course they took. We talked with them for a while about it, and they had us convinced we needed to try the class when we made it up there. They were even kind enough to slip a note under our hotel door with all the information incase we couldn’t remember.

Fast forward four months and I still have that sweet note with the information and have been waiting to reach out to the cooking school. Unfortunately I was not fast enough, they were completely booked for the entire time we were in Chiang Mai. How could I let this happen?!

After a lot of research, reading blogs, and scouring TripAdvisor I had found two other schools that offered similar courses. We ended up booking a day with Thai Farm Cooking School, and were not disappointed. We were picked up at 9:30am from our hotel, joining four other couples from Taiwan, California, France and Germany. Our first stop was by a local Thai market where we were given a brief tour, shown how to pick the best produce, meat, rice and anything else you may need…then given about 20 minutes to explore on our own. Since being in Thailand we have been to many markets, but nothing like this. This is where the street vendors and local families shop…it was definitely interesting and probably not somewhere I would feel comfortable buying my meat, but I appreciate the ease and cheapness of this market.

From there we hopped back into the truck and rode through the hills to a quiet farm where we would learn to cook Thai food. We toured their garden, picked herbs for our dishes and tasted various chilis and fruit growing. Then the cooking began! Everyone got to choose a curry, soup, entrée, small plate and desert to make. There were three options of each. I went with red curry with chicken, Thom Yum vegetable soup, Chicken with Basil, Pad See Ew and sticky rice with mango. To ensure we could taste and cook almost everything RG went with yellow curry, yellow curry with chicken, Thai vegetable soup, Cashew nut chicken, spring rolls and bananas in coconut milk. It was SO much food, we had to take some home with us!

Tom Yum and Basil Chicken — Red curry and cashew nut chicken

It was a great day, we met some really nice people and traded our stories about Thailand, and learned how to cook a proper Thai meal. We even received recipe books with all the recipes and some new ones! Be prepared…when we make it back to the States and invite you over for dinner it will probably be for some Thai.

On a side note, the school that was booked is A Lot of Thai Cooking and it also has great reviews. This course is held in a couple’s home and is supposed to be a bit more intimate. My only recommendation if booking with Thai Farm Cooking School is to ask which kitchen your class will be held in. They have four kitchens and gardens on the farm and only one is separate and more intimate. This is the one we were at and extremely happy. The other three kitchens/dining areas are all within the same area and it was very loud and not quite as secluded as ours was.