Cooking School

   

 Jon and I had private lessons in Thai cooking with Tuc and Palm teaching.  Being the 'low' season for tourists, Tuc said we were the first students in March. So, I won't get to blend in with the other students! She picked us up at Juniper Tree and took us to the 'fresh' Asian Market to show us what goes into the recipes.  Some of it they raised in the garden themselves, so she bought what she needed.  The most interesting was seeing how coconut milk is made fresh....something we could do ourselves with our food processor!  Yah!  Like that's going to happen!

We drove to their home, and school, out in the country, backing up to rice fields....very pastoral and relaxing.  WE could tell they were set up for classes of 10 or so, with stoves, etc. for all.   This is a family business, with Tuc working along with her sister.

We were issued aprons and cookbooks....get to keep the later....and told to wash our hands.  After a drink of cold water, we were at work!

Palm began by preparing the sticky rice, a blend you buy specifically for this dish, and cook a long time.  IT is steaming in that reed basket over the pan on the stove.

Meanwhile we will make the pad thai.....after her demonstration.  Fish Oil is the 'must have' for Thai cooking, along with some other ingredients.  Noodles are all specific to the dish, also.   And the hot stuff....chiles.  They soon figured Jon out as he kept adding more!  I found myself competing for attention from Tuc....she was fixated, it seemed, on Jon....maybe his humor, and unlikely interest in cooking?  Or is he really that darned charming? Hmmmmm........

We learned how to make roses out of tomatoes, and garnish our  projects.  Jon did great with the cooking, but, I probably won't stand there and remind him of every move to make!  Since there were only two of us, we each had a coach....nice.

WE got to eat our Pad Thai dish immediately while the cooks prepared for the next course.  Yum........

The setting sun was really a bright orange, in the darkening sky, but Jon captured it at this stage.  The haze of burning fields has lent this effect.







Our next two dishes were the Chicken Green Curry, on the right below, and soup with prawn, lemongrass and keffir leaf....the name escapes me.  All is quite easy to fix, but my question is how to do this for more people?  Recipes in the cookbook are for two, always.  Oh, and we did move the sticky rice from the steaming stage to the coconut soaking stage...adding blue coloring (from a flower) for effect.

     Mangoe with blue sticky rice...the finale of the meal!

The meal was a delight to cook and to consume!
We didn't have to clean up.....and the outdoor dining hit the spot.....can we cook these dishes again?  We'll try, and maybe some brave friends will eat it with us.   A lovely end to a great day!
and our time in Chiang Mai.  We leave tomorrow for the hot, humid south...