fedification.com

Chiang Mai, Thailand – After over a month of striking it out on my own, I thought I would get a basic foundation of the Thai food by taking a Thai cooking class. There’s no better place to do it than Chiang Mai, which has over a dozen established cooking schools, plus more informal classes taught at guesthouses around the city. Typical classes include a tour of the local market, the demonstration and preparation of several well-known dishes, a recipe booklet and transportation to and from your hotel.

For my first class, I signed up for a day-long course at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School, established in 1993 and known as the first school to open in the city. After being picked up, my friend and I were deposited at the school’s office where, as a pallid gesture at creating a communal atmosphere, we all made self-introductions, a bit silly when there are 39 students in the room. We were then whisked off to an outdoor food market, where many other cooking school groups had also gathered to receive an introduction to the local ingredients. Ours was hurried and unsatisfying and as our instructor rushed off, abruptly leaving us to our own devices, other school groups continued to get more detailed and broad explanations.

When our 10-minute self-tour was up we were rushed back into vans and taken to the school’s outdoor cooking facilities in the countryside. For each dish, students were herded into a demonstration room, where a cursory explanation of the recipe, short on technique and long on self-aggrandizement, took place. After the demonstration students returned to their stations to begin preparing the dish. “Cooking” consisted of a hurried process of chopping a few vegetables (some were already prepared) and then tossing them into a hot wok while instructors ran by shouting at you to change your heat or add the next ingredient and tossing coconut milk in your pan while you tried to remember the recipe sequence. Forget learning knife skills, little cooking tricks or the pacing of a dish. This wasn’t cooking, it was going through the motions of cooking and this operation was more of a learning factory than a school.

A bit let down by an exhausting day at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School, it took me about a week to try again. This time I chose A Lot of Thai, which is a much smaller operation. A family-run school, A Lot of Thai takes place at a home residence, where classes are limited to 8-9 students and all taught by Yui, whose warm, funny exterior belies a serious professional.  Her culinary background extends back to her mother who was a butcher and professional cook and father who was a farmer.

Like other cooking schools, her class includes a demonstration prior to cooking, but the relaxing pace and small size of her class means that you could sink into the rhythm of cooking and get individual guidance along the way. We pounded ingredients into a curry paste with a mortar and pestle on the tiled floor, learned how to crack an egg with one hand, and got an in-depth explanation in the differences between longan and similar looking fruits. Her market tour takes place in the middle of the day at Nong Hoi market, which is different from the one other schools visit, so the tour is thorough and uncrowded. 

So, what was it all worth? The Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School was 990 baht and A Lot of Thai was 1000 baht (currently 1 USD=34.02 THB). Similar price, completely different delivery. Now if I sign up for another Chiang Mai cooking class, I will remember to ask if there is a limit on the class size, who will be teaching, and when and where the market tour will take place.

Yui, teacher, A Lot of Thai

Pad Thai, A Lot of Thai

Red Curry Ingredients, A Lot of Thai

A Lot of Thai Transport

Demonstration Room, Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School

One of the Classrooms, Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School

Papaya Salad, Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School