In Thailand, we decided to attend a cooking class because it seemed fun, but especially because we were interested in knowing more about Thai food.

Usually in restaurants when we ordered something, we looked at the picture, but we didn’t know the ingredients.

So in Chiang Mai, we booked a class at Thai Akha School for which we paid $ 27 / person. The course took place between 9 and 15.

We started early in the morning, with a visit to the market. On the way there we interacted a little with the other students. It was the first time we attended an organized activity since our arrival in Thailand. The experience was very enjoyable.

In the market we found out that the spiciest chillis are yellow ones, the green ones are medium spicy, and the red ones are the least spicy. Totally different from what we would have thought.

In the market, we learned a little bit about the spices and plants used in Thay cooking and about their culinary culture. We also tasted some ingredients.

We continued the day in the kitchen where we ate/tasted 11 dishes. All of them were cooked by us.

The class was very interesting and we learned that:

• Thai people eat little at a time, but very often, even every 30 minutes.
• Like other traditional dishes, the Thai ones have many fatty ingredients, which are not so healthy.
• Thai people use a lot of sugar in the dishes, no matter if they cook Pad Thai or mango sticky rice.
• If it’s not with rice or noodles, then it’s not food.
• Fried means something different, since they use the wok, a special pan, for preparing food without using too much oil.
• Salt is replaced with soy sauce for the majority of the dishes, and the sugar they use is palm sugar.
• Thai people prefer to work with their hands rather than using a knife.
• Spicy means spicy and even if you ask at the restaurant for a nonspicy food, it will be spicy because this is how they cook their traditional food. It is the same for sugar in desserts.
• Being in the kitchen all day is very fun, but also very tiring.

At the end of the class,  the trainer told us about more about Thai culture, about how to stay safe in Thailand. Even if people seem calm and smiling, it is best not to mess up with them because they sometimes change their mood quickly. So when you are in a difficult situation in Thailand, the best thing to do is to smile and walk away.

We received a book with all the recipes we cooked there and a bag of spicy ingredients. This was the experience, we liked it very much and we wanted to recommend it further. 🙂

It was a colorful course, with many smiles, laughter, and especially with many flavors.

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Safe travels,
Ancuța