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The maze of stalls at the
Bangrak morning market stock a bewildering range of flavours
in their neat piles of colourful spices, tropical fruits,
fresh fish and fiery chillies.
But more tourists are learning to navigate the tastes of
Thai cuisine with help from chefs who offer increasingly
popular cooking holidays for everyone from backpackers to
jet-setters.
At the top end are luxury getaways such as the Four Seasons
Resort in the mountains outside Chiang Mai, where a six-day
stay at a custom-built palace to the palate, designed in
medieval Lanna style, can run up to the equivalent of A$4000
(NZ$4446).
At the other extreme are count-less home-style courses,
sometimes conducted in the chef's own kitchen, that include
a trip through the neighbourhood market for as little as
$7.50.
Somewhere in between is the Blue Elephant, an elegant
restaurant that began in an old home in Bangkok and helped
pioneer the cooking holiday idea.
Chef
Nooror Somany-Steppe guides students twice a day through
four Thai dishes in her gourmet kitchen, set in Bangkok's
typically incongruous way amid sparkling high-rises, next to
the mass transit SkyTrain, and across from a construction
project abandoned after the 1997 financial crisis.
It's also just a few minutes from one of the oldest markets
in Bangkok near the Chao Phraya River, the Bangrak morning
market, where catfish flip in tubs hoping to escape the
fillet knife and coconut vendors grind their fruits and
separate the cream from the meat.
The market sits next to a modern, air-conditioned grocery
store, but the produce that lines the narrow, open-air paths
was delivered fresh before dawn and is far superior, said
Nooror's assistant, who goes by the name Breeze.
It turns out the shopping trip was purely educational. The
actual ingredients have already been bought, washed and set
out for the students in Nooror's teaching kitchen.
Many of the ingredients, like the three kinds of basil or
the galanga, are widely available in the region, but she
said most Asian grocers in countries further afield will
stock them. And if not, no problem.
"Cooking, you have to be creative, like art," she says. "I
teach you flexibility, so if you don't have something, you
can still make it."
Can't find palm sugar? Use brown sugar instead. No pomelo
for a Thai salad? Try green beans, artichoke hearts or
endives instead - but add a tablespoon of coconut cream to
the dressing, she advises.
"My spirit is more modern," she says, encouraging
experimentation with ingredients.
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Her spirit is not so thoroughly modern, however, that she
would use a blender to show how to make the paste that is
the base of Thailand's famous curries.
For that, chillies, coriander root and seeds, garlic, and
cumin seeds went into the formidable granite mortar and
pestle, where she pounded away till the mixture is a deep
red paste.
That quickly became a roasted duck curry, with cherry
tomatoes, pineapple and grapes. After each dish, the
students headed across the corridor to the restaurant's big
kitchen, where they re-created each delicacy with help from Nooror and her professional souschefs.
In one morning, she showed her class how to make Thailand's
spicy shrimp soup, tom yum goong; pomelo salad; beef with
oyster sauce and a spicy chicken soup.
The school attracts people who are both professional and
home gourmets.
Paul Murphy says he heard about the course from workmates at
home in Edinburgh, Scotland, and just wanted to learn
to cook something different.
"Thai
food is different from English food because it 's fresh,
with fresh herb and spices, " the 29 year old says.
Lee Kin-kong said he wants to incorporate Thai cooking into
his classes at a hotel and tourism training school in Hong
Kong, but also hopes to dazzle his friends with his
new-found skills.
"My purpose in learning Thai cooking is to teach my
students," he says.
"But I like Thai food, especially tom yum goong, and I 'm
always cooking Thai dishes for friends for dinner at home."
Bangkok has different options for different tastes. Kuppa
Cafe has opened a cooking school to teach how it blends
Asian elements into more international dishes, with results
like hoisin duck pizza.
The Samui Institute of Thai Culinary Arts offers classes in
traditional Thai food near the beach on one of Thailand's
famous islands.
And the northern city of Chiang Mai is brimming with cooking
schools, from the new Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi- where
guests can stay in a villa with a private pool for about
$2000 a night - to Baan Thai, the name of which means "Thai
home" and where classes are held in a home for about $20.
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