Chiang Mai

Two of my buddies during today's cooking class were a couple from Spain. They didn't speak much English (particularly the girl) — and even less Thai — so they were relieved to find someone else in the group whom they could communicate with. That person being yo, por supuesto. Speaking English here in Thailand is pretty much essential — so I guess they speak enough to get by. The guy is true-blue Spanish; but the girl's originally una colombiana. They're here in Thailand for a short winter vacation, before they head back to Europe. They did a reasonable job at following the all-English cooking instructions today; although I did help them a bit, by translating the odd word now and then.

Camilla's an Aussie girl from a small country town about a ½ hour drive west of Brissie. Her father is from Finland: and you can tell, too, what with her blonde-haired, blue-eyed, hawk-faced complexion. She works in the town as a high-school English and maths teacher, although she now lives in Brisbane proper. Camilla is also a vegetarian — something that's surprisingly hard in Thailand, because despite being Buddhist, the Thais can't get enough of their meat and seafood (particularly pork and shrimp). Camilla was one of my classmates in today's cooking class.

It's been a while since I last took a cooking class on this trip; but today, the great tradition was finally revived. And revived Thai style, no less. This morning I was picked up from my new guesthouse (Yourhouse — better than the original dump that I stayed in), and taken to meet my 10 fellow classmates for today's lesson. The cooking school that I signed up with is run by two brothers: I was picked up by one brother; but he's taking a break today, and the lesson was conducted by his bigger, funnier second brother. We commenced with an eyebrow-raising tour of one of Chiang Mai's food markets, and then drove over to the school's private kitchen for the main event.

Sweet sticky rice is a delicious dessert in Thai cuisine. The art of making sticky rice is quite an involved one: it includes soaking the rice (special-grain) in water overnight, and then cooking it in a special steamer and bag. For the sweet sticky rice dish, you add sugar and coconut, and the rice is generally served with fresh mango slices. Sweet sticky rice was the final dish that we made during today's cooking class: and by the time we got round to sampling it, we were already all in imminent danger of explosion, due to overeating.

One of the tastiest side dishes in the world of Thai cuisine is the nation's vegetarian spring rolls. Preparation for this dish involves making the paste that is the roll's filling: this consists of various vegetables, noodles, sauces and spices, which are all mushed together. The paste is then rolled up inside sheets of rice paper, and deep fried until cooked and crunchy. Best served hot, and best dipped in fresh sweet-chili sauce. This was yet another one of the mouth-watering foods that I made during today's cooking class.

Green Curry Chicken (in Thai: "Gang Kiew Wan Gai") is the classic Thai curry dish, and it remains my favourite of the nation's many curries, due to its rich coconut taste and its refreshing spice. The preparation for this dish can be quite long — especially if you need to prepare the curry paste yourself — however, as with most Thai dishes, actually cooking it is both quick and simple. "Gang Kiew" ("green curry") is generally cooked with "Gai" ("chicken"), but alternatives are fine as well. This was the main course of today's cooking class.

Pad Thai is so famous, it's virtually synonymous with Thai cuisine. For many people, it's the only Thai dish they know; and for more still, it's the one that they love above all others. And it's little wonder, seeing that this quick and simple rice-noodle stir-fry dish — generally cooked with egg, and sometimes also with chicken, pork or shrimp — is one of the tastiest, the cheapest and the most widely-available in all of Thailand. I love Pad Thai, and as far as I'm concerned, today's cooking class wouldn't have been complete without it.

Tom Yum Gai is a delicious hot and spicy chicken soup, and is one of the classic dishes of Thailand. "Tom Yum" ("hot soup") consists of a watery broth, as opposed to "Tom Kha" ("coconut soup") whose liquidy substance consists mainly of coconut milk. Either can be prepared with "Gai" ("chicken"), or with various other meats / seafoods, such as "Goong" ("shrimp" / "prawns"). The dish is amazingly quick and easy to prepare, and it tastes divine — especially when you add lots of chili! This was the first dish that I cooked during today's cooking class.

I found a little semi-street-vendor restaurant for lunch today, in downtown Chiang Mai, where they serve a delicious 20B Pad Thai. When I sat down and tucked in, a local kid sat down at the table next to me. He indicated that he was hungry and that he hadn't had lunch, and he asked me for 20B. I sympathised with the poor kid being hungry; but I know the rule: "if someone says they're hungry, don't give 'em money — give 'em food." So instead of giving him the 20B, I gave it to the restaurant lady, and asked her to cook up another Pad Thai for the kid. He didn't seem very happy about this — clearly he wasn't hungry, and he wanted the money for something else — but stuff that, if he wants lunch then a plate of noodles couldn't do him any harm.

Last night, I caught a nice 2^nd-class overnight bus from Bangkok (along with my mate Jutta; and this morning, I arrived in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand's largest city. The bus last night was quite luxurious (very comfy seats, snacks served in-trip), but not exactly perfect: they played a loud and annoying Thai movie for half the night; and the air-con was on far too strong, which meant that I almost froze to death in my t-shirt and shorts. As such, I barely slept during the trip, and I arrived in Chiang Mai groggy and exhausted. Still, it's very nice to be here: after the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, Chiang Mai (although still a big place) is refreshingly serene and peaceful.