Smart Cook!

My time in Thailand was very brief on this, my second jaunt to the country, but of course I found time enough for a Chiang Mai cooking class with Super Cook Super May. The closest I'd got to cooking in the four months in India was popping to the fruit and veg market in Calcutta and picking up a tasty selection of tropical fruits, chopping them up, adding some curd and nuts for a tasty fruit salad eaten from my tiffin tin. At the time this felt enough like cooking and I was very pleased with my culinary masterpiece (of sorts!).

Posing in my lovely purple apron complete with machete!

First we took a train to a little village, stepped off the platform and onto bicycles and cycled to and around the organic farm wearing our sombreros to shield us from the Thai sun, stopping off to pick a few herbs and spices for our menu. May, our cooking tutor was impressed with the general level of our collective spice tolerance. I added 3 chilis to one of my dishes which just shows the level of spice exposure I have been forced to tolerate over these past months. Back in Blighty all I could manage was a korma curry and even found Carmex lip balm too spicey! However, to put this into perspective May adds at least seven chilis to her dishes!! Still a long way to go!!

Fried spring rolls at the back, banana spring rolls and condensed milk dip and my fresh spring rolls at the front garnished with a sweet condiment and coriander..urm, yes, it is lopsided but sometimes these comps are a struggle!

Spicy papaya salad with another shot of my fresh spring rolls

Thai green curry including handmade green curry paste which was pretty labour intensive. Served with steamed rice. And for dessert a slightly unusual but super tasty pumpkin in coconut milk. Pumpkin is my new fave veg.