Iron Chef, move over, there's a new sheriff in town! Actually, I think he's got no worries, but it's fun to imagine. Val and I are here in Chiang Mai which is the cultural center of Thailand. What an incredible place. There are art schools, cooking schools, and anything else you would care to learn about Thailand or Thai culture here. There are treks into the hilltop villages where people have been cultivating opium for hundreds of years until recently when the Thai government undertook the task of helping them learn to grow other crops that could replace the income from opium and provide a better life for the people.

Now, about that Chef thing! I began my two days of Thai cooking classes today, and if I do say so myself, I am pretty good at it. Well, at least I liked what I cooked and that's really what it's all about isn't it? The class was a blast! I was the only non-asian in the class. There was a tour group of people from Taiwan and Indonesia that were all in their 50's & 60's, so not only was I the only white person in the group, I was also the youngest. They adopted me like I was their son for the day. Lots of questions about where I live, what I do for a living, how sad it is that we have no children, and how lucky we are to travel so much. I guess they don't realize how closely the last two are related!!!

We began the day with a quick review of ingredients typically used in Thai cooking and then we headed off to the local market. This was a kick. This was not the tourist market, but rather the place where the average Thai person goes to buy their fruits, vegetables, and even their meats and fish. Most of the fish is sold live, but some is also cooked and then sold. Lets just say that any local Health Department official in the US would probably have a stroke if they saw this place, but hey, we've been eating here for almost two months and so far neither of us has even been close to getting sick. Kind of makes you wonder if we're just a little too paranoid at home?

After getting a great deal of information about the various ingredients, we purchased 10 baskets worth of lemon grass, basil, ginger, shallots, garlic, and assorted other leaves and fruits that we would eventually use.

We returned to the school and were served some appetizers and fresh fruit. None of these fruit are common at home, but I have seen some of them in markets. I can't wait to get home and introduce friends to them. They were all sweet and juicy!

We cooked an assortment of dishes including Phad Thai noodles, Tom Yum (hot and sour) Soup, Green Curry Chicken, and a few other dishes. After we cooked each dish, we sat down and ate it. This was great. We tasted each others to see the difference. Some people used less spice than others and some people left out ingredients they didn't care for. It was fun to taste the difference and I wish I had kept better notes. Maybe tomorrow!

By the time we got to dessert, mangos with sweet sticky rice, I thought I was going to burst from eating so much. We finished off the day with some green tea and then said good-by's.

Tomorrow I go back for day two and a whole new set of students and dishes. After that, Val begins her two days at a different cooking school. We wanted to do this separately so we could compare notes and recipes when we're done.

In the end, I doubt if the Iron Chef really needs to be alarmed, but with a silk apron on, I think I can cook a pretty good Thai meal! When we get home, we will be slowly getting back into our lives, and we will have friends over so we can share these great dishes with them.

Until next time, try it, you'll like it!

Eric