Baan Thai Cooking

Chiang Mai, Thailand Travel Guide

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Baan Thai Cooking

Overview: Sauntering down Ratchadamnoen Soi 5 in Chiang Mai’s Old City, you may come across delicious whiffs of sauteed chicken, onions, green curry and red curry, coconut milk and light oil. Or, you may smell some shrimps cooking. How about coconut milk and freshly cut mangos? The smells are irresistible and you look around the street to see which restaurant the smells radiate from. Ah, you discover it’s not coming from a restaurant; it’s coming from one of the cooking schools.

So, it may come as a surprise but one of the greatest highlights in visiting Chiang Mai is putting on an apron, chopping up exotic vegetables and learning how to mix a bunch of ingredients in a wok at the instruction of professional Thai cooks. Yes, I’m talking about taking a cooking course in Chiang Mai. Not only is cooking in Chiang Mai enoyable, but it’s also relaxing, enlightening and you have a chance to meet a number of other tourists you otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to meet.

Tourists flock to Chiang Mai – and other places such as Italy – annually to take cooking courses. Planning a trip centered on learning the culinary arts of a particular culture has become a tourist draw today for both amateur cooks, professional cooks and tourists who just want to have a great time. One of the benefits of taking a cooking course is that it provides an alternative activity or tourist attraction other than elephant trekking or white water rafting for the disabled traveler. It’s thoroughly enjoyable.

The particular course I took was conducted by and at the Baan Thai Cooking School, a recommendation from a former co-worker. There are a bevy of other well-known cooking courses in Chiang Mai are closely situated near each other on Ratchadamnoen Soi 5. The instructors at Baan Thai Cooking School were outstanding. I often had individual instruction because different dishes were assigned different rooms and the room I took the course in was handicap accessible.

The Cooking Course Itinerary:

Here’s how the one day cooking course at Baan Thai Cooking School unfolded:

You will be driven by the Baan Thai folks to a small soi off of Ratchadamnoen in Old City. On this street are about 4 other cooking schools. The students in the course are mixed male and female – mostly couples and women. You’ll start with an orientation of the course, receive a cute little, handmade cook book and baskets and take some group photos.

There are several instructors and they will take the groups about three blocks northeast to a fresh fruit, vegetable, fish and meat open air marketplace, Sompet Market. Along the way to the marketplace, you will have a chance to see all the small sois that you would otherwise miss. A lot of the streets were made of light red square stones/bricks and each of the sois had smallers sois branching off. The Thais in Chiang Mai have their own businesses, among which are a lot of laundry stores. These laundry stores are nothing more than large tents covering half pavement and half dirt spaces. Clothes lines run across under the tents and clothes are hung to dry. That being said, clothes are handwashed and hung to dry. No washing machines and dryers!

The sois (streets) at the marketplace are made of red square bricks/stones. On either side were vendors with all sorts of exotic and colorful fruits, vegetables, meats, fresh fruit drinks and so forth. Our instructor took us around to each vendor. He picked out some items, explained what they were and what dishes they are used in. Then, the group picked out the items the instructor showed us. More group photos at the marketplace.

We went back to the school and entered a room where your group’s cooking station is. The rooms are set up with stoves, woks, and tables with cutting boards, authentic pottery holding a variety of ingredients. Before the course starts, you choose five dishes from a list of traditional Thai meals, including one dessert. There were two rooms and each room at different blocks of time are assigned a particular dish. Everyone switches back and forth, depending on what were making, except for handicap people. Handicap people will stay in one room and receive (the much envied) individual instruction at the Baan Thai Cooking School! You will have to wear bandanas on your head to catch the sweat and wear aprons.

The Baan Thai Cooking course goes from about 9:30 in the morning to 4:15 in the late afternoon. It finishes with the desserts you learn to cook! Don’t overlook a cooking course in Chiang Mai. It’s definitely enjoyable.

Location: 11 Rachadamnern Rd. Soi 5 T.Sriphoom A.Muang Chiangmai 50200
Site: www.cookinthai.com
Email: thaicooking@hotmail.com
Ph: (053) 357-339

Cost: 900 Baht (one day)

Accessibility: The side of the street that the cooking school is on has a little drainage gutter. There is also a bit of uneven, crumbled pavement. It is, however, accessible. The path leading to the back room is made large, flat red bricks and there is grass and dirt in between the bricks. The room is spacious and the instructors will set up a table for you if you are in a wheelchair.

Getting There: Baan Thai school will pick you up. But, the school is within walking distance if you stay at a hotel near or in the Old City.