Bann Thai Cookery School

We spent a great day at the Bann Thai Cookery School. They picked us up at 9.15 and dropped us back at 3.45 and in between we cooked and ate a banquet.

There were 18 of us altogether, we were divided into 3 groups - there were 6 of us in the oldies group, another British couple, James and Sheila and a US husband and wife from Santa Barbara, Peter and Karen.

We then had to decide what we wanted to cook during the day, the old chap and I chose different things so we would come away with the widest repertoire. Keith decided on Thai Green Curry, including making the green curry paste; Fried Noodles with Chicken (Pad-Thai), Hot & Sour Prawn Soup, Papaya Salad and Deep fried bananas. I did alternatives including Chiang Mai Noodles with chicken which incorporated a pounded by me red curry paste, Fried Cashew Nuts with Chicken, Seafood in Coconut Milk, Spring Rolls and Mango with Sticky Rice.

Then it was off to discover what the nearby market, Sompet Market, had to offer. This was a really nice market, great quality fruit and veg. Apparently there are so many cooking schools in this area the market caters particularly for them. We looked at the different types of oils, soy sauces, ginger, tofu, peppers, veg and fruit and each of us came back with our shopping baskets full of goodies for the day.

Cooking then started in earnest. We moved around different teachers and groups according to what we were cooking taking our triumphs (there were no disasters, not one) back to our core group to eat and quickly discuss different techniques before it was on with the next item on the menu. The day passed in a whirlwind of chopping, woking, pounding, absolutely brilliant - thank goodness they gave us a recipe book, we had no time for notes and this brilliant collection of recipes will remind us how to do it all again when we get home.

We just abut managed a yogurt later that night!