I've often dreamed of having a "Thai Mum" or "Italian Grandma" teach me about cooking and ingredients from a native cook's perspective. This summer I experienced five days of Thai cooking classes and Thai food eating nirvana in Oakland, CA. The Thai Food and Travel Cooking School offers week long intensive classes or a series of cooking classes taught by Kasma Loha-unchit. Kasma is a fantastic teacher. It is obvious she loves to share her gift for Thai cooking with her students. Under Kasma's gentle guidance and watchful eye, it really was like spending a week with your own "Thai Mum" learning her cooking secrets.
The week long intensive was a combination of demonstration and hands-on cooking. Foodies from across the USA with a unique mix of personalities and cooking experiences were united to learn the best Thai ingredients, how to chop, use a mortar and pestle and, of course, how to use a
wok efficiently and effectively. An excellent learning tool was the frequent "tastings", where everyone could sample the sauce as it was developed. Kasma would guide the student cook to add more of an ingredient and voila, the whole sauce jumped alive with bold flavors.
Friday morning's trip to Oakland's farmers market was shopping with an expert guiding you to the freshest produce and identifying critical characteristics that define ripe ingredients. We also enjoyed touring local Asian specialty markets, buying fresh fish, wok utensils and other items we used in the class. 
Everyday we would feast on the Thai dishes we prepared, but Friday's menu was a true feast. Many dishes were prepared on the grill. We graduated from our Thai cooking experience after an amazing dinner in the garden. Reflecting on the week, it was a total immersion in Thai ingredients, food and culture. Short of spending time in Thailand cooking with your "Thai Mum", I don't think you could find a better way to learn Thai cooking!
Thank you for sharing your story, I love Thai food.
Posted by: Chiang Mai holiday | January 18, 2012 at 10:22 PM