I have some friends who will be visiting for 6 weeks and they want to take some cooking classes, but they already know a lot about Asian cuisine and don’t want basic. They would be willing to pay money to work with someone who has a big repertoire and is comfortable having “students” help steer the class.

I’ve googled “thai visa forum chiang mai cooking schools” and checked out a few threads. Most fizzle out pretty quickly.

Not hopeful, but I thought I would give it shot…Anyone know a really good person/school that is flexible enough to take on two people for three or four days?

I did some of the beginner courses years ago and they were very professionally run. They also offer more advanced lessons http://www.thaicookeryschool.com/ so could be worth a call.

check out http://www.bothaicookery.com I think she is currently cooking in Canada but is supposed to be back to CM in Oct.

Edited September 12, 201213 yr by HaleySabai

For this purpose I think you'd want a person who has a fair amount of overseas experience.

Many locals would not feel comfortable or know what to do with people who have ideas about cooking that deviate too much from the local norm.

The concept of teaching here is that the student listens politely while the teacher teaches. The occasional question within the scope of the lesson is OK, but discussions between students and teachers on a more equal level can cause irritation, and be seen as threatening or questioning the teacher's authority or knowledge.

Actually can I piggy back on this thread. I quite fancy learning to cook farang food. I have a cook at home who does Thai food, but it would be great to know how to cook western food. I can open a recipe book and do that, but I don't know how to be creative. So I end up going to Rimping, buying all the ingredients for the recipe from scratch, use up about half of it, then don't know what to do with the rest and throw it away! Is there anywhere to learn to cook international food, but also to manage it all?

I am with SamSipEt. Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School's K. Sompon has got a lovely property outside of town where he does 'Master Classes' for experienced kitchen people - all the way up to professional level. He lived in the UK for several years and gets it. He's even been a on a popular UK tv series about Thai food. I peeked in on one of his classes once and the couple doing it were very happy. In fact they'd been before like maybe 5 yrs before. And even planned on returning again as they considered hanging out with him at his house/villa and cooking and eating as a special part of their vacation getaways. He says this is pretty common that people come back and repeat or even make special trips to learn with him again. That kind of testament speaks well of his product.

Edited September 12, 201213 yr by realthaideal

I guess if you can help the chef run the class you should be giving your own

Actually can I piggy back on this thread. I quite fancy learning to cook farang food. I have a cook at home who does Thai food, but it would be great to know how to cook western food. I can open a recipe book and do that, but I don't know how to be creative. So I end up going to Rimping, buying all the ingredients for the recipe from scratch, use up about half of it, then don't know what to do with the rest and throw it away! Is there anywhere to learn to cook international food, but also to manage it all?

Just a question P, what is it you are after specifically? Are you more interested in the full size , basic meat and potatos, family style eating type or meals or more of the take a photo for Better Homes and Gardens , and food for very skinny people, type of cooking?

G

I am with SamSipEt. Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School's K. Sompon has got a lovely property outside of town where he does 'Master Classes' for experienced kitchen people - all the way up to professional level. He lived in the UK for several years and gets it. He's even been a on a popular UK tv series about Thai food. I peeked in on one of his classes once and the couple doing it were very happy. In fact they'd been before like maybe 5 yrs before. And even planned on returning again as they considered hanging out with him at his house/villa and cooking and eating as a special part of their vacation getaways. He says this is pretty common that people come back and repeat or even make special trips to learn with him again. That kind of testament speaks well of his product.

I've been thinking about organizing cooking classes or work-shops in Western cooking,...

You'll probably be my first customer,.. LOL but also to other members this question: You think it's feasible here?

Would Thai Wives/Girl-Boyfriends be interested in this to close the culture gap in their private life?

Would hotels-restaurants be willing to send staff for some basic training in the western cooking?

I'm thinking of simple things like frying a whole chicken breast, a steak and making base for real sauce in stead of Knorr or Maggie,.... among many other things that are clearly not done right here.

More advanced would and should also be available as I'm qualified and have the experience.

The same goes for Thai cooking. The OP is quite right,... most cooking schools here offer the basics only and the real, good stuff with advanced deep knowledge of Thai (Thai is general as there are many different styles within, I know,...) cooking techniques is not shared.

I've seen Thai chefs (and also just locals in the villages on special occasions) doing stuff you won't believe and they say: "oh this is very old recipe and I learn this from this or that person" so it seems there's no organised system?

Actually can I piggy back on this thread. I quite fancy learning to cook farang food. I have a cook at home who does Thai food, but it would be great to know how to cook western food. I can open a recipe book and do that, but I don't know how to be creative. So I end up going to Rimping, buying all the ingredients for the recipe from scratch, use up about half of it, then don't know what to do with the rest and throw it away! Is there anywhere to learn to cook international food, but also to manage it all?

My wife (thai) spent 6 yrs in USA and along the way she became an incredible cook of Italian, Mexican and American foods...including a wide variety of breads and desserts. Having said all that... she does use a cookbook a lot (she has many on her ereader) and begins there and modifies to suit taste - her own and our family.

But, more than once, she has gotten stumped, either during the initial process or after having the dish come out and taste poorly or not be the right consistency. She is relentless in her pursuit of good flavor and good technique so where does she go for help?

YOUTUBE!!! i have been amazed by what she has learned on youtube.. whether it is rolling out doughs (after getting the RIGHT dough) to making ice cream that blows HaagenDass away... to techniques for stuffing raviolis ,.... the list goes on.

Just have to be persistent, save the video and keep referring to it... you can usually tell the good videos as they have tons of hits and good comments. Give it a shot.