Thai Cookery Class

Coming from Australia, Thai food is virtually our national cuisine. But I haven't had a good Thai meal in this country, that is, until today. This Thai meal was enjoyed at (what feels like) my favourite home away from home away from home, Ashburton Cookery School, and was made by me!

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I went back to Ashburton in Devon (after spending 5 days doing their Intermediate Course in November) to do a one day Thai cookery course. I was dubious as to how much I'd get out of it - I have made my own red and green curry pastes, own and even use such things as galangal, tamarind pulp, kaffir lime leaves and shrimp paste - what was a British chef going to teach me! Well this was before I met Chef Joe, who has actually spent a short amount of time in Thailand, some of which was spent being taught Thai cooking. I had never even heard of such things as apple aubergines, pea aubergines (both above) and kra-chaai and never before seen fresh turmeric! I left the course feeling really excited that my Thai repertoire had expanded beyond curries and really hoping that the mortar pestle I had politely requested for Christmas would be wrapped up and under the tree by the time I got home.
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There was only 8 people in the class, which made it very intimate. Some people were locals and others had travelled from further afield. We had a couple of chances to chat whilst we ate at different times, and also whilst pounding away to make curry paste. Although the camaraderie was never going to compare with the group I spent a week with in November (purely because of the amount of time we spent together), it was a fun, foodie group, and I enjoyed discussing Thai and other food with them.
First up was spring rolls filled with pork mince and vermicelli noodles (above - making the filling for the spring rolls, below - rolling the pastry) and other yummy herbs and spices. I was really interested to learn about seasoning in Thai food. I am always adding oyster and fish sauce, a little sugar, a squirt of lime, but usually without thinking much about it. Something I will definitely try to put into practise is tasting my curries and other Thai food and seasoning them with white pepper, oyster sauce, sugar, lime etc, so that all the flavours of sweet, sour, chilli/fiery are distinctive.
The spring rolls were accompanied by a tangy tamarind dip, and delicious fish cakes which we made also.The star of these little starters for me was the amazing Nam aa-jaad dip to go with the fish cakes. It packed a punch whilst also delivering those fresh, clean flavours one associates with Thai food. I could have (ok, I admit I did) have eaten it by the spoonful.
Back into the kitchen and time for some stress release in the form of mortar & pestle action (or portar & mestle as Y has taken to calling it). We bashed, ground and smashed our green curry paste for a good 20 minutes - fortunately we were in pairs so we could tag team it, but my pathetic triceps still felt it. Once the curry paste was made, our chicken green curry with fragrant Jasmine rice was ready remarkably quickly. Whilst perhaps not the most attractive colour in the world, the taste was seriously good. I'd go so far as to say the best Thai curry I've ever eaten.
I had a bad Tom Yum soup several years ago and had sworn it off for life. But having not eaten anything at Ashburton I haven't loved, I figured this was as good a time as any to give it another go. Tom Yum is now my favourite soup (above & below)! A fiery burst of chilli, whilst being soothing and cleansing at the same time. I stood in a little cloud of yumminess and savoured every mouthful, including the types of tiger prawns we take for granted in Australia.
There was just time to pour a sugar syrup of Pandanus leaves (above) over some melon, with a splash of coconut milk (a different and delicious dessert - below), and ask some questions of Chef Joe, before heading off back to real life again (which I was jerked back into rather viciously with an 8 hour coach trip back to London because of awful traffic and snow).
I very much enjoyed learning more about Thai cooking. This class was not so much about technique (which the Intermediate Course was) but about learning the foundations of a different cuisine and how to build upon them. If you enjoy Thai food and would like to know more about cooking it, I'd definitely recommend this course. There are other cuisine courses too such as Italian, and I believe an Indian course will be introduced in 2010. In future, I think I will try out such courses as Patisserie and Game, although the Express Dinner Parties sound great too (you can check out the courses here). My ideal of course would be to return for another week to do Intermediate Extra (may have to dream about that one for a while longer though!)
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Last time I was in Ashburton I stayed at the accommodation provided by the school, which I enjoyed because I could chat to the other students over breakfast. This time, at the recommendation of a student, I stayed at the Ashburton B and B at 44 North Street, which is very cosy and homely - I felt very well cared for during the 12 hours I spent there.

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I was a guest of Ashburton Cookery School for the 1 day Thai Cookery class.
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Click here to read about the week I spent at Ashburton Cookery School attending the Intermediate Cookery Course.