Phad Thai ala Tyndall

The next morning we were picked up at the cooking school office. We were driven about 15 minutes out to a brand new housing development in the suburbs of Chiang Mai. Their school was a half outdoor building and an air conditioned theater style kitchen, located next to their huge, brand new house. There were 16 of us in total. There were 4 middle aged women from Canada who had just finished a 3-day trek that sounded like a bit of a nightmare – especially for the 2 Japanese guys who went with them who came back to empty “safety” boxes at their trekking office. Apparently, they’d used a simple key lock and the women had used a tougher combination lock – but I suspect that the fact that they were Japanese might have been part of the reason – the thieves knew that a) they had money and b) they probably wouldn’t raise a stink. Everything was gone – plane tickets, money, passports, traveler’s checks – everything. Of course, there were tons of warnings in every guidebook about leaving your stuff in hotels or guesthouses. The best thing to do was either rent a safety deposit box at a bank, or take your valuables with you. The danger in that was being robbed while trekking, but unless you were going to the far-reaching interior areas, it was pretty safe.

The four Canadian women had an interesting story. All six of them were nurses and they were in Thailand for six weeks. They had all agreed two years back that they would open an account and deposit a little money in it every week to save for a trip. Each one of them was responsible for researching and presenting a country – South Africa, Argentina, Mongolia and Thailand – and obviously Thailand won out.

We sat Thai style on the floor in a semi-circle and Somphon taught us about herbs, vegetables and most importantly chilies used in Thai cuisine. We then went into the kitchen and watched him make four dishes. There were chances for a little participation, but it wasn’t exactly encouraged and the atmosphere wasn’t conducive to it. Beth and I were a little disappointed, as we’d pictured a very hands-on experience - that said, the day was informative and interesting and we didn’t regret going at all. After the four dishes were finished, we went outside again and feasted. We recovered a little, and then went back inside for two more dishes and more gorging. We washed it all down with fresh in-season fruit, and abruptly, Somphon clapped his hands, said “OK, we’re finished!” and we were whisked back to town. Again, we felt it was a bit cold (especially for the notoriously warm Thai reputation, I guess Somphon had lived in England a little too long….) and we didn’t feel the need to thank him or say goodbye. As for the 2 or 3 day course – I probably would not recommend it. Going through the herb and spice intro more that once would be a total bore, and the cookbook was laid out such that all you needed was one day.