Monday, March 2, 2009

Cooking Schools In Chiang Mai



Taking a cooking class is an incredibly popular activity in Chiang Mai.  Every tourist office (where you can book tickets, excursions, classes, etc) has advertisements for cooking schools, and there are probably 20 cooking schools in town.  

If you're looking for a great class, skip the tourist offices and contact schools directly. They are easy to find on Google, and a lot of them distribute brochures to guest houses and restaurants around the city.
 Ask them who will be teaching the class and the experience they have, how many students are typically in the class, and how many different recipes you'll be making.  Steer clear of classes with more than about 5 students.  I've seen HUGE classes go to the markets, and it doesn't look like you learn much of anything.

The girl I was meeting suggested May Kaidee's, because she's vegetarian and loves the restaurant (there are branches in Chiang Mai and Bangkok). The class was a little bit more expensive than some of the others, but we got to make 12 different dishes, and because there were only 3 people in the class, we could all ask a bunch of questions and have them answered. I enjoyed the class, but unfortunately don't have anything to compare it to.
If I were going to take another class, I would seriously consider A Lot of Thai because I've heard great things about it.

4 comments:

Steph said...

That's so cool that cooking classes are so popular there. I think it's great in cultures that prepare a lot of their food vs eating processed stuff.

HaveShoesWillTravel said...

Thanks for the cooking school recommendations. I can't wait to hit up the markets too and see all the wonderful ingredients.

Court Cooks said...

That is the same class I took when I was there!!! She was so nice!!! Small world.

jules said...

Did u meet a petite girl called Rod who works there?