Thai cooking class where I was told I’m “hilarious”

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A recent visitor to the Thai cooking classes described me as “hilarious” in her travel blog (and she wasn’t even referring to my chubby face or the fact that my shirttail always seems to come untucked out of my pants).  I appreciated the compliment as I try hard to make the Thai cooking classes both informative and fun.

 

I had a visitor to the Thai cooking class named Nadine Sykora, a twenty-something Canadian who has created her own niche as a video blogger / world traveler / Internet personality.  Nadine has made hundreds of videos and has a huge number of subscribers on YouTube and Facebook.  I was so impressed she had the self- confidence and creativity to make informative and often very funny videos and blog posts.

 

Nadine was invited by the Contiki travel tour company to enjoy and document many trips, including a visit to Thailand.  Contiki offers travel adventure trips in over 40 countries for travellers ages 18 to 35.  Nadine and a group of jolly and inquisitive Contiki visitors joined in on a Thai cooking class.  We made Southern Thai Massaman curry (the recipe for this dish is included in this blog) as well as some other dishes.

Chef Nadine

Make it Simple, Make it Informative and Make it Funny
I try to make the class informative and entertaining by stressing the basic techniques of Thai cooking with some jokes thrown in to keep the attention of the students.One thing I emphasize is “it is easier to add heat to your cooking pan than subtract – keep the heat under the pan on low to medium so the ingredients don’t burn – burned curry paste will make the whole dish taste bitter” when making a dish such as Massaman curry.  I tell the students “If you have your heat too high, then the ingredients will burn and then tears will fall down like rain” as I gesture to my eyes.  After the third repetition of this crying act the students usually chuckle.  We take our laughs where we can get them and I get the point across that not all Asian cooking has to be done on the highest heat – sometime achieving the most flavor in a Thai dish is a marathon and not a sprint.

Nadine artfully decorated her Massaman with toasted peanuts and coriander leaf

Nadine has inspired me to make more videos and more blog entries – thanks Nadine and best of luck in your travels!
You can learned more about Nadine at her website:  www.nadinesykora.com
You can learn more about Contiki tours at their website: www.contiki.com

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