Courses & Classes

If your interest is simply in learning more about what goes into Thai dishes in order to enhance your knowledge and enjoyment when dining out, don't hesitate to join one of the cooking courses available on the island.

The Traditional way to eat Thai food is to share several different dishes at same time, enabling each dinner to discover al many different flavors as possible. One spoonful of one dish at a time, ladled onto a plate of steaming fragrant rice (Khao Plow), helps to keep the flavors distinct, while a sip of Chinese tea (Cha Jin) in between mouthfuls helps to prepare the taste buds for the next exhilarating experience.

Whether you entertain your guests by cooking Asian or Western cuisine, nothing enhances a carefully prepared dish, like a graceful fruit or vegetable carving, or some simple but elegant garnishes.

In the fruit carver's skilled hands and using a small and very sharp pointed knife, an ordinary papaya or pumpkin is turned into a bouquet of flowers, a radish becomes a tiny rabbit or daisy or a carrot a rare orchid. Almost any kind of fruit or vegetable can be used.

The carver must understand the texture of each and use its natural colour to imitate that of the chosen subject. Not all the carvings are as small as a flower; a large round watermelon becomes a richly decorated and lidded bowl to be used as a container for fruit salad. The green outer skin is cut away to make a pattern in relief of flowers or even characters in Thai literature.