If you would like to try your hand at cooking fresh, authentic Thai dishes on a beautiful organic farm in Chiang Mai, look no further than Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School.
As our time in Chiang Mai was coming to an end, we decided to finally visit a Thai cooking school.
Despite having spent almost 2 weeks in Chiang Mai, we got close to our leaving date and realised we hadn’t actually done most of the things we wanted to do! Chiang Mai is like that. It’s so chilled out that you can spend a lot of time there seemingly doing nothing at all!
Chiang Mai Cooking Class
One of the things we had considered was going to a Thai cooking school. We found a leaflet offering half day courses and it had great online reviews so we decided to book. Instead of contacting them ourselves, we asked the host of our hostel, Nuy, if she could get a discount which, of course, she could. Nuy phoned the school but it appeared we had left it too late as they were fully booked. Damn! Nuy recommended another school and, before we could even agree, she gave them a call. They were also fully booked. RUBBISH! Nuy, however, is a persuasive lady and she asked very politely if they could squeeze us in. Her magic worked as they agreed! We were booked in for the next morning for the full-day course and at a discount price of 800 baht (instead of 1000). RESULT!
The other school had been charging this for the half day course so we wondered if this one would be as good. A quick google search of ‘best cooking class Chiang Mai’ showed that we had nothing to fear. We had booked a full day course with ‘Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School’ and, by all reports, it would be awesome!
Meeting Sammy
The following morning, we were eating breakfast at the hostel and, ahead of schedule, Sammy himself arrived to pick us up. We then picked up another couple before meeting up with another minibus full of people at a local market. Sammy took us inside and showed us all the ingredients that we would need to make the food, should we buy them from a local market. Today, however, we would not be buying from the market. Everything would be fresh from Sammy’s farm.
Sammy explaining the market produce
Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School
Following our visit to the market, we then drove on to Sammy’s farm. It was already clear that Sammy is incredibly proud of his farm and on arrival we could see why. It is simply stunning from the second you pull onto the drive.
Sammy’s stunning organic farm
Sammy proceeded to welcome us to his farm and show us around. First of all, he showed us our cooking stations.
Where the magic happened!
He then showed us where we would be eating our food.
The table is set!
Joanna is ready!
Sammy then showed us around the farm. All the ingredients we would be using were grown on his farm: there would be no pastes used. He showed us the turmeric root (good for bites!), galangal, kaffir lime leaves, holy basil and coconut amongst others.
Learning about the ingredients.
The coconut was grated using an antique grater and then squeezed in a cloth to produce the milk. I had a go at this and it is not easy work!
Sammy’s Organic Farm
Sammy introduces us to some of the ingredients.
Making coconut milk.
Making Thai Red Curry
We then started with our first task: making the curry paste. This involved 10 minutes of bashing our ingredients in a pestle and mortar. I had chosen to make red curry with chicken. Once our paste was ready, we moved to the workstations and followed the instructions. There were 3 options being made but Sammy made it very clear and obvious which instructions each person needed to follow. He did so with a sense of humour that ensured everyone warmed to him. He was a great host!
Getting ready to cook!
After a few minutes, the curries were ready so it was time to eat! My red curry was delicious. You could taste all the individual ingredients and also the combined flavour. Above all, it tasted so fresh and it was so simple to make!
My red curry with chicken!
Thai Stir Fry
Next up, we all made a stir fry (3 options to choose from again) and I also made a soup (I could have made papaya salad instead). Once more, the instructions were clear and easy to follow and I again ended up making absolutely delicious Thai food from scratch. I was enjoying this! So was Joanna!
Joanna & the art of stir frying
Chicken and Cashew Nut
Chicken & coconut soup
Time For A Rest
It was now midday and everyone was full after eating 3 courses of the most delicious Thai food. Sammy told us we were to now spend the next part of the day relaxing in the hammocks. This was one of those moments when you realise that you have given up a life of teaching and stress and you are lazing in a hammock in the most beautiful surroundings after having eaten some amazing fresh food and life feels pretty damn good! It was a wonderful feeling. Joanna seemed to enjoy it too.
Life doesn’t get much better than this!
Making Thai Spring Rolls
After almost an hour of napping and relaxing, we went back to the kitchen. This time, I had chosen to make spring rolls and mango with sticky rice. Not a great deal of preparation went into these dishes so it was a fairly chilled out afternoon where we chatted amongst ourselves and found out about each other’s backgrounds and travels. We ate our food, which was again delicious, before we had to leave.
Visit Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School
Sammy gave everyone a recipe book before he and his friend drove us all back to Chiang Mai. It was a wonderful day away from the city and Sammy was an excellent host: warm, knowledgeable and funny. Though it was originally our second choice, we had such a great time at Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School it was hard to imagine our original choice being better. I would definitely recommend this activity to anyone heading to Chiang Mai.
For more information, visit Sammy’s web site at https://www.sammysorganicthaicookingschool.com/
