One of the problems with traditional souvenirs, such as jewellery, magnets or postcards, is that they are fairly common and they fail to capture the real essence of your trip.
Luckily, there is a way to keep the taste of your vacation fresh, with cooking classes in Koh Samui. Here are a few to try.
Samui Institute of Thai Culinary Arts, Chaweng
Since 1999 Samui Institute of Thai Culinary Arts has been sharing the secrets of Thai cooking with visitors from all over the world. SITCA offers a variety of courses, from their morning or afternoon three hour classes to intensive one or two week immersive courses. It’s all hands on every step of the way, as visitors prepare and cook each dish themselves under the watchful eye of expert instructors, and afterwards everyone is rewarded by sampling the fruits of their labour. Instructional DVDs are available to buy from the SITCA shop if there is no time to attend a full class or a refresher course might be needed at a later date. The shop also sells powders and curry pastes to use as secret ingredients at home. This is a fun activity that amauteur cooks and professional chefs alike can enjoy.
Pai Cookery Samui, Chaweng
For those who prefer learning in a smaller group, Pai Cookery Samui offers classes to groups of up to four people. This class is popular with those who want to learn to make the perfect spring roll, as well as other popular Thai dishes. The class is separated into four different courses where guests will be instructed on how to make four different dishes. In each course, students will learn how to make a curry paste, a curry and a soup or stir fry dish from scratch. Upon completion of the course, each student will receive a complimentary recipe book to keep practising their newfound skills at home. Click here to find out more
Smiley Cook, Chaweng
As well as catering for small classes of no more than four people, the Smiley Cooking Class programme has a slightly different approach to its cooking instruction. They offer two classes per day (9am and 4pm) and they both start with taking their students on a 30 minute tour of the market, where they can seen what the fresh ingredients look like and learn the beauty of thai herbs, vegetables and spices. After the tour, a two hour cooking class will take place where students will learn how to make four Thai dishes from a menu of their choosing, as well as unlocking the delicious secret of the mango sticky rice dessert. The menu includes dishes such as fried pork or chicken with ginger, Tom Yum (spicy prawn) soup and green mango salad amongst other things. Finish the lesson by sharing food with the other people at the table.
Spice Spoon, Chaweng
Spice Spoon offers more than just a cooking class, it offers a day of immersion into the Thai culture. Each culinary programme includes a tour of the local market, a visit to coconut and organic produce farms and places of untouched natural beauty before returning to the resort in the afternoon. Here, students will learn about Thai and southern Thai cuisine’s cultural significance and health benefits, indigenous ingredients and cooking equipment and convenient replacements to use at home. At about 1pm it will be time to put theory to practice with a step by step cooking class consisting of four recipes. Options include thai fish cakes, coconut chicken soup, thai fried noodles with prawns and so much more.
It’s one thing to visit Koh Samui and be immersed in the culture, but something else entirely to be able to bring a piece of it home. Learning to make popular dishes is both fun and a way of ensuring the memories of Samui stay forever fresh in everyone’s mind.
Happy cooking!