too many chefs spoil the green curry...almost.

We had gotten a recommendation from Ben and Aliyah to take a cooking class when we were in Chiang Mai...we thought, "hey why not? when else can we learn to cook pad thai for 20 bucks."

So after we got our prison massages (check out Ben's blog about it at: delhidispatch.blogspot.com, similiar experience except we definitely got medium to light) we headed over to Baan Thai cooking class down the street from our hostel.

We were told to pick four dishes to prepare and it would be our dinner...most people would probably have picked an appetizer, a couple of main dishes and a dessert. Not us. Jess and I (along with our three new friends from Canada, Switzerland, and Finland we met on the train from Bangkok) picked 4 main courses: Green Curry, Pad Thai, Spring Rolls and Coconut Chicken Curry Soup.

We started with the curry paste for the green curry. I can't even remember all the ingredients (thank god they gave us a cookbook as a parting gift) but there were definitely over a dozen fresh vegetables and spices. I was in charge of chopping the root of the corriander plant and so, as best I could, I diligently began chopping it up into small pieces, including what I thought to be all the necessary parts.

The curry paste was then one part of the green curry, which turned out to be probably the best curry we've tasted yet (obvi). The five of us were all at our separate stations trying to avoid spilling coconut milk and causing grease fires. The spring rolls came along really well and our wonderful teacher (who knew such phrases as "hey you, get your ass in gear") let us enjoy the first part of the meal.

Somewhere between the amazing green curry and the fresh spring rolls, our teacher came up to us and said "Who cut the corriander root?"

I got really excited, as I thought I was going to be the "best student" and be given extra "points."

"I did!" I screamed between mouthfuls.

"Well," she said holding up a corriander root in her hand, "You only cut the stems and forgot the root. Next time, include the root, that's where all the flavor comes from."

Oops.

Needless to say, the curry tasted perfect to us, as did the two bites of pad thai and coconut soup we were able to stomach after the first two main courses.

It was the best cooking class ever...followed by after-dinner whiskey shots to help us digest the meal and a night out to a late night club called "Spicy."Let's just say that our night out turned into a morning out, after which 3 of us missed our 8:30 am trek the next morning and one delayed his departure all together from the city...so we spent the next day recovering, getting foot massages and eating greasy western food for lunch and greasy indian food for dinner.

We heart Chiang Mai.

Mother and daughter from a Long Neck tribe
Antti, Claudio, Mike, and Katie McHugh!
Sign posted outside a wat. Yes, you read it right--"Women are prohibited to go up."

Mike and Antti on our ghetto prison train.