The instructor was: I enjoyed learning more about the Thai culture which included how they label their dishes, what types of Thai food exists in different regions of Thailand and what ingredients where a base for most Thai food. Naomi was fun, light-hearted and non intimidating! She MADE the evening!
The atmosphere was: It was a fun evening but I thought kitchen area was very uncleanly and I would of liked to learn to cook Thai with equipment that we would use at home. (Not a professional restaurant wok, for instance which I imagine is very different than what our options are at home.) The assistants seemed quite unknowledgeable and most unfriendly (especially the older assistant).
Complexity of the recipes: I thought the recipes were very basic once I understood the ingredients. I LOVED the walk through the store showing us differences in ingredients and how to find Thai things we may want to purchase. Hearing a bit more detail about some of the items would of been even better. An example would have been like the differences in Tofu and what they are used for .(You touched on it briefly) the difference between brands of coconut milk, "lite" vs regular and how it would or wouldn't make a difference in certain recipes. Or bamboo steamers vs metal, electric or other woks, etc. I wanted to leave feeling that I could cook any of the items at home and have the basic knowledge to succeed.
The food was: Since the students made the dishes (hands on is great!), I felt they were average, especially the Pad Thai and the fish (way over cooked?) It seemed most of the class wasn't that experienced with more complex cooking which added to the mix of how the food turned out.
The skills you learned were: I hoped to pick up more skills with equipment but I did learn how to steam things in banana peels and the basics of how to cook with a professional wok. I think the class would of enjoyed learning some basic knife skills since we all did chopping!
;)
