This past Saturday I took a Thai Street Food Cooking class at the Natural Gourmet Institute, where we learned about Thai street food culture and then split into groups to prepare several curry pastes and dishes to use them in.

My group was in charge of the green curry paste, which served as a base for the eggplant and basil curry with tofu. We also made Thai chili sauce, peanut sauce, pickled cucumbers,and coconut milk mango ice cream with bananas in coconut sauce. Some of the other foods were galangal & coconut chicken soup, spicy fish cakes, shrimp curry, and pad thai. 

Delicious.

I also had my first encounter with durian, aka “The King of Fruit.”

Some places won’t allow durian because it smells so strongly, but to be completely honest, it tasted like creme brûlée! I don’t even like creme brûlée, but in weird fruit form, it was wonderful.

This class was a fun way to spend a snowy afternoon and would make an awesome gift for someone. There were also several couples there, so if you’re looking for something romantic, cooking and eating weird exotic fruit together is pretty awesome. Check out some of the other public class offerings at the Natural Gourmet Institute if you’re interested—I’ve been to a few of their classes and have always had a good experience. It’s very hands on, and the recipes are both delicious and user-friendly.

Have you ever taken a cooking class? What’s your favorite kind of cuisine? Ever tried durian?