Chiang Mai: Cooking with Tag

In Seattle, it seems you can't throw a tennis ball without hitting a Thai restaurant. So after a couple months in Africa, the cuisine in Thailand almost felt like coming home. Almost.

And while we have tried to make Thai food at home, the results have generally paled in comparison to the real (US-style) thing.

No longer. Erin and I are now well on our way to Thai cooking expertise, after taking a daylong course with local chef and cooking instructor extraordinaire, Tag. Based on a recommendation from Erin's cousin Wendy (who lives in Chiang Mai), we chose "Cooking with Tag" as our entry point into the world of Thai cooking.

When we arrived at his restaurant/school and saw that he also ran the "Yummy Yummy All-You-Can-Eat Buffet (99 baht)," we knew we had chosen wisely.

Our day began with a trip to the local market. Tag led the farang (aka "foreigners" in Thai) through the stalls, talking to us about ingredient selection and explaining what we might use as a substitute in the US. After reviewing vegetables, curry pastes, peppers and all array of other components, Tag put special emphasis on the "Magic Powder." While some of you may know it as Knorr powdered chicken stock, to Tag it is the stuff that turns drab into sparkle. Much as Emeril adds heat with a "bang," (or is it a "wham?" I can't remember), Tag adds Magic Powder. And now, so do I.

After the shopping trip, we headed back to the Yummy Yummy home base, where we each had a cooking station. At this point, the lovely O (I'm really not sure how to spell her name) took over the instruction. With assistants bringing prepped veggies, spices, meats, etc., we spent the next three hours learning the secrets of Thai cooking. We were each in charge of our own destinies, crafting individual portions of tom yum, spring rolls, red curry and pad thai.

(As an aside, having learned all my previous Thai cooking lessons from my friend JR, I was surprised to learn that chili paste is not the base for every Thai dish. After the third time I asked O, "can you add chili paste to that?" I could tell she was just being patient with me, thinking "crazy farang.")

Our day ended by consuming our creations, to our collective delight. With sweaty scalps all around, we enjoyed our own yummy yummy buffet. And with a return trip to Chiang Mai planned for January (with my parents in tow), I have already spoken with Tag about a second course focused on different (and perhaps a bit milder) dishes.