Cooking classes at resorts in Krabi Province offer a taste of Thailand - Los Angeles Times
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Cooking classes at resorts in Krabi Province offer a taste of Thailand

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Alex Gares was crushing ingredients for a spicy broth and giving cooking-class students instructions at the same time.

“Something you should know about Thai food: If someone tells you it’s not spicy, don’t believe it. It’s spicy,” he said.

“If someone tells you it is spicy, take extra care. It’s really spicy.”

Valuable information, I thought to myself. Gares, executive chef at Phulay Bay Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Krabi, was giving tips on how to prepare three dishes; I hoped I would be able to prepare them myself when I got home. If so, the class, which cost $100 and is open to the public, was time and money well spent.

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Cooking classes are soaring in popularity in Thailand, as they are in many other countries known for their interesting cuisines. In Bangkok, the classes usually last half a day and include a visit to a market to introduce you to Thai ingredients and flavors. Beach resort classes are a little looser, but the big benefit with all of them is that you get to eat the foods you make.

I hit two classes during a fall visit to Krabi Province in southwestern Thailand. At Sofitel’s Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort, the class, about $40 to $50 and open to the public, had more students, but the room was smaller. Lots of chopping, stir-frying and tasting in tight quarters. But the tasting was excellent.

The Sofitel isn’t on the beach, but it has an impressive open-air lobby, an interesting colonial/Victorian vibe and an enormous pool, one of the largest in southern Thailand.

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The digs are more luxurious and pricier over at the waterfront Ritz-Carlton, where all guests have their own beach or hillside villa, complete with butler. Plus a resident baby elephant comes out to say hello each night at sundown.

The Ritz also has Gares. “You need to taste, taste, taste while you’re cooking,” he said, putting together a salad using wild ferns, pork and chicken.

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I learned that lesson well. But now I never seem to have enough left when I’m done to serve it to someone else.

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