Domesticated Diva

Here's to all the Betty Crockers out there:

I've always dreamed of cooking up exotic meals from all over the world in my kitchen one day. For now, that kitchen doesn't exist, so in the meantime I'm sampling the smorgasbord of food throughout the world to hand pick the best of the best, and hopefully be able to replicate them one day in my own home. I dream of having spices in my cupboard that I've bought while traveling abroad. I have a good start with spices from India and Morocco. I vividly remember the shopkeepers I bought them from. In Morocco, I sipped tea with the spice man after he taught me about his spices and told me all about himself, which even included the showing of a photo album. The business had been in his family for many generations. In India, I chatted for what seemed like forever with the spice man as he slowly prepared the spices I had ordered to use as Christmas presents. These spices have stories behind them. They're not some boring spices I bought from the supermarket. I'm anxious to create yummy recipes with them once I get back to the states!


In Chiang Mai, there are numerous cooking classes to choose from. Apparently, everyone wants to learn how to cook Thai. I don't blame them, Thai food is some of the best in the world. I chose to take a class through "Sammy's Organic". What allured me was the idea of using organic products from his farm.


The cooking class was a full day affair, from 8-4. Sammy's farm was a 1 hour drive outside of polluted Chiang Mai, into the relaxed countryside. 2 sisters from Germany, Marlene and Francisca, were also taking the class with me. I had a wonderful time with these goofy girls and couldn't have chose better people to cook next to.

The German sisters

Sammy was an extremely nice man, as was his sweet wife.

Sammy cooking up a storm

Before we escaped the city for the organic farm, we stopped at a local market. We were given a demonstration on how coconut milk was made. After the coconut is shredded, it's placed in a machine to squeeze out the milk and, wa-la!, you have coconut milk!


Sammy gave us a list and let us choose what we wanted to cook. I opted to cook yellow curry, Thai vegetable soup, stir fried tofu with holy basil, papaya salad and pumpkin custard.


My German comrades made the green curry, jungle curry, prawn soup, chicken in coconut milk soup, stir fried chicken with cashew nut, pad Thai, spring rolls, chicken in pandanus leaves, mango with sticky rice and banana in coconut milk.


Before we dove into the cooking, we each donned a cute maroon apron. I was morphed into a domesticated diva.

First, we slaved away on our curry paste as we chopped up all the fresh ingredients and ground them together by hand with a stone grinder until they were the desired consistency.

We also made the soup and the stir fried items, under the supervision of Sammy's wife. We cooked in an open air kitchen, each of us with our own gas stove. The calming sounds of nature were the only noises humming in the background. It was so nice to get away from the city.


With our stomachs growling, we sat down to enjoy our creations. The curry was by far my favorite. Surprisingly, it tasted as good as it does in India. I was pretty proud of my work. I was so full from the curry, I could only sample a bite from the other 2 dishes.

After we stuffed ourselves silly, we took a couple hours to stroll around Sammy's peaceful farm and traipse along the picturesque rice paddy fields.

We lounged in the hammocks and chit-chatted for a while after. Francisca was a very animated silly character, it's no surprise that she works as an actress. Her sister, Marlene, was a sweetheart that had been bitten by the travel bug, like me.


Soon it was time to make the desert! To make the pumpkin custard, I used coconut milk, brown sugar, egg and flour, as instructed by Sammy's wife.

me and Sammy's wife

Then using a thick green pandanus leaf, tied in a knot, I squeezed it in my hand inside the bowl to produce little bubbles. I was told this is the traditional way to make the custard. Then I poured the liquid over a strainer into the custard dishes that were filled with cubed pumpkin. Just set it in a steamer for 20 minutes and you will have tasty pumpkin custard. I cut out a heart from the leaf as a decoration for the top. Perfection.

We tasted our hard work once again and were all very pleased. Delicious! Sammy gave us each a cookbook with all the recipes so we would be able to duplicate them once we get back home. I'll have to wait a few months until I find out if I'm successful in copying the recipes, but I'm confident they will be just as delicious in my home in Hawaii! Anyone want to come over for supper?