» Food & Drink: Thia’d up
Andrew Kay gets his nose in the mortar for a crash course in Thai cooking with the Chilli Chicks
A few weeks back I received an email inviting me along to a Thai cookery course. At the time I was up to my neck in ‘stuff’ and really didn’t have the time to accept. But their letter was so utterly charming and funny that I relented and accepted the offer.
If I say that I am a fairly accomplished cook then I hope I am not over-egging my own pudding. I certainly have some skills, I can bone and fillet fish and meat, know how to make a variety of classic sauces and I am pretty masterful when it comes to stuffing. I can even prepare a decent, if not authentic curry and have been know to create a small selection of Thai dishes, mainly from taste memory rather than from actual knowledge.
I warned the girls, Bookie and Tahel, that when it comes to culinary matters, I am no slouch and so not to go easy on me. They certainly took me at my word.
The class took place on a Friday evening at Tahel’s home. I arrived late afternoon and spent the next few hours with my eyes and ears open and my hands constantly occupied. We were going to make three dishes in total and in the kitchen the ingredients were all grouped in dishes ready for the off.
Before long, I was peeling shallots and lemon grass, slicing galangal and garlic and dry roasting a variety of spices in a wide pan on the hob. The basis for two of the dishes were curry pastes but these we were making from raw ingredients, totally from scratch.
The next stage was the pounding and grinding of the parts that were to make up the paste. Now, I would like to say that in the past I had done this in my blender, but it would be a lie. In the past I have used Thai curry pastes bought from food stores in plastic tubs. Bookie frowned, the only time the wide smile ever left her face. Tahel was less damning and admitted that she too had a pot in her refrigerator for emergencies. The grinding is a hard process but made easy by using a large red clay conical mortar and a hefty wooden pestle. I acquitted myself well and my paste was smooth and pungent, the girls looked pleased.
“Immediately she set about making a sweet dressing of shrimp paste, sugar and dried chillis”
Pretty soon I was frying my paste in oil and then adding coconut milk, a little at a time. The room filled with sweet, spicy aromas. My red paste on one ring and Tahel’s green one on another. Time flew by but all the while I was learning new skills. While my peeled potatoes were dropping into the creamy chicken dish ready to make a massaman, Bookie was bringing out prawns for me to peel and de-gut, a job I have done many time before.
Both were surprised that I liked fish sauce and shrimp paste. I use both often but Bookie could eat both straight off the spoon, a far more exotic palate than even mine. Immediately she set about making a sweet dressing of shrimp paste, sugar and dried chillis. Into this we dipped green mango. If it sounds odd then try it because it tastes amazing, really amazing.
My final dish was a salad of king prawns and mango. I had to peel half the fruit and than hack slices into the flesh while it sat in the palm of my hand. Then you pare the shreds off the fruit in fine slivers. Fortunately I can wield a knife and I was stone cold sober. The julienne of mango was tossed with roasted coconut shreds, cashews, mint leaves and deep fried shallots. The prawns were marinated with garlic, pepper and oyster sauce and then grilled. Finally we stirred in a dressing of dried red chilli, salt, fried garlic, fish sauce lime juice, palm sugar and vegetable oil. It was spectacular.
The Chilli Chicks offer a wide range of courses in a variety of formats. You can visit them or they will come to your home. The fun thing is that whatever dishes you prepare you take home with you, and they do the shopping in advance and the ingredients are included in the price of the class.
Bookie is Thai and she is a pretty strict taskmaster, as Tahel will tell you, everything has to be done right, no cheating and no short cuts. I liked that. Too many chefs seemed obsessed with showing us how to cut corners at home. Insurance I suspect that we will never meet their restaurant standards. Well, not for these two. I went home with three dishes that knocked the spots off any Thai food I have tasted in the UK.
With prices starting at £35 a head – for three or four people sharing a class, to prepare two dishes and rising accordingly – it was not only an education, but a fun night that ended with a slap-up meal and I went home with more than enough food for two. You also come away with excellent printed recipes sheets for the dishes that you have prepared, which dispenses with the taking of notes. There is even a menu of dishes that you can learn to make.
Apprehensive as ever I found myself utterly absorbed by these two young women and I cannot wait for Tahel to start dipping into her Israeli roots and start teaching that cuisine. I can see them doing this for serious cooks, keen amateurs, at parties, hen nights even for those who baulk at the idea of drifting up and down Preston Street in a veil and devil’s horns with an L-plate on their back and eighteen vodkas in their belly.
If love Thai food and want to know how to achieve excellence in your own kitchen, then I can highly recommend the Chilli Chicks experience.
For more information call 07806 481769 or 07886 902 855 or email info@chillichicks.co.uk
www.chillichicks.co.uk
