11 Apr 2023
My wife and I had a wonderful morning with Sawannee. My phone wasn't working but Sawannee found us by the old Clock Tower in the morning and approached us with a beaming smile. We introduced and explained that my wife is vegitarian and I eat meat so Sawannee suggested the dishes we woud cook before we set off to tour the extensive Chiang Rai market to buy the ingredients we would use. Sawannee is extensively travelled and studied in London so she speaks excellent English and was able to explain clearly what the things were that we hadn't seen before were and what the ingredients we would use were and what they are for. We stopped off at a temple before she drove us to her lovely home about 10 minutes away. She has a packed garden which she tends hereself as well as growing her own rice. Beside the house she has a purpose built training facility for teaching Thai cooking that has 8 cooking stations. We started by making two different stir fries. Then a Thai green curry for which we had to make two variants of green curry paste, one for the tofu and the other for the chicken. Finally a desert of pumpkin in coconut milk that was delicious. We both thought it was the best food we had eaten since we had been in Thailand and by the end we couldn't eat any more and it was time to lie down so Sawannee drove us back to our hotel. Sawannee is an excellent teacher. She is so clear that it is easy to remember the key points she emphasised. We had a fantastic time and will cook the dishes she taught us when we get home. We were privileged to meet Sawannee and thank her and hope to visit her again one day. Oliver and Oumar