When in Spain you drink a lot of sangria and eat tapas and paella. Ayana and I signed up for a cooking class where we learned how to make these two quintessential meals. For only 18 Euros, we learned to make it, and then ate as much as we wanted afterward.

We are joined by Kevin, Hannah and Susie, all three from the hostel we were staying at. We started off by making sangria. Wine, sugar, lemon, oranges, apples, and a brandy or rum and a carbonated drink like soda all make up the mixture.

Once we had the sangria to ‘fortify’ us, Carla, our instructor, began to make the paella. On this night: seafood paella.

Unlike Thailand where I made the food myself, Carla did most of the the cooking. But I did get a chance to put my touch on the dish by stirring the pan for 20 ‘fortified’ minutes while the rice cooked.

After dinner Ayana, Susie, Hannah and I sat in the bar and drank the rest of the sangria. They are two 18 year olds from Austrailia, just finished high school and are off on a gap year all around Europe. They will travel and work in Europe for their year and then head home. Great girls and great company!

Commentary from Ayana:

Mission accomplished

Cooking Class and Ayana Speaks! is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

Today I was at the beach in Railay, Thailand. Gorgeous beach. But I was out of there in about 2 hours.

I’ve spent alot of time in Caribbean, even lived there for a time as a kid, and at this point for me, a gorgeous beach with crystal clear blue/green/aquamarine water is like any other gorgeous beach with crystal clear blue/green/aquamarine water.

So what could I do different on this trip that I had never done before?

A Thai cooking class! Brilliant.

Considering I like to eat, this seemed perfect. I signed up for Siam Cuisine Cooking School, about a 10 minute drive from Ao Nang. It’s a family run school and restaurant.

I was met by ‘Pin’, who proceeded to give me a 2 hour one on one lesson in Thai cooking. Since I was the only student the class went by quickly. Normally it was 10-12 students and the class runs 5 hours.

Pin give me an overview of all the ingredients and described how we/I were going to use them.

Me, before I start slicing and dicing….

First dish up was Pat Thai (Fried Noodles Thai Style).

Looking now at the pictures I didn’t realize how nice the dish and food were presented. I pat myself on the back.

You make each dish and then you sit and eat it.

The mad scientist at work….

In all I made 6 dishes in less than 2 hours, including the time of me sitting and eating each dish. They were

Pat Thai (Fried Noodles Thai Style)
Khao Phad Talay (Fried Rice with Seafood)
Tom Kaa Kai (Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup)
Pad Kra Prao (Fried Minced Chicken with Holy Basil) at left
Kaeng Ped Kai (Red Curry with Chicken) at left
Kao-Neuw-Ma-Muang (Sticky Sweet Rice with Mango)

All smiles when the class is done and the food is GOOD!

Total price for this class, including instruction and eating everything you make – 1200 baht or about $34US. Unbeatable.

Thai cooking is so simple and fast. You can make a 6 course meal in 45 minutes. I also got a little cookbook with instructions and list of ingredients needed.

How To Be Stuffed with Thai Food in 2 Hours is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel