MALIWANTHAI
COOKINGCLASS
Situated near Khaosan Road, the city’s
main backpacker area, the day at
Maliwan starts with a quick orientation
followed by a fun tuk-tuk ride to the
local market. The owner, Matinee
Charoendee (Mae), and weekend
instructor Claire lead Hong Kong
natives Karina Cheung and her
friend Steffi deep into the
fresh market.
Arriving at the first
stall, they go over
local vegetables
on one side and
a variety of fiery
chillis on the other.
At the next stall,
Mae explains the
various types of
garlic in Thai cooking.
“
See this?” she says,
holding up a large clove of
garlic. “We don’t use this one. This
is Chinese garlic. We use the smaller
one for Thai cooking, which we’ll pound
and use to make a curry paste.”
With that, she moves to a provisions
stall selling a variety of sugar to pick
up palm sugar and just across, a green
heap of what appears to be long blades
of grass turns out to be the fragrant
pandan leaf. Claire explains, “It’s the
Thai equivalent of vanilla. We use this
to infuse fragrance into our food and
drinks. We’ll be making the chicken
pandanus later, which will be wrapped
with these. You’ll see.”
Mae, the 32-year-old native of Yala
in southern Thailand, started the school
nearly four years ago after working in
the jewelry industry. She had traveled
around the world and found Thai food
not tasting as it should. Growing up
helping at her grandmother’s eatery in
Phuket, coupled with her own interest
in cooking, gave her the drive to start
her own school.
This morning the two students make
everything from scratch, even the curry
paste — but it is the chicken wrapped
in pandanus that creates the most
excitement, with its splattering oil. The
course teaches technique, but also
encourages the student to find the taste
they like most. The only interruptions
to the lessons are an occasional fit of
laughter and story sharing. It’s not a
bad way to spend an afternoon on any
day.
B A N G K O K C O O K I N G S C H O O L S
Top to bottom: Students
at a fresh market in the
Kao Sang neighborhood
of Bangkok; instructor
Mae (right) shows
students how to fold the
pandanus leaf properly
for stuffing chicken; the
professional kitchen and
cooking studio; (inset)
dried fish at the market
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