Today was one of the best cooking classes I have taken over the years.  But, first, I want to tell you about the ‘Laotian Plumber’.

A couple of days ago I went to turn off the water in the sink after washing my hands.  It would not turn completely off.  A small stream, continued to run into the sink.  An hour or so later when I went in to take my shower I noticed that not only was the water continuing to run but the sink was draining very slowly and water had begun to back up in the sink.

After my shower I went to the desk and explained the situation.  I explained in English.  He understood in Lao.  I finally motioned up to my room and beckoned him to follow. 

Once in the bathroom he understood the problem.  

He poked and prodded the pipes behind the sink with his hands and then excused himself.  Back he came with a small diameter stick about 3 feet long.  I got out of his way and went into the bedroom.

Shortly, he came out of the bathroom, proclaimed the sink situation fixed, and departed.  When I went into the bathroom later, sure enough there was no water standing in the sink, but the water still ran in a small stream from the tap.  I guess he considered it fixed ‘Laotian style’.

Now about cooking.  The Tamarind School is located outside  of Luang Prabang several  kilometers.  It is a purpose built cooking school. A large pavilion is nestled among trees.  A stream runs down one side of it.  The pavilion itself houses the prep and cooking stations on one level.  Two or three steps down to one side is an eating area about 35 feet long with a long table and chairs on either side.  Although it will seat about 20 people, our class size was 12 which is the max.  

The prep and cooking side of the pavilion is flanked by an herb garden and a pond beyond.  The ‘eating’ side is also flanked by a long pond.  It is one of the nicest, most picturesque areas in which to cook, hands down.

Speaking of cooking, we did not use individual gas burners.  We used individual small braziers filled with glowing charcoal!  These were clustered together off to one side of the prep area in its own 'mini' pavilion. 

The first dish we prepared was a dip for sticky rice.  It consisted of roasting a chili pepper, Asian eggplant, garlic, shallot and cherry tomatoes on small skewers.  We laid them directly on the glowing coals.  Once charred they were pealed and mashed with mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt tossed in.  The delicious mixture was then put on top of morsels of sticky rice and eaten.  You make the morsels by putting a bit of rice in your hand and rolling and flattening it to make a platform for the mixture.

From there we went on to make steamed fish wrapped in a banana leaf packet.  A filet of Tilapia was cut up and put in a mixture of shallots, garlic, chili pepper, kafir lime leaves, basil,  dill, fish sauce, and scallions.  The mixture (other than the fish) was pounded in a mortar and then the fish mixed in.  All that went into a banana leaf and was tied up into a little packet and steamed. 

Sound good so far?   It gets better.  Next we made a mixture of garlic, scallions, kafir lime leaf, cilantro and salt.  All that was pounded into a paste in a mortar and minced chicken added.  More pounding and we had a thick paste of chicken and herbs.  We made repeated slits up lemon grass stalks from about an inch above the tip to five inches up the stalk.  This area was then pounded gently to soften the fibers.  Finally, the chicken mixture (a heaping tablespoon) was inserted into a ‘cage’ of lemongrass fibers.  It was dipped into beaten egg and deep fried.  The lemon grass infuses its flavor into the chicken/herb mixture.

Next, after we sautéed ground water buffalo meat and removed it from the heat we made a salad by mixing it with cilantro, garlic, chili, scallion, bean sprouts, lime juice, and mint.

Almost done.  The last dish was sticky rice.  We added water to shredded coconut and squeezed to produce a coconut milk.  This went into the pan with sugar.  Once boiling we added sticky rice (red no less.  The red rice is pricier and ‘stickier’ than the white)   The coconut mixture and rice was reduced to a thick mixture.  It was eaten with a variety of fresh fruits.

This was a ‘cooking day in paradise’.  The setting was idylic.  The recipes were top shelf, far and away better than the ones the class prepared at the Tamnak Lao cooking school here on Saturday.