Day 43: Spice of Life

One of the best things in traveling is trying all the local foods, so why not also learn how to cook them?! Today we went to a local farm for a Thai cooking class, which included going to the market to pick up ingredients and also get fresh vegetables and spices from the garden for a full 5-course meal.

We learned how to identify the ingredients and navigate thru the market. At the farm, we picked chili peppers and fresh herbs. Everyone could choose the dishes they wished to prepare from scratch, including making our own curry paste. Of course, the best part was eating our savory meals and having a recipe book to take home!

I learned how to make green curry chicken, vegetarian tom yam soup, chicken with basil, pad thai, and mango with sticky rice. I can't wait to make these at home!

Also, a note on gluten-free eating during travel. Being gluten-free is not as uncommon as I was afraid it would be. Turns out it's prevalent all over the world. It was especially easy to find GF foods in New Zealand and Australia. In fact, the first eatery we encountered in NZ offered GF bagels for one of the yummiest breakfast bagels ever. I wanted to go back and take a bag with me!

I did learn, however, that pad thai, although it is made with rice noodles, is often prepared with oyster and soy sauce, which is unfortunately not GF :( Cross-contamination has been my greatest enemy on this trip.

I'm looking forward to going back home and cooking my own meals again.