Not For the Faint of Heart

                                     

Mandy and I dropped Britain and Abi at school (leaving two little sickies at home and hoping we don't tote an epidemic of the stomach flu back to the States) and made a stop at Starbucks right around the corner (now isn't that convenient?) before starting the  adventure of our Thai cooking class.

                                    

We were loaded into a van with four others and driven to the slums to first tour the wet market, open everyday from 2:00 AM to 6:00 PM, where local restauranteurs, hotel owners and individuals purchase all meats and produce that come into Bangkok. Our hostess and instructor, Poo (her real name is 

Shampoo.....check back for another blog post exclusively based on Americans words adopted as 

Thai names) provided fair warning en route to the market that there would be many "confronting sights" and cautioned vegetarians to sit out the tour prior to cooking class. Mandy and I locked arms courageously, grabbed our cameras, took a deep breath and ventured on.

Poo, the Paula Deen of Bangkok, with vision atypical of Thai women, has seen beyond the slums where she was born and still lives, to capitalize on cultural culinary expertise which she now shares internationally. Poo has written a cookbook that has sold 18,000copies in two years and been invited to cooking tours around the globe. Her entrepreneurial pluck has brought awareness to the area where she resides, home to 80,000-100,000, one of the largest slum communities in Asia, as well as created jobs. You can read more about this dynamo at http://www.cookingwithpoo.com. Below, she directs us to the chickens which were moments before, clucking in their little cages.

                                     

                                     

Mandy suggested I may not want to share 8x12 glossy prints of those photos we snapped sloshing through the wet market, but you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words.  In the interest  of weak stomachs and small children who might be viewing these images, I will employ my handy-dandy collage app. Be assured, however, that until they come up with a scratch n' sniff app, you are still not getting the fulll effect.

So, without TMI we will direct your attention to the frogs (those hopping together encased in their little nets and those all ready for biology class) along with Chef Boo holding up prize specimens from the insect collection of culinary delights.

                   

Next, we can play a kind of "where's Waldo" game. Guess who is participating in bring-your-pet-to-work day, which specimens bound and tied were still winking at us, which are the deep fried fish intestines and what photo puts a whole new spin on sticking one's foot in one's mouth?

                    

                     

A bit weak-kneed, we rounded the corner relieved to find more palatable aesthetics. The produce section of the market was resplendent with beautiful and bountiful fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs and spices. Thousands of watermelons, we were told, would be gone at the end of the day. Between 5:00 and 6:00PM  each day the market is emptied by those who push and shove and elbow their way for the markdowns and throw-aways. The area is then hosed down (thus the name "wet market") and it begins all over again at 2:00  AM.

                                 

                     

                                  

These guys below are the web vans of Bangkok, happy to have a job. They make deliveries to establishments who have standing orders at the market. And there was rice....lotsa rice....lotsa choices. The woman is making a sweet, sticky rice stirring in coconut milk. 

                                  

                                 

                                  

Winding our way literally back through the slums,Poo shows us her home where she began cooking and dispensing food from a window several years ago. Her commercial kitchen is a few doors down the alleyway and we are invited in. Sparse, spare and clean, Poo's operation sports all necessary equipment for giving us an introduction to the art she has perfected.

                    

We chopped and stirred, simmered and pounded (or what every you call that action using a mortar and pestle?) Nothing exotic, though, thank goodness. We had a blast and came up with some tasty dishes that surprised ourselves. 

                     

                                   

                        

                                    

And to top off a day focused on food, there  was a farewell cake for Grandenny at dinner. When sad, cake and strawberries and  whipped cream help ease the parting.