A Culinary Journey Experience at
As a Thai citizen living in Hua Hin a trip to the local market to pick up some regional produce is nothing new However, traveling to the market with a professional chef is another story and was an experience that is highly recommended.
Guests staying at the Alila Hotel, one of Cha Am leading premium boutique hotels or for visitors to Hua Hin staying elsewhere interested in sharpening their culinary skills, joining Alila’s up market version of a cooking class is guaranteed to leave you with a few new recipes to prepare in your own kitchen and certainly an experience to talk about to friends and family back home.
The unique objective of this cooking class program is to be flexible with a variety of choices for guests to choose what they want to learn.
Your culinary journey starts by meeting Joel Denis Wilkinson, the friendly Executive Chef, in the stunning chic lobby of Alila where the specifications of the culinary journey are handed over to the guests. Yes, unlike most cooking programs, the customers choose what they want to prepare and cook or even which marketplace they prefer to shop at. Then…. It’s off to shopping for the ingredients!
A busy Thai style market full of local and regional produce never stops to amaze me especially when you are being escorted through the market by a culinary professional. You might ever have wondered what has been missing in your last green curry or how to make such a yummy Tom Yum. Here the friendly chef will show you around the market together with some Thai cooking tips. And, of course, helpful commentary on the various fruits, vegetables, fresh seafood varieties and an endless display of Thai herbs and spices is given to guests to help create an authentic Thai marketplace experience.
What food items to buy? It’s really up to guests. After purchasing the raw ingredients including a large fresh sea bass and assorted vegetables and herbs, we went back to the hotel where we had time to relax for a delicious breakfast at the Motion, Alila’s signature restaurant situated at the poolside.
An authentic chef uniform was provided to all and it was straight into the hotel’s busy kitchen to start the food preparation. Under the watchful eye and helpful guidance of our chef, the experience of preparing some new recipes in the surrounds, mouthwatering smells and sights of Alila’s main kitchen was a true highlight.
Straight from the sizzling pan and onto a decorative plate, the marinated and herb infused sea bass fillet was ready to be tasted. In the comfortable surrounds of the Motion restaurant my taste buds were not disappointed as Chef Joel’s tips and cooking guidance paid off.
The Alila Culinary Journey and Morning Market tour with the Chef can take up to 4 people and the class normally takes place once a week. The journey takes about 3 hours and costs 3,500 baht per person.
Call 032 709 555 for further details or bookings.
I have a recipe from Chef Joel at the Alila Cha-Am that I would like to share it with you. Try it out, because it’s yummy!!
Alphine Peppered Calamari
Golden fried, lemon and chipotte dipping sauce
Ingredients
• 60 g Calamari
• 10 g Lemon
• 50 g Sweet chili sauce (Sri Racha Chilies Sauce)
• 5 g Pepperoni
• 5 g Crispy Rice Basket
• 10 g All-purpose flour
• 5 g Pepper milled
• 15 g Rocket
• 150 ml Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Methods
1. Blend sweet chilies sauce and pepperoni together in food processor or blender, use as a dipping sauce.
2. Heat the oil in frying pot or wok pan, present rice noodle as a nest then deep-fry until light brown color.
3. Sift the flour into a bowl mix with pepper milled, coat all calamari in the flour. Deep-fry until golden brown all over, remove from the oil and drain on paper tower, present on the rice basket, serve hot with sauce and wedge lemon.
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