Once everyone was up and about we went out to pick up pastries for a light breakfast. Today we were headed off to cooking classes so we figured something light as we would be eating what we cooked. Our quick snack out of the way we were picked up by the cooking school where we met up with the other students in our group and headed out to the Mae Jo Market.
That's not really the name of the market but it is what everyone calls it because Mae Jo is the name of the neighborhood where it is located. Mae Jo's university also happens to be the site of the mass lantern release as it is far enough away from the city so as not to negatively impact all the people that live in the area.
Personally, I like the market near our hotel better, it is much bigger although a bit more dingy and I like that kind of grittiness. The vendors at this market were nice and one lady offered me a sample of the fruit she was selling. It was small, about the size of a grape, bright green with flesh a bit like an apple. The flavor was quite sour and the juices a bit astringent but it leaves a sweet aftertaste. I think we had something similar in Cambodia served with salt and chillies. Anyway, she got a chuckle although I don't think my reaction was severe as she had expected.
Once we had finished our market tour we headed out to the farm. Here we had a tour of their facilities and then selected the food we were going to make. The dish I was most excited about was khao soi which is a northern Thai curry served with noodles. I've actually had it at home but I think they try too hard to make it fashionable as I like it better the way it is prepared here which is a lot more simple. Otherwise a lot of what we made is similar to the Thai food that I've learned to cook before except maybe for larb which is typically a minced meat salad but I've had it before with tofu and mushrooms although this time it was just tofu.
Our class covered seven dishes and ended up taking longer than expected and advertised. By the time we got back to our hotel the sun was beginning to set. Tonight is the Saturday Walking Street on Wua Lai Road which is pretty close to our hotel. Unfortunately I have some incredible congestion so my plan for the evening is to relax with a hot compress although I'm happy to say that my travel companions are taking advantage of the opportunity even though I didn't feel like going.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Chiang Mai but fortunately we will have much of Monday as well in case there is anything we don't get to before we set off for the next leg of our adventure.
Fuji X-T1, Fujinon 56/f1.2R
56mm, f2, 1/125 sec @ 320 ISO
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