31 Jul 2014

Sammy's Organic Thai Cooking Farm

We had one day left in Chiang Mai and nothing planned, so we headed over the road to the tourist information shop and had a look to see what we had left to tick off our list!

Within seconds we both has our eyes on the Thai Cooking course, I love cooking and taking photos and Reuben loves eating, so what could be better?


The following morning we were picked up by Sammy, along with 4 others and we headed off to the farm.

On the way we had a quick stop at the local market for a lesson on the different types of rice and how they can be used. Apparently there's a lot more to rice than 'white' and 'brown' Uncle Ben's!




Before getting back in the truck we had some time to wander around the market....




Being let lose in a market like this is an absolute dream. The colours of all the amazing fruits and vegetables are amazing and perfect for those that are a little snappy happy like me!



The smell of sweet fruits was enough to make you buy the juiciest fruit you could see, they were just irresistible!






Safe to say it was a different story along the meat isle.....

I'm pretty certain that chopping benches full of raw meat in the 35 degree heat would probably cross several health and safety rules in the UK, but hey, everything goes in thailand!


Even THIS.........


After being totally grossed out, we decided it was probably time to head off to the farm and pig out on some Thai food (sorry i couldn't help myself!!).


As we arrived at Sammy's Organic Farm we were welcomed by his wife and daughter who began to prepare our dishes as Sammy took us on a quick tour of his farm.




He introduced us to all kinds of ingredients that he grows fresh on the farm and that we would be using in the dishes that we were going to cook later on.



As Sammy took us through the ingredients on the farm, he gave us all sorts of herbs to smell.

My favourite was the lemon grass which smelt sooo good I could have eaten it!



Back in the kitchen we began to prepare our first dishes of the day.....


When we arrived at the market in the morning, Sammy gave us 3 options of curry that we could make, Green Curry, Yellow Curry and Jungle Curry. I went for the Jungle Curry!

And the best part, we got to chose how much spice!!


We chopped up all of the ingredients and began to grind them altogether to create a paste for the curry.


Turns out I don't have much upper arm strength so Sammy gave me a little help (and a cheeky wink) along the way! I was either his favourite student or the biggest slowcoach.....







Bon Appetit!


I don't like to toot my own trumpet....but TOOT TOOT the food was incredible!! The smells and flavours in each of the dishes were so authentic and so so tasty. After a few nibbles of our own we shuffled the bowls around to taste all of the different curries and noodles! Luckily I managed to avoid all of the chillies! Phew!!





A few minutes later when we had all entered serious food comas, Sammy informed us that it was 'nap time'!! This wasn't a 'we're tired, please can we have a quick nap?'. This was a scheduled hour dedicated to napping, that was firmly in the schedule for the day!

We all headed for the hammocks that we had spied earlier on our tour, desperate to have 40 winks.


We made ourselves at home in the hammocks and gently swung ourselves to sleep....



 While the others chose to have a real snooze in the shade!


Not being one to sleep in the day, I decided to have a wander around the farm to see what I could find before it was time to get back in the kitchen! I also don't like to be in the shade when the sun is scorching outside, so I managed to make the most of the lunchtime sunshine.


Sammy had previously referred to his loo as 'the thrown with the best view' so i thought it would be rude not to try it out!


He was quite right! Have you ever sen a loo as beautiful as this one?

Back in the kitchen everyone was feeling refreshed and ready for an afternoon of sizzling and splashing.

After a quick cup of natural, home grown herbal tea, we began....



We split of into different groups, depending on what we had chosen to make in the morning.









Once they were all ready, we sat around the table once again and tucked in.

Spoons flying all over the place and all sorts of ummmm's coming from every chair at the table!

A couple of hours ago, the thought of food would have made us sick, but luckily our tummies were back to their rumbling selves again and ready for some traditional Thai desserts!

A quick group photo later and it was time to head back to the city!


Sammy presented us all with one of his cook books! In this book he has all of the recipes of everything that we cooked so that we can continue to cook these dishes at home!


It's also full of loads of nutritional information and helps you understand which foods and ingredients you need to help keep your body ticking over!



A wave goodbye and we headed off, with very satisfied and full tummies.

Sammy's Organic Farm was one of the most incredible days and it's definitely something you need to do to appreciate just how good it was!

But, what made the whole day, was the family that looked after us and cooked with us on the farm! Sammy, his wife and daughter were the most welcoming people and couldn't have done anymore to ensure we enjoyed our day of cooking and learning about the traditions of Thai dishes!

If your interested going, check out the following pages....
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