Class Formats & Descriptions

Class Format

Classes are a combination of hands-on and demonstration. Kasma first reviews the recipes, introduces ingredients and techniques, and the class breaks into teams. Students do all the food prep.

• In the Beginning Series Kasma begins by doing most of the cooking herself; students take over (supervised by Kasma) more each week.
• In Intermediate Series, teams mostly prepare a dish from start to finish.
• In Advanced classes, students do nearly everything. Kasma supervises and steps in to balance flavors and show correct techniques.
• In the Weeklong classes, students do more of the final cooking right from the start.

There are plenty of tasting exercises, experimentally learning to balance flavors. so you can cook great-tasting food with or without a recipe.

Class Schedules.
 

Series or Weeklong Class?

Both types of classes cover the same teachings, principles and recipes, although a few recipes are taught in one but not the other. Some factors to consider:

• The week in between the series classes gives students a chance to practice at home.
• Some students like the concentrated learning of the weeklong classes, with 40 recipes in 1 weeklong class – the equivalent of 2 series (4 weeks, each).
• It's easier to watch everything in the series closses, with 4/5 recipes per class – versus 8 or 9 in the weeklong.
• In the series classes people do their own clean-up; there's a dishwasher for the weeklong classes.
• Some people prefer day classes to evening.
• Students do more of the cooking and food assembly right from the start in the weeklong classes.

Class Schedules.
 

Series Class Descriptions

Four evening classes over a four-week period, such as four Tuesday evenings.

Beginning Series

Thai cooking is simple, fun and creative. The Beginning Series introduces and demystifies Thai ingredients, such as fresh herbs, and teaches the basic cooking techniques, such as stir-fry and steaming. We'll make everything from scratch with the freshest possible ingredients.

Learn to blend and balance the varied flavors to create a stimulating array of unique tastes. Harmonizing flavors will improve all of your cooking. Classes are a combination of demonstration and hands-on. The Beginning Series menus includes exquisite dishes from Hot and Sour Soup and curries to coconut desserts. First you cook, then you enjoy a Thai feast.

Check out a former student's blog on the Beginning classes.

Intermediate Series

The Intermediate Series continues on from the Beginning Series and is increasingly hands-on.

• Introduces additional techniques and ingredients while offering another set of dishes.
• Deepens understanding of creatively combining and blending flavors to achieve new balances.
• Explores traditional methods of food preparation and their therapeutic value.
• Introduces the mortar and pestle to pound and grind herbs and spices to enhance their flavors and nutrition.

Intermediate Series menus include Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad), Gkaeng Som (Vegetable and Seafood Chowder), Fried Fish with Chilli-Tamarind Sauce, Satay with Peanut Sauce, Fried Bananas and more.

Prerequisite: Open to students who have completed the Beginning Series or Weeklong First Week.

Advanced Series

The Beginning and Intermediate Series are just the start. Thai restaurants in the U.S. serve perhaps 5% of Thai dishes found in Thailand. These series explore more old favorites plus some of the other 95% of available dishes. You'll learn new flavors and intricacies of Thai cuisine. These series are popular with students who have been to Thailand and crave the dishes they ate there.

There's an immense variety of dishes in the Advanced Series menus, including Sweet and Savory Grilled Coconut-Rice Hotcakes (Kanom Krok), Spicy Northern Thai Pork Sausage (Sai Oa)), Stewed Beef Rice Noodles – "Boat Noodles" – (Gkuay Dtiow Reua), Lemon Grass Salad (Yam Dtakrai) and Southern-Style Hot Curry (Gkaeng Som). You will learn to prepare dishes seldom seen outside of Thailand. Classes are hands-on.

Currently there are seven menu Sets, from A to G. Menu Set H is currently under development.

Prerequisites

• Advanced Sets A, B & C: Beginning & Intermediate Series, or Weeklong First Week.
• Advanced Sets D, E: Two out of Advanced Series A, B & C, or one of the Weeklong Advanced classes.
• Advanced Set F, G: Invitation only.
   

Weeklong Classes Descriptions

Spend a week with Kasma earning to cook Thai delicious Thai food. These "weeklong intensives" are concentrated learning with 8 or 9 recipes each day, from Monday through Friday.

Weeklong First Week

Classes are mostly hands-on. The group breaks into teams to do preparation on the dishes and comes together as a group to do the final cooking under Kasma's supervision. Kasma does most of the cooking the first day and also on some of the more difficult dishes on subsequent days.

The heart of the class is learning to balance flavors and also covers:

• An introduction to Thai herbs, vegetables, condiments, spices and other ingredients and how to use them in different types of dishes
• Cooking techniques, including wok and steamer techniques
• Mortar and pestle techniques
• Paste making, curry making & sauce making
• How to steam different kinds of rices
• How to work with different types of noodles
• How to work with coconut and coconut milk
• Shopping tips for Thai ingredients and Asian produce, including a fieldtrip to Asian markets
• Menu planning
• Thai food culture and etiquette

Check out the Weeklong First Week menus.

Advanced Weeklong Classes

The advanced courses expand and deepen knowledge gained in the Weeklong First Week. You'll again use ingredients such as lemon grass, galanga, kaffir lime peel and leaves, nahm prik pow (roasted chilli paste) and gkapi (shrimp paste). You'll refine the fundamental Thai cooking processes and techniques, such as the art of balancing and harmonizing flavors, curry making, sauce making, and wok, steamer and mortar and pestle techniques.

Like the first week, students will divide into teams to do the food preparation then come together as a group to watch the final cooking. Students do most of the cooking in this class although Kasma will do some of the difficult dishes herself.

As with all of Kasma's classes, enrollment is limited to thirteen participants, so that everyone can get hands-on experience and personal attention. Building on earlier classes, you will be introduced to a number of new ingredients and to new ways to innovatively work with ingredients to create new and exciting flavor combinations. The course is fully participatory in a casual atmosphere – you'll have fun time cooking with other food-loving people and take part in creating the scrumptious feast that we will all enjoy each day.

There are currently three different advanced intensive classes – Menu Set A, Menu Set B and Menu Set C. They may be taken in any order although we recommend that you start with Set A or Set B.

Prerequisites: Beginning and Intermediate Series or Weeklong First Week.