Thai Cooking Classes with Kasma Loha-unchit
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Kasma has been teaching Thai cooking classes in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1985. She has written two Thai cookbooks; her first It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions and the Joys of Thai Cooking won an IACP cookbook award.
All classes are taught in a private kitchen in Oakland, California, across the bay from San Francisco. Class size is limited to 13. There are two options.
• Series of 4 Classes – Four evening classes over 4 weeks (e.g., 4 Monday evenings): Beginning, Intermediate & 8 Advanced series. Cost is $200 for a series of 4 classes. All classes start at 6:00 p.m. – see class details for specifics.
• Weeklong Classes – Also called "Intensives." Five-session (Monday through Friday, all day) classes during July & August: First Week (Beginning / Intermediate) and 3 Advanced Weeklong classes. Cost is $650 for the week. Classes start in the morning and run all day – see class details for specifics.
Continue on to: Class information (Format/Description).
The Beginning Series and Weeklong First Week are open to anyone.
Kasma was selected for the 2010 Saveur Top 100 List.
Brochures in PDF format: Series | Weeklong: First Week | Advanced A | Advanced B | Advanced C | Advanced D
Kasma's Philosophy of Cooking
Thai cooking is a creative and fun process of blending the five primary flavors that the human tongue is able to discern. By skillfully balancing the five basic flavors – salty, sour, sweet, pungent and bitter – and the varied sources from which they are derived, an almost infinite array of exquisite dishes can be created to satisfy every craving – from simple hot sauces and salads to complex curries and intriguing appetizers. Flavor ingredients do not work in isolation, but interact with other flavor ingredients, sometimes in unexpected ways, to bring forth both the delicate and rich tastes of herbs, spices and foods with which they are blended and cooked.
Kasma guides class participants through the basics of how to balance, harmonize and play with these five flavors to bring about the results desired. Participants will actively engage in tasting, getting to know the different primary flavors and their sources, and learning how they interact with one another to affect the way you experience food. By tasting dishes in different stages of preparation, you will get a sense of how individual ingredients can be conducted in creative ways to sing beautiful harmonies together.
These skills will make you a better cook in all cuisines.
Although written recipes will be given at every session, Kasma encourages students not to become dependent on them, but rather, to rely on your senses to help create the flavor harmonies most optimum for your palate.
There's more on Kasma's philosophy in this 1995 Interview with Kasma.