C ooking classes are becoming increasingly popular in Laos as tourists become more interested in traditional dishes and want to learn how to replicate the tastes of Laos in their own countries.
Some learn to make dishes for fun, while others want to add new dishes to menus in their restaurants overseas.
Participants enjoy learning about traditional Lao dishes. Ms Phouvanh Vilayphah conducts a cooking class in Thongbay Guesthouse, which is a five-minute drive from the centre of Vientiane in Nongduang village, Sikhottabong district.
The guesthouse has run cooking classes for more than three years and taught students from all over the world, with particularly large numbers from Australia , France and America .
Ms Phouvanh, who is experienced in cooking local and foreign dishes, said more and more tourists were attending the classes each year.
“My students explained to me that they think Lao dishes are easy to cook and eat. Most dishes are very simple, but also healthy,” she said
The course offers various traditional dishes including curry soup, papaya salad, spring rolls, bamboo soup and fish. The course offers different dishes depending on the season.
High season is the busiest time of the year and classes are arranged twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It takes three to four hours to learn three dishes and there are a maximum of 12 students allowed in each session.
“We can't teach a lot of students at the same time because we would be afraid our students would not be able to participate fully in every detail,” she said.
Both male and female students attend the course, and Ms Phouvanh said they were always excited to participate in every stage of preparing a meal, including buying the ingredients.
“We take them to the market to show them how to buy many sorts of vegetables and ingredients, and also because we want them to experience the atmosphere of market and meet vendors who make their living by selling fresh produce,” she said.
“Whatever the reasons why our students want to learn, we are proud to showcase Lao traditional dishes, cooking skills and lifestyles.”
Tamnak Lao restaurant in Luang Prabang province also runs cooking classes.
Restaurant Director, Mr Vilakone Boundavong, said they offered similar dishes to Thongbay and also taught students to make eggplant sauce and orphadaek - a traditional Luang Prabang dish made with fermented fish, herbs and water.
“We teach eight to nine students every session and we have many students all year round whether it is low or high season,” he said.
Students at Thongbay learn outside, and they chop and cook happily under the shade of trees.
A tourist from the Netherlands , Ms Eva Vermeulen, had been in Laos for several days when she took the class. She said learning how to cook local dishes was one of the things she most wanted to do in Laos .
“I was curious about dishes like papaya salad which combine spicy and sweet flavours,” she said.
“You can't often find both flavours in one dish in my country, or in Europe , because our dishes are usually hot or sweet, not both together.”
She said she had learnt Lao food was made from fresh, organic ingredients which were good for your health.
The cooking classes do not involve assignments or exams, and all students seem relaxed and many are smiling as they make their dishes.
Italian tourist, Alberto Mosiello usually cooks at home and wanted to learn how to make more dishes.
“I love cooking and eating. Learning how to cook is like learning about culture, because national cuisines are an important part of cultural diversity in each country,” he said.
“What I'm interested in most is the chicken curry and the papaya salad, I have already told my friends that as soon as I arrive back in Italy I will cook dinner for them.”
Some students thought it would be hard for them to replicate the dishes when they leave Laos , because the ingredients might not be available. But Ms Phouvanh said this was not the case.
“We try to avoid using ingredients they don't have in their country, or we tell them how they can replace local ingredients with ingredients they can access,” she said.
After the course finishes students are given recipes so they can make the dishes again by themselves.
“Quite often we receive emails from our students saying they were able to impress their friends and family with the charm of Lao dishes,” Ms Phouvanh said.
“We are happy to hear that Lao dishes are becoming better-known in foreign countries and this is attracting more tourists to Laos .”
By Phonesavanh Sangsomboun (Latest Update July 28, 2008)
That's good to promote Lao food to the world. People always say Lao Food is same same to Thai, chinese and Vietnamese food. But actually it is very different !
From abroad, there are a lot of different nationalities that love Lao food, the chinese, vietnamese and cambodian really love to eat Lao food, it's different from theirs.
