Cooking With Poo

A colleague who used to live in Bangkok recommended Cooking with Poo — a cooking class led by a social entrepreneur whose nickname is Poo. As the story on her website goes, when the price of rice increased she needed to find a way to survive from cooking–since setting up the cooking classes 7 years ago, she has been employing her neighbors in the “slums” of Bangkok where she lives, supporting other local businesses, and giving much needed funding and food to the local preschool. The list of ventures Helping Hands, the overarching social venture organization, is benefiting is amazing.

All charity aside, if you have very little time in Bangkok and want an all around awesome experience, this class is so worth it.

Their van picked us up at the Embassy Suites pickup spot in Sukhumvit, by the Phrom Phong BTS station. We went off to the Khlong Toei market, which is amazing. Having Noi, our guide to tell us everything rather than just wandering around was super helpful. Regardless, we were just lost-looking Western tourists anyway.

Insects

Frogs and eels

Ducks

Ants and larvae

Sofia and Noi

After a great time getting ingredients at the market, we were off to the “slums,” where Poo lives and runs her business. She started with just a small kitchen outside her house on a table, but that could only accommodate 1-2 people. Then she moved further down the street (more like an alleyway) to 4-6 people. Then across the street with room for 10-12 people. And then 2 years ago her house and her neighbors’ was devastated by fire. She rebuilt, this time with room for 12-14 people to cook.

Poo’s alley

With 6 cooking stations, we took turns making each of the 4 courses then eating, teaching then making then eating. Her staff had prepped a lot of the food so we focused on the actual cooking part, and no prep. For someone who cooks a lot (me!) I didn’t really need to be doing the prep part in my one day in Bangkok–the only time it mattered was making the curry paste and we got to make that from scratch. We met some really great people and chatted when it wasn’t our turn, and it all felt very congenial and leisurely. When it was 1:30pm and we were headed home we didn’t even realize how much time had passed. We learned a lot of little details, like how to dry fry the spices for the masaman curry, how to mix sweet, sour and spicy for the perfect pad thai, and how to chop lemongrass for a salad. The meal ended with tons of delicious fruit to taste, and visiting the neighboring fair trade shop and chatting outside Poo’s home. She also sent us off with a locally produced bag with all the recipes inside, in case we were too busy eating and chatting to remember all the ingredients. Poo spoke to us earnestly about how she has built this business in a way that actively supports her neighbors to put money in the bank. As far as Thai prices go it’s not the cheapest at 1,500 baht/person (about $43), but when you consider how — according to Poo — that has helped transform the neighborhood economy one cooking class at a time, it doesn’t seem like so much.

If you have one day in Bangkok, this is the best way to spend it!

Cooking with Poo

www.cookingwithpoo.com

cookwithpoo@gmail.com