513828 Mon Apr 28 10:20:16 -0700 2008 3 48 Greater Asia 0 3636574 Hiya, I was considering on doing a cooking course in the CMTCS. I did have some doubts as the school is pretty big, and had heard class sizes were rather large. ie over 20. But after reading the post about it earlier, I am now having serious 2nd thoughts. Does anyone know the up to date situation with the CMTCS? Is it as bad as was said? Also does anyone know of a good small school in Chiang Mai where it is all hands on? Thanks for any help Dave Mon Apr 28 10:20:19 -0700 2008 187358 mzungu 1 3636655 Hi Dave, I don't know anything about CMTCS but when I was in Chiang Mai I took a cooking class with Orchid Cooking School. There were 6 of us total, each with our own wok, and a very engaging instructor who also took us through a market beforehand so that we knew which ingredients we would be cooking with and what they looked like. It was probably not the most "authentic" experience, but the nice thing about having some substitutions (like chicken stock instead of Nam Pla) was that it made it easy to translate the recipes when I returned to the US. Our instructor also made mention when non-Thai ingredients were substituted in. Class was complete with a nice recipe book and so so much food that we were all able to take leftovers back! It's been about a year, so I don't remember how much it cost, but it seemed more than reasonable at the time. Hope you find a good class - it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip! Meda Mon Apr 28 10:40:08 -0700 2008 3636574 68099 msmeda 1 3644794 I took classes at CMTCS in January. There were maybe 10 people in the class. The teachers were knowledgeable, funny and offered lots of options and alternatives to the published recipes we worked with. We had a great time, created some wonderful food and it was well worth our time. Most of the prep work was all done by staff before we got to the work stations, which disappointed me, but I am a first-rate home chef with no prior experience with Thai cuisine, and I have successfully recreated and improvised on the recipes since I got back to the states, so ultimately I have no complaints. Some of the problems described at CMTCS seemed to be from disgruntled former employees and, that being said, I took them with a grain of salt. Wed Apr 30 16:35:02 -0700 2008 3636574 24468 chicgail 2 3645846 On page 112 of the latest Gourmet Magazine (May 2008) is a review of the CMTCS by a Gourmet staffer who took an evening 'Masters' course there. If you want the Masters course, which is more one-on-one than the day courses and costs $79 vs. $31 for the day courses, she advise that you arrive already skilled in chopping, slicing, dicing and julienneing. Thu May 01 03:46:39 -0700 2008 3644794 144649 ThaiNut