Cooking in Phnom Penh
Trip Start
Aug 04, 2008
1
14
16
Trip End
Aug 21, 2008
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Monday, August 18, 2008
Today, was cooking class day! Early start, and we were out of the hotel and walking to class by 8:30am. By the time all the students had arrived, it was 9:30am, and we were zooming along by tuk-tuk to the local markets. We were dropped off in the middle of an open-air market, selling everything you could ever want to cook. Similar to the market in Bangkok, everything was bustling... people were buzzing around, produce sellers were weighing out foods and collecting money.... fish were jumping, crabs were dancing. It was pretty cool. The chef took us around the market and let us taste all the different herbs we would be cooking with.
The cooking course was held on a rooftop, above the loft owned by the course owner. There were rows of burners and chopping blocks. Once again, this course was a lot of fun. We learned how to prep all the herbs and veggies, as well as pound our own curry pastes! Delicious food, and lots of work... good times.
The course ended around 3pm. With some unfinished shopping to do, we made our way back to both the Russian and Central markets, where we rounded out our shopping, picked up the last of our souvenirs, and headed back to our hotel. On the way back, we ran into a traffic jam... where we got off, and meandered back to the 80cent happy-hour beer restaurant.
Still full from the cooking class, we skipped dinner and headed back to the hotel, where it was lights out by 9pm. We had planned to sit poolside and enjoy the resort a little... but no such luck.
