The Runaway Cook

It was my first day on the job today, and wheeew what a day it was. After a very interesting breakfast of congee (a porridee of rice that is topped with savory items soy sauce, onion, sesame oil and the like as well as very strange toppings that I have found I really can't swallow :/), terrible scrambled eggs, orange juice that really wasn’t juice, strange salad dressing on

salad and a lotus paste steamed dumpling I was ready to get out of the hotel and into the classroom. It is so hot here. Every time I breathe it’s feels like I’m trying to breathe water, not ideal for a terrestrial mammal.

What we did:

We immediately had a change of schedule this morning. It was forecasted to rain so we took a tour of the spice garden first. I was glad to see all the different spices and herbs and the many plants that they come from. Being in nature with no pressure to perform in the classroom was nice. And figuring out what all these plants were in front of our school was interesting. THe jungle here is becoming less intimidating. I loved our tour guide, AKA Chef Wilson. He made walking through giant killer ants bearable.. . . . yes I just said giant killer ants. Truth- they were not killer but their bites were painful and they really did crawl up our pants- ahhhhh.

After the tour we headed back into the kitchen to make Laksa. I have to admit that even though I am not so fond of shrimp paste, this dish was pretty delicious. Besides my new found approval of food including shrimp paste, I also discovered that I really like this style of learning. Each student is set up with their own in-counter induction burner, pots and pans, and stainless surface. The long tables are set up in the same way as a science lab. This set up along with the overhead mirror in the front made it possible for each student to make the item on demo. I loved it! I felt as though I was learning right from

Today was encouraging. I am so glad to have made it here and I am anxious to see what the rest of the week holds.