Life's Too Short To Stuff A Lemongrass....But maybe not on holiday?

Sandra Killick on 29 May 2020
Strange things have been happening during lockdown. Busy friends who normally only cook at weekends are proudly producing plump sourdough loaves midweek and friends who don’t usually see the need to cook as long as M&S ready meals exist are sharing pictures of their culinary triumphs on social media.

I love cooking but some things take time and effort, so I don’t do enough when I’m busy, but one luxury I do allow myself is to take time out on holiday to join a class where I can learn how to cook the local food. If you’re a busy parent who needs to put food on the table you probably think I’m mad to spend valuable holiday time cooking but please bear with me....

Joining a cookery class on holiday is a great way to meet other like-minded people and to learn how to cook typical local dishes, but it’s also an important means of engaging with the community and contributing to the local economy as most businesses offering cookery classes are locally owned. Watch out for classes that welcome youngsters too as it’s a great activity to do as a family!

My first venture into learning to cook on holiday was in Laos, of all places. I had been to other Asian countries but I had no idea what to expect from the local food. I’d read that there was a trend in serving food with Thai flavours as many foreigners had travelled there before and so it was ‘familiar’ but what I wanted was to get an understanding of the real Laos specialities. I can’t say that I would ever recreate at home the dried deer stew we made (must be an acquired taste!) but otherwise the food we made and then devoured at lunch was sublime. Who knew you could stuff a lemongrass? Not only that, we did it in the most amazingly tranquil surroundings, deep in the countryside beside a pond peppered with water lilies, not far from Luang Prabang. After that I was hooked…

Visiting a local market is often an integral part of the experience of a cookery class overseas. Typically a guide will take the novice chefs around the market to explain more about the ingredients and how they are used. Very often you will be cooking what is bought right there and then, as fresh as you can get! Again, this is a great way to connect with the local people and less daunting than stepping into a busy working market on your own in some far flung places.

One of my most memorable cooking experiences was in Vietnam where we hopped on a boat, laden with our purchases from the market, and took a leisurely float down the river to the cookery school, set in its own garden growing organic herbs and spices. It really did feel like we were getting two excursions for the price of one!

As well as learning what local ingredients are used and what they look like, a cookery class is also brilliant for picking up some new techniques. My favourite one was learning how to make ‘brik’ in Morroco. This is a kind of small pasty with a savoury filling which is shaped like a samosa and made of filo pastry. It’s not as easy as it looks to get a good neat triangular shape but once you master the technique you are set up for life in terms of making more brik, samosas or even individual Greek spinach pies.

Of course, having done the class, what follows next is a strong desire to go back to the market and stock up on ingredients you can’t find at home. You won’t be able to bring back fresh fruit and vegetables but generally spices, including ready-mixed local blends, and any dried or tinned ingredients are usually good buys. Then there’s the equipment - I’m now the proud owner of a long, thin bamboo spatula that’s for making rice paper wrappers on a stretched cloth over a steaming pan of water, as well as a totally lethal instrument for grating vegetables in decorative ways. My best bit of kit though is a pestle and mortar made of heavy volcanic rock that I lugged all the way back from Bali. I’ve only once actually ground spices on it to make a beef rendang, but it still has pride of place in my kitchen and is perfect for displaying the range of garnishes for my gin tasting evenings and is always a talking point.

I’m glad I squeezed time into my life to stuff a lemongrass as it led me to many other culinary adventures in places near and far and hopefully more to come in the future.