Photo by Deborah Stone
Chef Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen

When it comes to cooking, I’m probably what you’d call a “limping gourmet.” I can get by in the kitchen and my meals are passable, or should I say edible, but when I entertain, I usually rely on a few tried and tested recipes. I’m just not very adventuresome because I lack confidence when it comes to practicing the culinary arts.

But, I love food, particularly ethnic food, so when I eat out, I usually seek restaurants that expose me to interesting dishes from different parts of the world.

The other day, I went for lunch at PCC Redmond and had one of the best Thai meals I’ve ever tasted. Now, you’re probably thinking, Thai food, at PCC? Or, maybe you assume that I must have eaten some type of Thai dish from the store’s take-out deli counter.

Not so. I took “Taste of Thailand,” one of PCC’s cooking classes, and not only did I get a terrific lunch, but I also learned something about preparing this delicious cuisine.

For over 20 years, PCC has offered hands-on and demonstration cooking classes at its area stores. The company has an extensive menu of classes for those who are interested in becoming a global gourmet. You can learn how to roll sushi, get basic techniques in French crepe creation, prepare a complete Indian dinner and make tortellini from scratch.

There are also classes on vegetarian cooking, canning and preserving methods, knife skills, breadmaking, seafood selection and preparation and more. There are even kid-oriented cooking sessions and cooking camps geared for ages two to14. And each month, PCC holds special wine and dinner events that allow participants to explore food and drink in an informal, but informative manner.

“Our classes have gotten incredibly popular over the years and we keep adding more in order to provide a greater diversity of cuisine and technique,” says Rachel Welker, Program Specialist at PCC. “We have lots of regulars that attend often and they tell us that they like the classes because they help remove the fear factor from cooking, especially with ethnic dishes. They enjoy learning from teachers who have the background, who are from the country of the food they’re making, because it lends authenticity to the experience. They also like the social aspects to the classes and of course, they love that they get the opportunity to eat great food.”

As for the kids’ classes, which are fairly new, Welker comments that the response has been highly positive. She notes that parents are particularly excited about them because they view the sessions as a chance to do something fun, yet interesting, with their young children.

She adds, “Cooking is a purposeful activity and it’s very useful. It also encourages kids to try new things because they’re more willing to eat something that they’ve just helped prepare. And the older kids like the feeling that they’re more independent in the kitchen and don’t have to rely on an adult to make them something to eat.”

The room was full for “Taste of Thailand” the morning I took the class. Chef Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen was in command of the brightly lit, state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen.

Pranee, I learned, grew up in Phuket, Thailand, where her mom was a village chef. She learned Thai cooking at her mother’s side and says, “My earliest kitchen chores included grating coconut, pounding curry paste and cooking rice. By age12, I had more responsibility and became the substitute cook for my family. Later on, I worked for the Public Health Department on weekdays, while helping with my family’s food business on weekends.” When she met and married Robert Halvorsen, an economics professor at the UW, and moved to Seattle, Pranee brought along a mortar and pestle and filled her kitchen with Thai herbs, spices and cooking equipment. Soon, friends started asking her for Thai cooking lessons.

“The best way to enjoy Thai food is to cook and share it with friends,” adds Pranee. “I loved the idea of having good times, socializing with people and sharing food the way it’s done in Thailand.”

She discovered that teaching cooking was fun because she could share her skills and experience, along with enjoying the laughter and excitement that was generated with each culinary result.

Today, Pranee is a well-known chef, caterer and cooking instructor, whose popular classes in Thai cuisine are sellouts throughout the Northwest. A number of the students in my class had taken previous sessions from Pranee and spoke highly of her to me.

My table partner, Roberta, gushed about Pranee’s enthusiastic attitude, her humor and her wealth of experience.

She said, “She’s a great teacher. She really knows how to teach. There are a lot of people out there that can cook, but not all of them know how to teach. She’s one of the few that can do both.”

Roberta, I learned, was a retired Redmond High School home economics teacher who loves to cook and particularly relishes learning about ethnic foods.

“It’s cheap entertainment for me,” she says with a laugh, “and then I go home and try out the recipes and hopefully impress my family and friends.”

Most of the other participants in the class expressed an interest in Thai cooking, which they said stemmed from a love of the cuisine. They thought it would be fun to see how it is prepared and then perhaps give it a whirl in their own kitchens.

The menu for the class included Tom Yum Gai (chicken with mushrooms and lemongrass-lime soup), Pla Sam Rod (pan-fried fish with three flavors sauce), Kao Phad Gaeng Keow Wan (green curry fried rice with peas and prawns) and Kuey Buod Chee (fragrant bananas in coconut cream).

Each student received a packet with the recipes for each of the dishes, along with a shopping list of the necessary ingredients and a shopping coupon for use at any PCC store.

In her introduction, Pranee highlighted the goal of the class, which was to have a fun learning experience. She assured everyone that Thai cooking is not difficult to do because the ingredients are accessible and readily available at local markets, and there are many shortcuts to help cut down on the preparation time.

She said, “My job is to bring traditional Thai cooking to you in the hopes that you will feel inspired and confident to try it on your own.” She encouraged the class to use all of their senses, saying, “Cooking is a complete sensory experience and you must learn to taste, to smell, to feel, to do all of these things, to help you know when the food is ready and seasoned the way you want it to be.”

Throughout the session, Pranee passed around various spices and ingredients, in their raw form, for the class to examine. We tasted Thai purple basil, inhaled the refreshing fragrances of lemongrass and Kaffir lime leaves, sampled different chile sauces and saw what fresh turmeric (a type of ginger known interestingly enough for improving memory) looks like before it is made into a powder.

We learned useful techniques, such as how to roast chile peppers, slice bell peppers and pineapples and chop garlic and onions efficiently, halve prawns and use fish sauce instead of salt for seasoning, as well as how to intensify the heat of any dish.

“Thai cooking is basically a balancing act,” says Pranee. “You have to balance the sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors that make this type of cooking so harmonious. That’s the key.”

Each dish Pranee prepared was a cornucopia of colors, textures and flavors. I swooned as I sampled the soup, with its aromatic lime and lemongrass. And the pan-fried halibut chunks topped with a potpourri of peppers, tomatoes and onions, in a sweet chile sauce, was intensely flavorful. Ditto for the green curry dish, which used coconut milk, as a sweetener, to balance the spice of the curry. Dessert was an ambrosia-like concoction of bananas covered with white coconut milk and a dusting of cinnamon, served warm.

Throughout the class, Pranee explained what she was doing, answered questions and kept a running discourse of entertaining personal anecdotes. Several times, she invited volunteers to come up and assist her with various duties. Three flat screen T.V. monitors allowed participants to see exactly what she was doing at all times. Some people took diligent notes and others, like me, simply sat back and watched the mesmerizing show that unfolded in front of us. I left feeling fully sated; nourished both with food and learning. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll don my apron and get the courage to cook up something new next time my friends come to dinner.

For more information about PCC cooking classes, call (206) 545-7112 or visit www.PccCooks.com.