Back To School

The Evason Phuket is a bit of a paradox. It’s a rare breed where the slightly guilty feeling of being pampered is balanced by the utterly sensible way in which the resort operates.

Occupying its own private island, Evason doesn’t skimp on creature comforts, and yet they have a self-sufficient water supply, convert their waste-oil into biodiesel, and use a solar thermal plant to generate all their hot water. This environmentally responsible philosophy carries right through the resort’s five restaurants, which is what initially piqued my interest when I heard they offered cooking classes.

Sure, there are dozens of schools in the area offering Thai cooking lessons, but where else are you going to learn to cook, where most of the produce comes from within a hundred feet of the kitchen? It doesn’t get much more local than that.

During a recent stay there, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon learning to cook Thai food in an outdoor kitchen situated amidst a five-acre garden used to grow food for the resort. Atmosphere aside, it’s a foodie’s Garden of Eden, with just about every indigenous and foreign vegetable, herb and fruit growing within its lush confines. They even have a patch of “miracle fruit” that blocks sour and bitter taste receptors, making lemons taste honey-sweet.

About 60% of the produce used at the resort’s flagship restaurant, Into The Sea, comes from the organic garden, and what isn’t grown there is sourced locally on Phuket island. Thomas Jakobi, the executive chef at Evason Phuket, is also one of the cooking instructors.

Chef Jakobi, originally from Germany, pairs local ingredients with the techniques he’s garnered from 15 years traveling around the world. He teaches what he refers to as “modern logical cuisine.” Modern because it’s a cuisine derived from global techniques, logical because he uses locally grown sustainable ingredients.

Whether it’s a spring roll made from morning glory and goat cheese, or pepper leaves fried with prawns, the lessons always start with a walk through the garden. By showing the ingredients being picked, Jakobi hopes to kindle a desire within his students to plant a garden when they return home.

Of course the best part of the lesson comes at the end, when you sit down at a shaded table and eat the meal you’ve just prepared.

A recipe from The Evason Phuket:

Sauteed Chicken with Rice Noodles (Kwithiaw Kua Kai)
Serves 2

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon garlic chopped
5 ounces chicken breast, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salted radish
7 ounces wide fresh rice noodles
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chili sauce
2 eggs
2 spring onions chopped
white pepper

Heat the oil in a wok until hot. Fry the garlic until it starts to color then add the chicken, sautéing briefly. Add the salted radish and noodles, stirring constantly to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Season with the fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and chili sauce until thoroughly combined. Crack the eggs into the wok. Turn down the heat and stir, allowing the white to firm before scrambling. Add the spring onions and stir together to combine. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with white pepper to taste.