The Best Cooking Classes in Siem Reap

If you want to make true contact with another culture, there is no better way than the cuisine route. In Siem Reap, you can try to gain access to the Cambodian food culture by taking some cooking classes. You have many options to choose from, and you can find reasons to explore such an experience in the paragraphs below.

Who you’re cooking with

You will learn to cook alongside experienced, friendly chefs who will guide you through the intricacies and refinement of the Khmer cuisine. But if you want a more original approach, you can choose a cooking course where you can learn to cook from a talented local person. He or she can take as much as four people and take them through the process of preparing a four-course traditional meal step by step, as the locals do it. They are friendly, they speak English and French, and their hospitality is renowned.

Where you can cook

There are a variety of locations where cooking lessons take place in Siem Reap. For a more professional perspective, you can try a well-equipped, state of the art hotel kitchen with expert personnel at your aid. For a more traditional approach and if nature is what inspires you, there are cooking courses in Siem Reap’s countryside. And finally, if you like to cook with a view, there are cooking courses taking place with the locals inside the Angkor Archeological Park.

What you’re learning

Cooking classes are one of the best ways to get in touch with a new culture. Traditional Khmer food that you can learn to cook in Siem Reap includes: hot and sour “tom yam” soup, fish in banana leaf, fish amok, green mango salad with smoked fish, fresh spring rolls, lok lak, chicken amok or pumpkin custard. But maybe more important than the dishes themselves are the local ingredients, and you are learning about them in the best possible way: in the local market, dealing with the sellers yourself, learning to pick the best ingredients with help from your cuisine course guide, of course.

Group sizes

As far as group sizes go, they vary from one person to twelve person groups. If you are a more private person, you can choose the one person cooking class. The advantage is that the instructor’s attention is focused all on you and you can have a more personal connection with your chef. There are two person courses which you can take with your husband or wife, sharing an experience. And, finally, there are the four to twelve people groups, each with his or her cooking station. These are good for having fun together with your friends or even making new ones.

Advanced vs. beginner classes

Regarding the difficulty of the cooking courses, most of them are for beginners, for tourists who want a touch of the Khmer culture and maybe something else to take home beside the usual souvenirs. For an advanced cook, there are the one person courses in hotels’ kitchens, supervised by experienced chefs who can take them to the next level.

Extras

If you choose a cooking class experience in Siem Reap, you can expect the hotel pick up to be free. Also alongside cooking the actual meal, you can also go to the local market and choose the ingredients together with your culinary guide. Finally, you get to eat what you cooked together with your chef and the other students in a friendly atmosphere.