In the rainy season the newspapers debate whether Bangkok is slowly sinking. The city lies only ten metres above sea-level and thirty kilometres from the sea on a low-lying delta criss-crossed by a network of bridges, canals and islands. Will all this asbestos, concrete and steel simply subside into the sea one day?
Everything floats in the water-borne city once known as the Venice of Asia. Bangkok’s floating markets are a colourful attraction, where Thai women in straw hats row boats which are filled with exotic iced fruits, soups and satays, sunshades and umbrellas, cokes and ice-cream, rice and corn-on-the-cob, and even popcorn at the world’s greatest floating matinee show.

Wickedfood Cooking School team were in Bangkok to learn more about the food and gather information for our Thai cooking classes and teambuilding cooking classes. We visited the floating market at Khlong Damnoen Saudak, near Nakhon Pathom, about one and a half hours out of Bangkok. It is only accessible by long-tail boat in a suburban maze of canals. The Thonburi Floating Market down town is generally regarded as a tourist trap, making a trip out into the country worthwhile to experience the real thing – if you have the time.

Floating food vendors ply their trade selling rose apples (shaped like a puckered green pear), ripe papaya and mango, baskets overflowing with dried betel-nuts (locals with red-stained teeth chew this mild intoxicant) and garlic, water-spinach with roots the texture of deadman’s fingers, coconut sugar, dried shrimp, chilli pastes, galangal, catfish with chilli wrapped in banana leaf, pancakes with egg-white and all kinds of strange exotic fruits and vegetables.

Floating hawkers sell all of the West’s top fashion brands from Disney to Nike on pirated t-shirts, sweaters, jeans, tracksuits, sneakers, jackets, coats, ties and scarves. There is no fixed price so everything is negotiable. The Buddha is the only sacred image in the markets of the East. Any other copyright is up for grabs in the free-floating enterprise which is taking hold from Beijing to Bangkok.

To read more on our adventures click here

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Thai House cooking school • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

• Biryani
• Kaeng kari kai – yellow curried chicken
• Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce
• Phat Thai
• Tom yum kung
• Green pawpaw salad
• Fish head curry
• Warm squid salad in a pineapple
• Spiced pork spare ribs
• Deep-fried silken tofu
• Thai beef salad
• 3 Cup Chicken

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School in Johannesburg runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios in Sunninghill. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings five days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.