When we see the name Hillkoff, we almost always automatically think of coffee. With decades of experience working with coffee growers and entrepreneurs, it can be argued that Hillkoff has played a major role in the creation and expansion of Northern Thailand’s coffee revolution. Training farmers, cafe owners, baristas and more, Hillkoff helped develop the coffee industry in Chiang Mai to become the mature coffee destination it is today. Now Hillkoff is branching out to offer expertise on food, launching new and inspired ways to teach and educate people about local food in a modern and sophisticated way.
Chiang Mai has been called a food paradise by many writers and restaurateurs who have been lucky to pass through our humble home, and Hillkoff, with its proven record of elevating the coffee scene, is in prime position to do the same for the food scene – be it at home for the family or even in a restaurant’s kitchen.
Spoon&Fork was lucky enough to join one of Hillkoff’s first cooking classes, led by the well-known local chef Papatsorn Na Chiang Mai, better known as Chef Tutu, the owner of Food For You and the person behind the successful Kampangkaew restaurant at Maiiam Contemporary Art Museum.
The course looks at some local and traditional delicacies and brings them to the forefront of food technology, style and flavour. During our course, we learnt how to make fruit mieng with grilled prawns, a traditional coconut, ginger, nut and onion ball often found wrapped in a betal leaf, only this time served on a bed of fresh orange, apple and pomelo served with a topping of freshly grilled river prawns. The second dish was a tom yum soup, but this time fusioned with fondue, with all the ingredients dipped in and cooked at the table – a great dinner party idea! Our final dish of the day was deep fried pork balls wrapped in crispy noodles, a snack often made by the older generations but reworked to become tastier, more modern and also attractive by using better produce and working on its presentation.
Along with the main dishes, you are expected to learn how to make the sauces, chop and prepare meat and vegetables in the correct way and start to really build up your understanding of the food you are working with. Each course offers something slightly different, and there are hundreds of ideas that you can choose from with the help of Chef Tutu himself. You can take a private class, make your own group or join a group, just contact the Hillkoff Learning Space for more information and get cooking!
Hillkoff Learning Space
397/2 Mahidol Road, Nong Hoi (The same entrance to Amway next to the bridge U-turn) 053 231 1030 / 053 213 078 Facebook: Learningspace.Hillkoff E-mail: learningspace@hillkoff.com www.hillkoff.com
