Cooking with Poo

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Diwong may find winning the Diagram award brings other benefits: previous recipient Michael Young, author of Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way, said it had the unlikely effect of increasing his literary clout. "Since the award of the prize, I am pleased to say that my writing career is once again flourishing. Editors are keen to publish my words," he said. "Being the winner of the Diagram prize has, I feel, given both the book and me a great deal of credibility, which perhaps without the epithet 'prize-winning' we would never have achieved." If you’re fed up with seeing the same 5 things listed time after time in a destination you’re in the right place. People started settling in Khlong Toei in the 50s after emigrating from the poorer regions in the North East in search of a better life. At the time cheap labour was in demand, and therefore Bangkok promised a plethora of opportunities. However, the average earnings for those living in the slum are only half of the national average and only a third of that of a Bangkok household. Basic amenities such as water and electricity are in short supply, and living standards are low. Serious crime, drug addiction, unmanaged waste, and unemployment have led to a crushing sense of doom. Social mobility is incredibly hard in these situations. We all need a bit of hope! My travel articles have been published in titles including The Australian, Body & Soul at the Sunday Telegraph, RAC Horizons, Jetstar magazine and more.

Cooking with Poo – the Ultimate Thai Cooking Class - BEA Cooking with Poo – the Ultimate Thai Cooking Class - BEA

The class costs 1800 baht (at the time of writing) which includes transport, the Klong Toey market tour, your cooking lesson and whatever you cooked to eat. The Khlong Toey Tour… We're sorry; this specific copy is no longer available. AbeBooks has millions of books. We've listed similar copies below.All the cooking classes we had done before this one had been just that, a cooking class. This time it was much more of a cultural immersion experience. After being collected, we were taken to the Khlong Toei Wet Market, the biggest wet market in Bangkok, where we bought the ingredients we needed before heading to Poo’s home to make the food. The second reason was the owner. Cooking with Poo is named after its founder Khun Poo who grew up in the Klong Toey slum in Bangkok.

Cooking with Poo: Books - AbeBooks Cooking with Poo: Books - AbeBooks

I really, really enjoyed it. Poo is a natural entertainer – she’s really funny, tells brilliant stories and makes the process of cooking fun (something I never thought I’d ever say).

Helping Hands

Hands washed, we set about learning how to cook Thai cuisine. I am a massive fan of Thai food, and despite being a terrible cook, I have to say that under Poo’s guidance I managed to make four delicious dishes:

Cooking with Poo: Diwong, Saiyuud: 9780977507078: Books Cooking with Poo: Diwong, Saiyuud: 9780977507078: Books

Now, ten years later Poo not only speaks excellent English, she has a dedicated cooking school (still in the slum) and employs numerous people from the area in her business. In fact, the school is now officially called Cooking With Poo (and Friends) to show how it’s expanded. By choosing them, therefore, I’d also be doing some good. I was sold How Much is Cooking With Poo? Cooking With Poo Von Saiyuud Diwong (Autor) Cookbook and More Khun Poo's World Renowned and Award Winning 'Cooking With Poo' is a Fabulous Collection of Thai Recipes and Stories of Her Community All Beautifully Photographed in and Around Her Kitchen in... - hardcoverIf you wish to exercise any of your rights as specified in section “Right of Data Subject” as aforementioned, you can inform the Company of your intention to exercise such rights through the following channels of Company: Khlong Toei is one of the most authentic markets in Bangkok, selling very cheap raw meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit. Chances are, that wherever you eat in Bangkok, the produce will have been bought here. Visiting a wet market might be fascinating, but not necessarily enjoyable! We’ve been to Bangkok eight times (or nine, I’ve lost count now) and so there’s quite a few posts about it on the blog. But, you’re probably going to want to start with our fun and unusual Bangkok guide. First thing I did was, unfortunately, devalued it by testing out some of the recipes and marking all in it….dating and making my personal notes along side each one. I even had my son and his wife and kids sign their names next to one recipe we all tried together. They happened to stop by while I was cooking, so they had to taste test, too, and give it a grade. Hey, it’s just a book! In the eight years she’s run the school, Poo has seen the community change for the better. Now, she says, many students in “our family” go to university, and with the financial support, families are able to take weekends off and even have the occasional holiday from work. The twelve staff Poo employs are all neighbourhood friends. Since Poo trained them up they earn more money and rest time than they would otherwise.

Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong | Goodreads Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong | Goodreads

Poo’s home had burnt down the previous year, so she had made the most of a bad situation by rebuilding the rather nice classroom we found ourselves standing in. She had also built a much more spacious home upstairs for her family, with the added bonus that they now had windows. Imagine living a life where you get to celebrate having a window?! Try these dishes at home! To say a cooking class is not my normal home is, therefore, an understatement…so, the fact that I not only enjoyed Cooking with Poo, but I produced three edible dishes is nothing short of a miracle – and probably all you need to know as my review! And I made a Massman curry, a dish I’d never have dreamt I could create – although by that point I’d eaten all the salad and an entire plate of Pad Thai and I was STUFFED – and I have a very healthy appetite! Poo had been making a living by cooking in front of her home for over a decade. She would sell up to 100 dishes a day to feed her family. In 2007 though, the rice prices doubled, thus making her business no longer profitable. So, being the entrepreneurial woman that she is, Poo approached Anji, her Australian friend, to ask if she would help her set up a cooking school to teach tourists and locals how to make simple yet delicious Thai meals.

You too can cook with Poo

Khun Saiyuud Diwong, affectionately known as Poo (short for "Chompoo" or rose apple), is a long-time resident of Klong Toey, the largest slum in Bangkok. In late 2007, as the price of rice in Thailand doubled, she found that she could no longer make a living selling food from her house. Helping Hands is an organisation that supports Klong Toey residents to develop small businesses and helps individuals by linking them with markets and credit support. Cooking with Poo is just one of the Helping Hands success stories with other projects including handicraft production, a coffee stand and a sushi delivery service. You too can cook with Poo Welcome everyone to the Poo Kitchen!” exclaims a beaming Thai lady to the twelve heat-weary foreigners perched on wooden stools before her. This is Khun Poo (short for Chompoo), head chef and owner of the Cooking with Poo school in the slums of Klong Toey. We, her twelve disciples, take a break after an unforgettable tour of the local fresh food market. But this down-to-earth Thai matriarch is far from starry-eyed. She lives in the same wooden slum building as before and throws her heart into helping her slum community (which she naturally calls “our family”). Ten per cent of proceeds from every cooking class goes to local families and businesses. The school also funds five local projects: the HOPE shop, Second Chance upcycled gifts and jewelry shop, a catering business, and fresh food delivery service. Profits from the school and cookbook help lessen the burden of slum children’s school costs and the cooking team also bring food to a local preschool every couple of months. It’s not all been plain sailing though – a slum fire completely devastated Poo’s kitchen and much of her income. Business shut down completely until it was rebuilt.