Online Siamese Culinary Masterclasses for Professional Chefs and Thai food enthusiasts

In my masterclasses, for the first time in the English language, I reveal the culinary secrets hidden in old and hard-to-find Siamese cookbooks and recipes dating from the late 19th century to modern days.

Get unlimited access to Thaifoodmaster’s constantly growing library of prime professional masterclasses, articles, recipes and videos on Siamese culinary topics, available nowhere else in English.

Online membership:
Masterclasses, Articles, Recipes, Daily Heritage Translations.
Professional Guides: Siamese Chili Relishes (น้ำพริก และ เครื่องจิ้ม), Thai Curries (แกงไทย), Thai Salads (เรื่องยำๆ) and The art of Siamese old-school menu design (สํารับอาหารไทย).

In-person workshops:
Chiang Mai, 2026. Limited spaces.

Masterclasses

Practical and kitchen-tested recipes with a mix of theory, history, psychology, and Siamese culture tidbits.

Aromatic Primer for Thai Cuisine - Part 1

Curry Paste Permeability

Minced-Bird Style Curries - A Peek Into Traditional Ingredients and Cooking Methods (แกงสับนก; Gaaeng Sap Nohk)

Reflections on the Lifecycle of Heat: Mastering Vibrancy and Maturity in Green Curry (แกงเขียวหวาน)

Patterns – Decoding the Complexity of Siamese Curry Paste: A Multidimensional Exploration

Aromatic Alchemy - The Art and Science of Pounded Curry Pastes

The Story of Gaaeng Buaan (แกงบวน) – The Oldest Siamese Dish?

The Secret Healing Powers of Siamese Curries – A Closer Look at Gaaeng Yaa (แกงยา)

The Art of Siamese Duck Curries - Theory and Practice (แกงเป็ด - ศิลปะ ทฤษฎี และ การปฏิบัติ)

Articles and Recipes

ผัดขี้เมาปลาหมึกยัดไส้กุ้งเนื้อหมูและแห้ว

This dish can be found both in Thailand's streets food stalls and in the menus of the high stars restaurants. The spicy stir fried is a perfect choice to the drunken man’s plate, it, with it's kick, helps the whiskey run down the glass and offers a wicked sauce to accompany the sophisticated squid's filling made of airy pork married with sweet shrimp. The mixture of pork and shrimp filling maintains moist and tender texture which is further enhanced by the surprise crunch from water chestnuts.

Nang Gingganok Gaanjanaaphaa (กิ่งกนก กาญจนาภา) - None Repeated

Gingganok Gaanjanaaphaa (กิ่งกนก กาญจนาภา) opened her 1935 cookbook with a complaint: the market was flooded with small recipe pamphlets, each copying the others, changing only the name on the cover. A buyer who purchased two or three books received the contents of one. Her solution was consolidation—recipes from the special cooks of the royal kitchen (แม่ครัวพิเศษแห่งห้องเครื่องเสวย), assembled into a single volume. Over two hundred preparations, none repeated. She wrote from a seaside house in Hua Hin (หัวหิน), completing the manuscript in July 1935 (พ.ศ. ๒๔๗๘). Three women contributed to the compilation: Khun Praphai, Khun Jira, and Khun Noi—thanked for recipes "beyond her own ability to find." The book appeared that October, priced at three baht. No biographical record of Gingganok beyond this text has been located. The royal kitchen staff whose recipes fill the collection are not named. What survives is the cooking itself: technique, proportion, and method as these women understood royal kitchen practice in the mid-1930s.

Dulda (ดุลด๊ะ; doon da)

Dulda, a raita-style yogurt salad with duck egg, mint, and coriander, from Hibrahim Haji Rocheedee Bin Dtwan's Islamic Cookbook, 1933.

ยำผิวส้มซ่า

พูดถึงอาหารไทยแท้ไทยโบราณ ท่านรู้หรือไม่ว่า พืชชนิดใดที่คนไทยสมัยก่อนนำมาให้รสเปรี้ยวในสำรับอาหารมากที่สุด ? ถ้าเป็นปัจจุบันจะตอบได้ง่าย ๆ ว่าเป็น "มะนาว" แต่สมัยก่อนนั้น ไม่ใช่เลยขอรับ คนไทยอาศัยความเปรี้ยวจาก"มะขาม" มากที่สุด ใช้ทั้งยอดอ่อน ดอก ฝักอ่อน และ โดยเฉพาะมะขามเปียก แต่ทราบไหมขอรับว่า ส่วนใหญ่น้ำมะขามเปียกมักไม่ใช่องค์ ประกอบเด่นในอาหารไทย ตัวมะขามเปียกเอง ก็นำมาทำเป็นอาหารหลักไม่ได้ ไม่เคยมีตำรับ ยำมะขามเปียก แกงมะขามเปียก หรือ มะขามเปียกลอยแก้ว แต่อย่างใดเลย อย่างที่เห็นก็แค่เป็นเครื่องดื่ม ในกลุ่มน้ำปานะ ที่ภิกษุในศาสนาพุทธสามารถฉันได้ในยามวิกาล เช่น น้ำมะขาม

Magical Turtle Egg Dumplings (ขนมไข่เต่าวิเศษ; khanohm khai dtao wiset)

Khanohm khai dtao wiset, oval rice flour dumplings in salty coconut cream with shrimp tomalley, from Jeeb Bunnag's 1933 cookbook.

Krayathip (กระยาทิพย์; gra yaa thip)

Krayathip, spiced pork and coconut parcels wrapped in banana leaves and grilled. From Jeeb Bunnag's 1945 cookbook of Thai snacks and desserts.

Pomelo salad with salted shrimp and a lemongrass-infused coconut cream dressing (ยำส้มโอกุ้งเค็ม ; yam sohm o:h goong khem)

Egg Sausage in Chicken Intestine (ลูกรอกไส้ไก่; luuk raawk sai gai)

Egg Sausage in Chicken Intestine, a delicate steamed egg custard in cleaned intestine casing used as a garnish for refined clear soups. From Jeeb Bunnag's 1933 royal cookbook.

Chilies in Siam - Three Genomes, Four Trade Routes, One Culinary Revolution

Walk into any Thai kitchen today, and chilies seem so fundamental to the cuisine that imagining Thai food without them feels impossible. Yet these fiery plants traveled thousands of miles from the Americas through a journey far more complex than the simple story historians have long told - these foreign fruits would ultimately transform not just flavors but the very appearance of Southeast Asian food, tinting curries red, staining relishes and painting an entire culinary tradition in shades of fire. For centuries, that story went like this: Portuguese traders brought chilies to Southeast Asia in the early 1500s, spreading them from colonial centers in Goa and Malacca throughout the region. Most Southeast Asian societies incorporated chilies within 100-200 years - a remarkably rapid transformation that fundamentally altered how billions of people eat. This narrative is true, but incomplete. New genetic evidence reveals that chilies reached Southeast Asia through multiple networks operating simultaneously: Portuguese merchants, yes, but also Islamic maritime traders, Chinese overland routes, and Indian Ocean merchant communities. Rather than following a single European pathway, chilies arrived through interconnected global trading systems that had been operating for centuries. The story of how Siam got its fire reveals something profound about how cultural exchange actually worked in the early modern world - and how modern research is overturning colonial-era assumptions about who controlled global trade.

ม้าอ้วน

ตำรับ "ม้าอ้วน" นอกจากจะเป็นเครื่องว่าง หรือ อาหารเรียกน้ำย่อย (Starter หรือ hors d'oeuvres) ยังจัดเป็นอาหารจานเคียง หรือเครื่องแนม ใช้รับประทานกับอาหารพวกแกงต่าง ๆ ท่านผู้หญิงเปลี่ยน ได้บันทึกตำรับเอาไว้ใน ปริเฉจที่ ๔ ของตำรา"แม่ครัวหัวป่าก์" ของท่าน ลักษณะอาหาร จะเป็นเนื้อหมูสับผสมกับกุ้ง ปรุงรสด้วย รากผักชี กระเทียม พริกไทย เกลือ เคล้าใส่ไข่เป็ด และกะทิเล็กน้อย นำใส่ถ้วยตะไลนึ่งจนสุก

Pran-Style Choo Chee Squid (ฉู่ฉี่เมืองปราณ; chuu chee meuuang bpraan)

Choo chee squid named for the town of Pran, stirred briefly in a boiling fish sauce, sugar and vinegar glaze. From M.R. Tuang Sanitwong, 1935.

Delicious Rice (ข้าวน่าอร่อย; khaao naa a raawy)

Delicious Rice, a royal Thai fried rice combining shrimp, pork and chicken with elaborate garnishes including pickled vegetables and salted egg. From Jeeb Bunnak's 1945 cookbook.

Snap Bean and Yardlong Bean Salad with Duck (ยำถั่วแขกถั่วฝักยาวกับเนื้อเป็ด; yam thuaa khaaek thuaa fak yaao gap neuua bpet)

Snap Bean and Yardlong Bean Salad with Duck combines two bean varieties with Chinese-style roasted duck and transparent shrimp. From Maawm Ying Soophaa's 1949 royal cuisine manuscript.

Fermented Rice Noodles and Golden Coconut Chicken Sauce with an Indian Flair (ไก่ต้มขนมจีบ; gai dtohm khohn ma jeep)

Gai dtohm khohn ma jeep, a coconut-simmered chicken sauce with Indian influences served with fermented rice noodles. From Jeeb Bunnag's 1945 cookbook.

Grilled Rawaaeng Curried Rice Parcels in Banana Leaves (ระแวงขาวปิง; ra waaeng khaao bping)

Ra waaeng khaao bping, rice parcels with duck and coconut cream wrapped in banana leaves and grilled. From Jeeb Bunnag's 1945 Thai appetizer cookbook.

Siamese Culinary Legends of the Rattanakosin period

Siamese cuisine is the accumulated wisdom of cooks at every level of the society – from housewives cooking at home and caring for their families, to cooks in the temple, to the culinary masters who created elaborate dishes behind the palace walls.

In this series of short articles highlighting their lives and work, we salute and pay homage to the most prominent individuals who influenced and shaped the Siamese culinary arts bpaa ga sin (ปากะศิลป์) of the Rattanakosin Era.

These background descriptions will put into perspective the dishes we present and cook here on Thaifoodmaster and will also help you to cook Thai dishes that taste like they have a solid bond to the culture, the land and its people.

The Spice Vault

Here you will find recipes for popular spice mixes that you can make yourself! Homemade spice blends not only taste better and cost less, but you’ll also be able to create unique spice blends based on your personal preferences. As a bonus, you’ll use spices with no preservatives or artificial colors!

For example, members can explore recipes for Chinese five-spice mix, masalas for khao soi and hang lay curries, homemade Thai curry powder, and a variety of the spice blends used in Northern and Muslim Thai cuisines.

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Practical and kitchen-tested recipes with a mix of theory, history, psychology, and Siamese culture tidbits.

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It is truly brilliant with a revolutionary approach introducing aspects and concepts never broached by cookbooks.

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Sourcing Wines for Discerning Private Clients