I was secretly hoping that we left early - I had a cooking class lined up at the Tum Tum Cheng restaurant at 8:30, and I desparately wanted to go. I dropped off James at the guesthouse, took a shower, and headed out. There were 5 of us in total - a retired couple of New Mexico and a 30-something couple from Austira. We were served tea before we started, and then we headed to Phousi Market. We spent a couple hours wandering around the market, learning about the local food and having the opportunity to take photos and ask questions. There was an array of produce - chilis, lettuce, herbs, ginger, banana flowers, garlic, galanga, eggplants, oranges, limes, and dragonfruit (to name a few). I was exicted that the farmers were selling directly, and I was content to know that everything had been raised by hand. After a long time reviewing the produce, we moved onto the dry goods & meat sections. I don't remember the dry goods being too exciting, but the meats definitely were. Like many cultures outside of the US, all parts of the animals are used. Not only were the normal parts on dispaly in the open air, but I also saw things like pigs legs, cow lungs, brains, faces, bile, and coagulated blood (cut into squares). I took pictures of it all -the colors were splendid. 
After the market we headed back to the restaurant to learn how to prepare the food that we had chosen. The most important spice was galanga - a cousin of ginger that is not known outside of Southeast Asia. It has the same texture, but has a spicy hot flavor that is more sharp than ginger. We reviewed several types of basil, corriander, mint, and chili wood. I found the chili wood the most interesting - the wood is edible & has a slow burn. It is used in soups where is can get fully saturated & soft enough to eat. After we spent some time learning how to cut the spices, our teacher pulled back a cloth from an adjacent table. Underneath, a plethora of prepared ingredients awaited.
Like back home at Andy's parent's house, a nice drnink is essential to the cooking process. We were served some sort of sweet alcohol, prior to cooking our dishes. The menu for lunch included:
- Beef soup with tamarind
- Luang Prabang beef stew 'aw lam'
- Sweet sticky rice with mango
- Fried spring rolls
- Fried tofu curry with vegetables
- Steamed fish wrapped in banana leaves 'ho mok pa'
- Tofu soup with tamarind (cook for me because I was vegetarian)
- Gingered tofu (another 'free' dish because I was vegetarian)
We cooked over Lao stoves - the same type that James had purchased yesterday. I wish he could have been here, because not only was the food exquisite, we cooked old school. The only level of heat from the fire is !@#$ing hot, so once you started cooking, constant attention is needed to keep the food from burning.
After cooking, I sat down to the best meal of my holiday. My guidebook had comented on teh quality of this restaurant, but it was definitely for real - all of the ingredients were of the best quality, resulting in superb food. My favorite was the tofu soup with tamarind that they had made for me. With a squeeze of lime juice, the sour flavor blended perfectly with the spice. We ate for about an hour, all of us fully stuffed after lunch. We sat around for another 30 minutes after lunch, until each of us felt like we could walk.
I lumbered back to the guesthouse to check on James. I ended up taking a nap - I guess the exquisite meal really wore me down.
As a part of my normal routine, I went to Spa Garden for a massage. After an half and a half of semi-consciousness, I picked up James for (what else besides) more food! He was feeling better, and had spent part of the day shipping his $3 cooking pot home. Cost of shipping? $90US.
Before heading back, I stopped by Big Brother Mouse. The company produces children's books in both Lao & English, and its mission is to educate children. I bought a stack of books, as they would be useful to hand out during my trek in Nam Ha Protected Area.
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