Once again awoken by the roosters below our balcony, Sam and I headed down to breakfast at the restaurant of the Hoi An Ancient House Village Resort & Spa. From there we headed into town with some friends to pick up a pair of shoes and a dress someone had had custom made for them. While downtown, we ate lunch at the highly recommended Morning Glory Restaurant.

At 4pm the whole group was headed off to a cooking class. I was very excited because I love cooking at home and at school. I was interested to learn about the different cooking techniques and the different types of food in which they would teach us to prepare.

We learned that we were at the Woman’s Union of Vietnam, where the proceeds of crafts available in the restaurant go to the poor women of Vietnam. Although we could have picked a place capable of accommodating us all at once, it was great that we were able to support this organization. 

The cooking class was led by the restaurant’s main chef “King”. He gave us step by step instructions and detailed the types of ingredients we would be working with. We prepared three dishes with the help of assistants scattered around the table to better instruct us. We made fresh spring rolls, green papaya salad, and garlic fish in banana leaf.

Where I particularly saw differences between the America and here was in the cleanliness of the station and tools, the friendliness of the staff and the lack of hygiene. We were not instructed to wash our hands (although I passed around hand sanitizer), and we also used the same cutting board for raw fish and our other ingredients without washing it. The helpers wee very forceful in their directions and at times made us a bit comfortable, as they were a bit too overbearing. Overall, it was a very interesting experience!

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