South Side market teaches how to make Thai cuisine
It was, of all things a metaphor for life that made Piyo Boonyarat appreciate eggplants from his native Thailand.
As he led a monthly cooking class where he works at Thai Me Up on the South Side, he explained as he showed the class the little purplish golfball sized sphere that looks like a shrunken miniature of a common eggplant.
“I hated this when I was growing up because it has a bitterness to it,” he said. “But as you grow older you probably like it. Because life is bitter. Like eggplant.”
His deadpan delivery of an often unfortunate truism of existence had the room in stitches, an obvious joke from the otherwise overwhelmingly cheerful host with a quick and powerful laugh.
“Wow, that was uplifting!” class attendee Michelle Margittai said.
If the joke wasn’t, the food and the lessons were. Fragrant aromas of spice and smoke wafted through the restaurant, while Mr. Boonyarat, a natural teacher with a professorial knowledge of his native fare, explained the ingredients and processes and about the heavy Indian and Chinese influences that give Thai food its unique complexity.
Jeeraporn “Noi” Chaisri first came to Pittsburgh from Bangkok in 1996 to study at what was then Point Park College; on Oct. 14, 2002 she opened Thai Me Up in a small East Carson Street storefront.
“I think when I first opened there were maybe four Thai restaurants” in the area she said. Now there are dozens.
Five years ago, she moved to a larger space on South 23rd Street, and last year opened Sweet Panda Asian Market, a Thai grocery in the space next door. She said that restaurant customers — even those who were regulars — were gobsmacked by the products in the market.
She recalled one woman asking, “What do I do with this?”
“A lot of my customers love the food, but don’t know what they’re eating,” let alone how to make it, she said.
So in September, Ms. Chaisri started a monthly cooking series featuring recipes from the restaurant and her own family, including her mother’s green curry and her grandmother’s Pad Thai. Other classes have included Thai-style pumpkin dill soup, Thai barbecue and spicy basil noodles, among others.
There are typically two sessions, each on a Sunday afternoon (typically the last of the month). The cost is $35 and includes ingredients. A May class has not yet been scheduled. Follow the restaurant on Facebook or call 412488-8893; www.thaimeuppittsburgh.com.
“We try to do simple and easy to do,” Mr. Boonyarat said.
“We want to teach them to eat like we eat — I want them to know where we come from,” he said, adding, “And, from there you can make it your own.”