I, along with several others, had come to Jamaica to for the Sandals Cooking Academy. We had come to learn cooking secrets from some of the United States' top chefs. I thought I would be learning how to prepare some exotic new dishes. True enough, but this was only the beginning. Thai Chef Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun's in Chicago noted that Thai cooking is flexible and quick, perfect for today's mode of living.
Cooking is part of our culture.
It has to grow. Arun also treated the audience to a skillful demonstration in the unique Thai art of creating intricate flowers, fish and other figures by deftly carving vegetables. The preparation of one of my favorite dishes, paella, was rendered less formidable thanks to Chef Gabino Sotelina of Chicago's Amabria. The hardest part of the whole thing seemed the gathering, chopping, and julienning of the vegetables. Chef Todd English and his wife, Olive, had come to Jamaica from Boston's Olives restaurant.