Image of meal preparation

Communal Cooking at Rak Tamachat

 

Experience Community Living and Develop Your Flavor Palette

 

Here at Rak Tamachat Natural Living Education Center in Thailand, our lives revolve around two main things: gardening and cooking. We love to grow our own food and we love to cook it!

That’s what we do as Communal Cooking is a major part of our Natural Living lifestyle.  The large Communal Kitchen at Rak Tamachat is where people express their culinary expertise.

The kitchen was custom designed with large communal cooking in mind, lots of people sharing in the work (love) of cooking. It’s not your average home kitchen because it is supporting a large community. It is great to have people show off their talent by creating delicious dishes from their home country.

Everyone takes part in some aspect of preparing meals whether it is wandering the gardens for ingredients, prepping food, making sauces, cooking at the stoves, setting the table, or cleaning up at the end. We all become part of the community when we help each other.

The camaraderie in the kitchen is some of the best times had at Rak Tamachat. If you want to show off your skills then our kitchen is the place to be, we love experimenting and creating new and exciting dishes to share with our friends and family.

Our lifestyle values diversity and personal choices, and our kitchen reflects this. We have Raw-food, vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-intolerant people as guests all the time; we strive to accommodate food sensitivities. However, you should inform us about your dietary needs and we may advise that you bring specialty snacks, as we live far away from any major cities and we may not have access to certain food items.

Keeping snacks in the tropics is very hard, therefore flexibility and open-mindedness are highly advised.  All efforts are made to get locally grown chemical-free foods. We always have lots of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand so going hungry is never an issue.

Trying to find different ways to cook or preserve a bountiful harvest is our major issue. But, this is part of the fun of growing so much food. Experimenting in the kitchen is some of the best times we have and we all enjoy the beautiful Rak Tamachat kitchen immensely.

Rak Tamachat’s own Thai Chef: Khun Lin

 

We are truly blessed to have our own inhouse Thai Chef: Khun Lin!

She loves to prepare delicious traditional Thai meals, but also masters fusion cooking of Asian and Western gastronomy.

Thanks to Khun Lin, not only will you eat succulent dishes, but you will also have the ability to learn a lot about Asian and Thai cooking, as she loves to share tricks of the trade with those interested in developing their cooking skills.

Portrait of Khun Lin Thai Chef
Image of Khun Lin Thai Chef
Image of Khun LIn Thai Chef on Hot Pot Night

Communal Participation

 

At Rak Tamachat, we like to support the values of participation, cooperation, and load sharing: when everyone lends a hand, life gets easier!

During your stay, you will need to help with kitchen duties for lunch and dinner on designated days: we organize a rotation of helpers on a big whiteboard in the kitchen. That way, everyone gets to help, and everyone is included in the community.

Sometimes, certain students are eager to learn more about Thai cooking under Khun Lin’s guidance, and they can be found at every meal in the kitchen: you are more than welcome to do so – the more, the merrier! Doing so is like getting a private Thai cooking course, which is a very nice bonus to this already very rich experience!

Picture for communal cooking
Image for communal cooking
Image for Communal Cooking
Image for Communal Cooking

Breakfasts

 

Throughout the years, we came to understand that, in the morning, people have very diverse needs. Therefore, instead of cooking copious meals only to end up throwing away food, we let people cook their own breakfasts.

We usually have eggs, cereals, fruits, and vegetables available – some also like to go for the previous dinner’s leftovers – and sometimes Lin delights us with some homemade bread or biscuits.

In any case, the kitchen is always open, and you can help yourself with whatever you can get your hands on. So, as long as you don’t waste food, go wild!

Image for breakfast at Rak Tamachat
Image of homemade bread
Mango sticky rice for breakfast at Rak Tamachat

Special Meal Nights

 

At Rak Tamachat, every meal prepared by Khun Lin is a delight. And it gets especially delightful when she organizes the Special Meal Nights during the PDC course – meals that give true meaning to Community Living.

On the menu: Hot Pot (Thai Barbecue), Thai Noodle Soup, Burger Night, Western Barbecue, and our students’ favorite: Pizza Night! 

Whether you’re a vegan, a vegetarian, or an omnivore, we can assure you: you will feast, not fast!

Hot Pot Night at Rak Tamachat
Pizza Night at Rak Tamachat
Hot Pot Night at Rak Tamachat

Contact Us

 

You still have unanswered questions? Don’t worry, we’re always available and love to help!
Click the button below to contact us by email, and it will be our pleasure to answer your questions, concerns, or needs for additional information as soon as we can.

 

Rak On!