DUSIT LCB VS WANDEE

I was amazed this morning to receive a special email from someone in the UK who is looking to join a cooking school in Thailand, with a view to eventually make a career in Thai cuisine. Apparently he was targetting the Wandee name on the web and my blog showed up with the latest entries that mentioned Wandee. I guess this is how the 'Information Highway' is supposed to work in Bill Gate's mind when he wrote the book, but who has since moved on to even higher planes.

Yes, Bangkok has arguably the 'state of the art' cooking schoool in Asia these days, in the form of a JV between the famed Dusit Thani Group and Le Cordon Bleu. I also understand this is a new angle for LCB ie partnering with the hospitality industry verses vocational training institutes such as TAFE in Ryde, where I enrolled. Dusit LCB is centrally located on hotel grounds, in a brand new purpose-built tower next to the 'Grand Dame' of 5-star names in Bangkok. It is such a far cry from Ryde, with lots of marbles, stainless steel & dazzlingly well lit. Even the blind can see it is a sought after venue, if the ample traffic of young, cosmopolitan & good looking Thai men & women on campus were any guide. I believe 'Celebrity Chef' has recently become a sought after profession after the demsie of I-Banking. What people do not know is the wastage rate could be just as high. I wonder if LCB, or for that matter other top international culinary schools, keep statistics on the % of graduates who made it to the top, or rather who made a difference in the world of culinary arts. It would indeed be an interesting study, even though many big names from the older generation of chefs never went ti school, they all started as commis somewhere instead.

As for Wandee vs LCB it is a difficult one, it is obviously an apple-orange comparison. The Pro Thai Course at LCB will open doors, and it will certainly be one certificate one hangs at the reception if one is to open one's own restaurant, outside of Thailand especially. That said, my 1-week tenure tells me Wandee is an extremely pragmatic alternative. I sense I am being taught the 'real thing' and I am learning among 'a real Thai environment' as the only 'farang' in the class. The key, however, lies in the principles behind the teaching methodology which are very similar between the two bodies, the gap in size aside. A professor friend of mine taught me the magic phrase, 'Fit for Purpose', which is most relevant here. In my case, Wandee fits my purposes like a glove and LCB at Dist does not, as 'I already have religion, through baptism by LCB Ryde' last year.

Lastly, I have developed a love affair with cooking schools!

I love the mood, the energy, the variety, the students, the instrutors, the camaraderi, the belonging, the sharing, the critiques, the sweat, the smell and last but not the least, the opportunity to taste your own, your partner's and your fellow classmates' food regardless of how good or not good they are. How much better can it get, really?