How To Cook Thai Food

Thai chef known for Austin cooking classes launches online platform

Chef Jam Sanitchat got her start teaching and has kept going for decades.

Photo courtesy of Jam's Thai Table

An Austin-based Thai chef known for her food and her cooking instruction is broadening her influence with a new online cooking platform. Chef Jam Sanitchat of Thai Fresh launches Jam's Thai Table on November 12.

Many Austinites and visitors have already learned from Sanitchat, whether it was in one of her sold-out, in-person cooking classes or her two Thai cookbooks. When Jam's Thai Table launches, home cooks will be able to access the videos from anywhere. The collection starts with 18 videos and will gain a new one every week.

Weekly videos highlight one dish in 5-7 minutes, and new videos every month will spend 15 minutes explaining techniques more deeply. There will also be a live class every other month, allowing students to ask Sanitchat questions. The first live class will teach users how to make a Thanksgiving dish: sticky-rice stuffing and pot roast.

Right now, the library includes recipes for pad ka prow, red curry, tom kha gai, Thai omelet, and khao soi. There are also lessons that help users layer or create their own dishes, getting them up to speed on pantry basics, curry paste, different types of basil, and more.

Sanitchat has been teaching Thai cooking classes since she arrived in Austin from Thailand in 2004. She was cooking before she even opened her restaurant Thai Fresh — in fact, a press release says it was because the classes were so popular that the restaurant was born. Now she has both a restaurant and a culinary school nearby, where she has taught more than 15,000 students, who have to snag their spaces quickly before they routinely sell out.

Even if folks have already attended one of the chef's classes, they'll see new skills and recipes on the website that she hasn't offered before, a press release says.

A membership to Jam's Thai Table costs $7 per month or $70 per year. Founding members who sign up by November 19 will get a special rate of $45 per year, plus a spot in the first live class. Users can try the platform for free by entering their email on the website. They'll get six recipes to test out. Students who want to try an in-person class can find more information at thai-fresh.com.

cooking education culinary school

Wine is fine

Southwest lets travelers fly with checked Hill Country wine for free

Photo by A.C. for Unsplash

Sip and Ship enables flyers to check one case of vino for free on flights from participating airports.

Lovers of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir may want to raise a glass for Southwest Airlines. On Monday, November 2, Dallas-based Southwest expanded its Sip and Ship program to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and three other Texas airports, enabling travelers to check qualifying bottles of wine at no extra cost.

The program already served 19 airports in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Now, Sip and Ship enables flyers to check one case of vino for free on flights from 23 U.S. participating airports. To ship more than one case, a traveler must pay a checked-bag fee.

In addition to Austin-Bergstrom, Southwest added Dallas Love Field, Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport, and San Antonio International Airport to Sip and Ship.

A Southwest spokesperson said the airline introduced the program at the four Texas airports “following an overwhelming response from Texas wine lovers and growers.”

With the Texas airports included, Sip and Ship allows you to transport vino from wine regions in five states. This means you could pack a case of Cabernet Sauvignon from Northern California’s Napa Valley, Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, or dry Rosé from the Texas Hill Country.

Southwest says a traveler can ship one packaged case of wine — up to 12 bottles — weighing 50 pounds or less and adhering to size limits (up to 62 inches, counting length, width and height).

The container holding the wine must be a single box or a special wine suitcase.

Additional leak-proof packaging is required to prevent breakage. This includes packing materials such as Styrofoam, molded foam inserts, cardboard liners, bubble wrap, and extra padding for glass bottles. The airline sells padded wine bags for $5 per bottle.

Then, a Southwest agent at the check-in counter inspects the case to ensure it’s properly packed, and seals and labels the wine box or suitcase.

Once you arrive at your destination, you can pick up the case at baggage claim or the area for oversized baggage.

To take advantage of Sip and Ship, you must be departing from one of the program’s 23 airports, be traveling within the U.S., and be at least 21 years old. The program applies to connecting flights as long as you’re flying within the U.S.

hill country wine airlines