Overseen by Executive Chef Daniel Jarrett, the Tamarind Cooking School at Spicers Tamarind Retreat, nestled in the verdant hills and rainforest of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, is welcoming a chef uniquely qualified to run their classes of northern and southern Thai cuisine: Paul Blain, the founder of the original The Tamarind Retreat and Cooking School.
Chef Paul has been in the vanguard of Australia’s love affair with Thai food for more than 30 years. 1991, he joined the original Darley St Thai in Sydney under the guidance of David Thompson, and later opened the ground-breaking Chilli Jam Thai in Noosaville in 1994.
If that’s not enough credentials for you, his 2004 cookbook ‘Thai Cooking Class – Authentic Thai Cuisine’ has sold over 40,000 copies. Paul continues to visit Thailand every year to continue his research of regional flavours and refine his passion for Thai cuisine and its culture.
“Every dish we make at the Tamarind Cooking School has a story from my travels,” Paul explains. “I find it inspiring to share my understanding of Thai cuisine, and if our guests are interested, I can pass on a wealth of knowledge.”
Discover your inner chef
The Tamarind Cooking School runs classes for up to 16 people every Saturday from 11:00am to 3:00pm, at $225 per person. The classes are on a rotating monthly schedule of northern and southern Thai run by chef Paul, and French and Italian run by chef Tommy Kennedy, an experienced professional with great passion and Italian heritage.
The Tamarind Cooking School changes menus with each of the four seasons, sources ingredients from their local suppliers, and guests tour the kitchen garden to pick herbs for the class.
Chef Paul has been busy with new recipes that are easy to follow and have been tested and tasted to perfection, including a classic salad of green papaya that requires time with the mortar and pestle to pound the washed coriander root, chilli, garlic and shrimp paste to a robust paste. The result is the classic combination of contrasting flavours and textures, light but intense.
Reflecting Blain’s regard for ‘keeping it simple’ and cooking over charcoal for authentic flavour, the roasted spicy eggplant salad is made with small finger eggplants and the intense flavours of chilli paste, fish sauce and lime juice.
Moving onto meat and seafood, chef Paul’s recipe for seared fish, prawn and scallop with Tamarind sauce shows the complexity and finesse you can achieve with a myriad of strong but interlocking flavours. A yellow northern curry of pork with bamboo again emphasises the use of pastes and sauces made by hand, from scratch with raw ingredients – a riot of colour bathed in a vivid sauce.
The classes are informal and a lot of fun, and the chefs are hands-on at every station, giving tips and help where needed to capture the intense aromas and flavours of Thai cuisine. Guests will see how to structure their time to deliver the dishes together, and make it look fabulous on the plate.
After class, guests are seated on the open deck to enjoy the dishes they have just created, and a glass of wine. Guests also receive a Tamarind Cooking School apron and a recipe pack to take home and inspire them to create the same dishes for family and friends.
Learn from life-long experience
Although classically trained in French and Italian restaurants in Sydney, Paul’s deep involvement with Thai cuisine continues to this day.
After selling Chilli Jam Thai in 1998, he worked in Thailand teaching for London-based company Tasting Places at a residential school on Koh Samui, in the Gulf of Thailand. He then built and opened The Tamarind in April 2000, and over the next few years won a host of accolades and publicity in print and broadcast.
After selling The Tamarind in 2008 to Spicers, Paul began a business consulting and designing Asian-inspired restaurants, including the popular Chop Chop Chang’s in Brisbane’s West End.
Especially in the early days, Paul was inspired by some of the pioneers of Thai cooking in the western world, like the food-scholar Hanuman Aspler and David Thompson of course, but also Mogens Bay Esbensen, the Danish-born chef and author credited with introducing Thai cuisine to Australia in the 1980s.
Escape the daily grind
Situated near the town of Maleny on a picturesque 18-acre property next to Gardner’s Falls, Spicers Tamarind Retreat offers intimate, rainforest-fringed luxury infused with the seductive spices of Asia.
Just an hour north of Brisbane and 3km east of Maleny, Spicers Tamarind Retreat is an Asian-influenced oasis of natural beauty and tranquillity that makes you feel like you’re a world away from the daily grind.
The Tamarind is an award-winning modern Asian restaurant with a Thai heart, combining sweet, sour and spicy flavours with the freshest local produce. Led by Head Chef Dan Jarrett, The Tamarind has earned an enviable reputation for quality, with two Chef Hats in the 2024 Australian Good Food Guide and a loyal following.
Spicers Tamarind Retreat offers intimate accommodation in five one-bedroom villas, seven two-bedroom villas, a studio room and the fully self-contained Orchard Villa that hosts up to 12 guests, as well as meeting facilities and two venue spaces with room for 70 guests.
Guests can enjoy the outdoor swimming pool and spa, take a dip in the popular Gardner’s Falls next door, or venture into the local region to continue their culinary adventures at local wineries and the Maleny Cheese Factory. Those looking for more action can visit the world-famous Australia Zoo, go bush walking, mountain biking or take the Glasshouse Mountains scenic drive.
