Meet with your guide and driver early this morning and transfer to a local market (in time for 08:00), where we’ll meet with a representative from Three Good Spoons. As we awaken our senses to the sounds, colours and smells, a brief explanation will be provided on how the company goes about sourcing the ingredients used in its classes. Whilst exploring, you’ll also get the opportunity to meet with some of the preferred suppliers (assuming they’re around) and strike up leisurely, unforced conversation. Having navigated the market and learnt a few tricks of the trade, we’ll take a short drive to the Three Good Spoons office. Located in a residential building on the busy intersection of Dhammazedi and U Wisara Road, the space the office occupies is contrastingly peaceful.

Once inside, a brief introduction will be given about Three Good Spoons and what the social business aims to achieve with these recently introduced classes.

You’ll then be led to the kitchen where the Tree Good Spoon’s Chef Trainer, will take over. The backgrounds of these trainers are just as impressive as their cooking skills. Take Kevin Monin for example; having worked with former US ambassadors and cooked in dense jungles with leopards and snakes, this talented former private chef has plenty of interesting stories to tell. We understand he’s also had the opportunity to cook for General Nay Win, Myanmar’s former military dictator.

As the popular saying goes, behind every great man there’s a great woman; well in Kevin’s case there’s two. Helping to keep the operational side of things in check are Sandar Win and Thwe Moe Thu (also known as Bridjit), two ladies without whom the kitchen would be nowhere near as efficient, immaculately organised and hygienically conscious.

Sandar is of Shan ethnicity and as you’d expect, very talented at preparing her home region’s food, which in our opinion is the best in Myanmar. She has limited work experience and applied to be a Three Good Spoons kitchen assistant after seeing their Facebook page and recipe photos. She has lived in Myanmar all her life and has relished the opportunity to earn certificates in Basic First Aid, Nutrition and Hygiene. She speaks limited English with a fantastic smile.

Bridjit is Bamar and has a degree in Philosophy from a Yangon university, plus 8 years’ experience as a domestic worker in Singapore. She has excellent English skills and is a natural communicator and coordinator, delivering hygiene training and handling customer inquiries effectively. She has quickly applied new skills in computing to bring value to the company’s small busy team.

With the help of this talented team you’ll learn how to cook a typical Myanmar salad, main and dessert. Wanting to keep the lessons as fresh as the ingredients sourced from the local market, the dishes featured in the classes tend to change on a daily basis. Creations you might expect to find are mohingar (a fish broth soup commonly eaten for breakfast), ohn no khao swe (a creamy coconut noodle soup with chicken), tea leaf salad, tomato salad, wing bean salad, coconut “agar agar” jelly and golden rice (shwe htamin).

Supporting a very good cause and learning how to cook some of Myanmar’s culinary favourites aside, you’ll also get the chance to sit down and enjoy your masterpieces for lunch. Shortly after being seated at the long table that occupies the communal dining area, you will be waited on by the Three Good Spoons team until the last dish has been gobbled up. Having refuelled and said your goodbyes, return back to your hotel or continue touring with your guide.