A Thai queen is taking this year’s Edinburgh Fringe by storm and it’s not the arts which are the jewels in her crown.
Instead, her audiences are mesmerised by wonderful aromas, taste bud tingling dishes and all served up with the panache of an expert.
Rujira Herd dipped her toe in Scotland’s month long festival, famous for weird and wacky shows, last year, not knowing whether people would be interested, especially since her culinary school is a 10 minute bus ride from the main action.
But a hard earned reputation has provided Ru with lots of adulation and bookings for 2025 and it’s as much to do with her wonderful personality, as her cooking.
The minute Ru opens the old-fashioned grand door of her Krua Thai Cookery School and gives a traditional Thai bow of welcome; the bar is set high.
Despite having more than 20 years of teaching experience behind her, Ru treats every student as her first and is a fountain of all knowledge and true genius when it comes to whizzing up a fantastic Thai meal using the simplest of ingredients.
Not for Ru, commercial curries and pastes, she makes everything from scratch and uses the freshest and more authentic of spices and meats and vegetables to create the simplest, but tastiest of dishes.
Many people find Thai food very hot and spicy, but Ru has perfected the art of making them seriously good, without a flash of heat.
This year Ru is offering fruit carving and traditional cooking classes at The Fringe which runs until the end of the month.
Two hours of MasterChef style training to make the dishes, which are then eaten by the students in Ru’s elegant dining room adorned with wonderful traditional artwork from back home.
Ru, who came to Scotland to study for a BA Hons in hotel management at Queen Margaret’s University in Edinburgh is a fabulous teacher.
In her impeccably kept kitchen, Ru encourages Fringe folk to chop, smell, cook and devour fabulous dishes like Gang Ped Neua/Gai or beef red curry with galangal and lemon grass. Making everything from scratch, including the stock and the paste is the secret to this delicious dish.
And if that wasn’t tasty enough, a Pa-Nang Gai or chicken in red curry with coconut cream is a sizzling sensation and a dream to make.
Vegetarians are catered for too, with crispy Tofu swapped for the beef or chicken and the dishes are packed with lovely ingredients such as aubergines, coriander and lime leaves, the tastes are simply divine.
Ru has the knack of making the dishes look so easy to make, that even the basic of beginners feels comfortable and assured.
The whole two hours are packed with Ru spreading her knowledge of not just food, but Thailand too and it’s so wonderful to hear the passion for her homeland.
Once made, the dishes are served with vegetable carvings which have impressed such great chefs as Albert Roux and are testament to Ru’s training back home at the Wattano Thai Ladies School in her home city of Chiangmai, in the northern part of the country.
It was here Ru also learnt basic cookery skills and other facets of essential classical Thai culture which she not only passes on to students through The Fringe and her all round classes, but also to other chefs and professionals keen to learn the skills.
Such is Ru’s demand, The Fringe is the one opportunity for the novice to pick up the skills needed to create a Thai banquet and in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
A real jewel in the crown of a festival hailed the world’s platform for creative freedom!
For more information on Krua Thai Cookery School and Fringe classes and Ru’s cookery classes, private dining and outside catering, please visit: www.kruathai.co.uk or www.edfringe.com.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family
Photographs courtesy of the Krua Thai Cookery School
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