All you need to know about the land of silk and smiles
The Cuisine of
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he wonderful world of Thai cooking is an around the clock adventure. The abundance of ingredients in this fertile kingdom is just the start of the saga. In the north all manner of vegetables flourish in rich soil. Rice paddies in the centre of the natin yield different varieties of the country’s main staple and in the south tropical fruits cover the ground like weeds. The harvests from the seas that surround the country yield all manner of seafood and fish. Before the sun comes up, trucks, laden with produce, chickens and pigs, rumble from rough farm tracks and onto the roads that lead to the hundreds of markets throughout the kingdom. The markets are set up in every major town. There, restaurant owners mingle with the chefs of top hotels and the general public to barter for the goods. It happens daily so the produce is fresh. In this tropical heat th
ings have to move quickly before they spoil.
The markets are bursting with piles of spices, mountains of lemon grass. Sweet and pungent smells mix with the odor of chickens. Fish markets are normally held in the afternoon when the fishermen return with their catches. Much of the shrimp comes from large coastal farms where the creatures are reared like plants.
When problems arose with export quotas of shrimp a glut hit the local market and prices plummeted. When the European community put a limit on the amount that could be imported some politicians wanted to cancel orders placed for the European Airbus and deal with the U.S. to buy Boeing jets. Their plan was to trade prawns for planes. The idea seemed logical to the Thai minds, but it failed. One can imagine the reaction of a Boeing employee being handed a bag of shrimp instead of a pay check.
Most tourists, when they arrive in Thailand, have little or no experience of Asian cooking. Perhaps their local Thai or Chinese restaurant or maybe a program on television is about the extent of it. However, nothing can prepare you for the sight of the real thing. I say sight because that is the first thing that hits you. Most of the incredible array of vegetables, fruits, pastes, spices, fish and meats is totally unrecognizable to the western eye. Wandering through a local market, even if you don’t actually buy anything, is a fascinating experience. Do go early and do go with a strong stomach. The sight of pigs heads all hanging up in a row a 6 o’clock in the morning can be a little challenging. One of the easiest ways to come to understand the concepts of Thai cooking is to take a class at one of the hotel cookery schools.
Normally, within families, the food is all served in the center of the table for each person to share and the whole family sitting down to eat together is still an important part of the day.
Their meals, which feature lots of vegetables and fish, are normally very low in fat and the diet, while maybe simple, is healthy and tasty. Tasty, of course, is a relative word. With the heavy addition of lemon grass, ginger, garlic and chili peppers what is pleasantly spicy to them can be knock your head off spicy to foreigners.
Walking through city streets you experience a world of food unlike anywhere in Europe or the 
United States. From the street vendors with their barbeque pots or small gas rings to the glamorous hotels and top restaurants with their head chefs and exquisite table settings the food here is simply different. The Thais love to snack. Small, spicy tidbits wrapped in little packages of leaves or perhaps in small plastic bags tied at the top filled with soup or curry can be bought on most street corners or outside office buildings.
Fish balls, grilled dry squid hanging on racks, tiny coconut puddings all sold from carts or maybe a motor cycle sidecar.
Sticky rice packed into bamboo canes or wrapped in banana leaves makes an easy takeaway for busy workers. Or in Chinatown joak porridge with fish, meat or egg is a favorite with the Chinese Thai. The carts may move from place to place or sometimes set up shop in the same location everyday but locals know what time to expect their favorite seller.
Thai food is internationally famous. Whether chili-hot or comparatively bland, harmony is the guiding principle behind each dish. Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai. The characteristics of Thai food depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked. Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle.
Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. With their Buddhist background, Thais shunned the use of large animals in big chunks. However, subsequent influences introduced bigger cuts of meat shredded and laced with herbs and spices.
Traditional Thai cooking methods were stewing and baking, or grilling. Chinese influences saw the introduction of frying, stir frying and deep-frying. Culinary influences from the 17th century onwards included Portuguese, Dutch, French and Japanese. Chilies were introduced to Thai cooking during the late 1600s by Portuguese missionaries who had acquired a taste fo
r them while serving in South America.
Thais were very adept at Siamese-ising foreign cooking methods, and substituting ingredients. The ghee used in Indian cooking was replaced by coconut oil, and coconut milk substituted for other daily products. Overpowering pure spices were toned down and enhanced by fresh herbs such as lemon grass and galangal. Eventually, fewer spices were used in Thai curries, while the use of fresh herbs increased. It is generally acknowledged that Thai curries burn intensely, but briefly, whereas other curries, with strong spices, burn for longer periods. Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting dinners to enjoy complementary combinations of different tastes.
A proper Thai meal should consist of a soup, a curry dish with condiments, a dip with accompanying fish and vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry should be replaced by non spiced items. There must be a harmony of tastes and textures within individual dishes and the entire meal.
