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Thai Food
By John Clarke
Renowned chef David Thompson first went to Thailand by mistake: a holiday plan had to be changed at the last minute and he ended up in Bangkok, where he was seduced by the people, their culture and cuisine. Since that fateful trip some 20 years ago, Thailand has become his second home. Working alongside cooks who had perfected their craft in the Thai royal palaces, he began to document the traditional recipes and culinary techniques that have been handed down from generation to generation - before they were eroded, altered and modernised beyond all recognition. The result is Thai Food, the most comprehensive account of this ancient and exotic cuisine ever published in English. David Thompson writes with passion and conviction about a unique style of cooking that he believes to be one of the world’s greatest cuisines. Complemented by Earl Carter’s superb photography, Thai Food captures all aspects of this diverse culinary culture.
A Review from Penguin Books
“Thai cooking is at odds with the modern world, where speed and simplicity are paramount. Thai is not an instant cuisine, prepared with the flick of a knife and finished with a toss of a pan. It needs the cook’s attention, it expects time and effort to be spent and it requires honed skills, but it rewards with sensational tastes.
This book aims to give an understanding of all Thai food. It does, however, have a bias, reflecting my own interests: I believe that Thai cooking reached an apex in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The only recorded recipes of this high point were those of the upper classes. Historically, the best food of any country has always been centred around the court, and this was certainly true of Siam and its many palaces. The development of Thai cuisine was clearly driven by those who did not have to cook or sully their hands with manual labour, otherwise they would not have demanded so much. The result, however, was sublime. Not that regional and peasant food is to be dismissed; it presents a living record, having remained unchanged generation after generation, and is still being cooked today. This book tries to capture all aspects of this diverse culinary culture.
Therefore, one reason I have written Thai Food is to describe this ancient cuisine, in English, before it is eroded, altered and modernised. I want to acknowledge the generations of Thai who have evolved a unique style of cooking that is, I believe, among the world’s greatest cuisines. To do them justice, this book contains some recipes that are difficult, calls for some ingredients that are hard to find, and places some demands on the cook, but I have included such recipes in order to show the extent to which Thai cooks are prepared to go to produce their sophisticated cuisine. Substitution and short cuts when describing the food would not only be disrespectful but debasing.
However, this book is not meant to be an unyielding tract, dictating dogged adherence to interminable techniques and bizarre ingredients. This would be unrealistic and arrogant – and I hope that you will enjoy both cooking and eating the food. I have, though, tried to give a rounded view of Thai cooking, and not just a number of recipes. First, I describe the cuisine and rice in the context of Thailand’s history, culture and regions; I then explain the techniques and types of dishes that are peculiar to Thai cooking, both ancient and modern. Next, I have put together combinations of recipes in a series of sample menus, to show how a Thai meal is composed and cooked today. I hope that by doing so you will be able to see how the food should be cooked – and, most importantly, understand why it is done in a particular way. Then there is a section on the snacks and street food that play such a lively, entertaining role in Thai life. And, finally, a chapter on desserts, which some Thai cooks believe to be the pinnacle of their cuisine.
If I succeeded in giving a firm appreciation of Thai taste and an understanding of the techniques, then I will have fulfilled some of my intentions when writing this book. I hope I will also equip you with sufficient knowledge and confidence to explore the possibilities inherent in this compelling cuisine. So you will not simply follow the recipes, but will understand their underlying mechanics and be able to cast this book aside with a certain rebellious aplomb. And then begin to cook instinctively, just as good Thai cooks – or any other, for that matter – do.
At first I expect you will experiment tentatively, and then with increasing confidence, following your senses and employing intuition. The recipes should certainly be a guideline, but not adhered to as a gospel. This was, after all, the standard manner of the cooks of Siam: when I first began to translate recipes from the older memorial books I was astonished at their vagueness. Ingredients were listed without quantities, a brief line would indicate the most complex of methods, or a whisper when seasoning was suggested. There was a certain assumption – indeed, expectation – that a cook would be sufficiently skilled to alter the recipe according to the availability of ingredients and whim.
Initially it was daunting, trying to make sense of this nebulous cuisine and its capricious cooks, but slowly and gradually, after many attempts, my understanding began to coalesce, and what was once baffling became an invitation to interpret. And so the process is the same with these recipes, although I have rather kindly listed quantities! However, at this stage I must add that alteration and adaptation of the recipes is not an invitation for culinary carte blanche. New ingredients must be apposite and judiciously chosen. But by understanding Thailand and its culture, by practicing the techniques and by appreciating the tastes of Thai cuisine, you should be able to introduce successful variations. If this is done, then I will have achieved my aims.
This book does ask for some effort from those who follow its recipes, but I feel that it is one of my responsibilities to encourage and expand the capacities of the cook, rather than succumb to easier options. To do less would be a grave disservice to the modern cook, to those ancient cooks and to good Thai cooking.” Penguin Books
ISBN: 9781740511544
Format: Hardback, 688 pages
Language: English
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