Worth quoting

[chickenfeet]

I often criticise the way Thai food is presented in restaurants in the West. So to be more positive here are a few quotes from one of my favourite Thai cookbooks, David Thompson Classic Thai Cuisine.

Usually only one main meal is eaten a day, and this is always accompanied by rice. Everything else Thais eat is either snacks or noodles.

Noodles are traditionally eaten at lunchtime or when one is in a rush or eating alone. They are one of the few foods that are not shared and they are always served with condiments - kreuang brung - that enable the noodles to be seasoned as desired.

A proper meal is inconceivable without [rice]. All other dishes, curries, salads, whatever else are on the table, are called gap khao, with rice. All wet dishes serve to dress and moisten the rice, making it more palatable. All dry dishes add texture, making it more interesting. It is, however, the rice that is being consumed, that is the sustenance. Any other dish, however attractive and delicious, merely acts as a condiment. In a Thai meal, the normal proportion of rice to other dishes is 3:2.

A Thai meal is not just a combination of textures and flavours within one dish, but a compilation of all the dishes to be served. There should be no duplication or repetition, but a balance. Not every dish should be served hot, nor should there be too many curries. Complex dishes should be accompanied by simpler ones so that the palate is not overwhelmed or cloyed. This is indicative of the manner in which Thais approach their food: different contrasting flavours, combined with variously textured garnishes that are then blended with rice. It is the compilation of so many small but powerfully flavoured dishes that entertain the palate and avoid tedious repetition.

No meal is considered complete without the inclusion of either a Nam Prik or a Lon...Nam Priks are always pungent, redolent of roasted kapi (shrimp paste) and hot.... Lons are a much gentler food - pork and prawns for example, simmered in coconut cream, then seasoned with tamarind water, palm sugar and fish sauce. These dips or relishes are always eaten with vegetables - raw, blanched or battered and deep fried - that are normally cut into bite-sized pieces.

X-posted to gastrogasm

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I begin to think restaurants should offer "family-style" dining. People get the option of eating with a sufficient number of strangers to get the full assortment of dishes.

I've eaten at Pennsylvania Dutch restaurants which only offered family-style.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

The best option might be a buffet but the only Thai resto that does one here is very unadventurous. There used to be an excellent Malaysian buffet but it closed.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

A buffet doesn't give you a traditionally organized meal unless you know how to put it together, though I suppose the restaurant could supply an info sheet.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

This is true. The buffets here encourage people to get it wrong by having a very unhelpful choice of dishes; too many stir fries, no nam prik or lon, noodle dishes etc.

The Bangkok Garden used to have good seasonal set menus that they would serve for two or more people. That's another viable approach I guess.

There is such a reluctance on the part of Thai restauranteurs to challenge Western ideas of 'meal'. It has to have 'appetisers' (usually things that would be considered a snack in Thailand or, alternatively, a soup that ought to be served with the rice). Portions of the dishes are huge but there's never enough rice and so on. It's not just Thai restaurants of course. How often do you see a properly structured Italian meal in a restaurant?

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Probably never, in my case. What does a properly structured Italian meal look like?

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

What does a properly structured Italian meal look like?

In its most basic form:

Antipasto - could be a composed salad or olives and salami or any number of fishy things. In any event, a cold 'appetiser'.

Pasta - could be pasta with a sauce or stuffed pasta or a rice dish or even a minestra. Served in much smaller portions than in restaurants here.

Main course - usually meat or poultry or fish. Garnishes/accompaniments would be few and simple. A few fried potatoes with a steak. Maybe a little salad with a fried fish.

Dessert

The key thing is that pasta isn't the main course unless you are very broke!

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Damn! All this talk of food is making me hungry!