DUDLEY IN BANGKOK
Featuring Dudley Newbery's trip to Bangkok where he samples and re-creates some of the finest Thai dishes. Dudley is joined by Tamsin Ramasut who is half Welsh and half Thai, and is inspired by the romantic story of how her parents met in Thailand during the 60s.
THE HISTORY OF THAI FOOD
Thailand is located in Southeast Asia and is not a very big country or very rich but it has a unique way of life that mixes ancient rituals with the ways of the modern world.
Up until the middle of the 20th Century, Thai or Siamese cuisine was, for the most part, unknown outside of Thailand. Very much akin to its culture, Thai cooking owes much to its friends and neighbours from China, India and even Europe whilst simultaneously retaining the true essence of native Thai food.
The word thai means free meaning that Thailand literally translates to land of the free.
Thailand is renowned for its plentiful supply of seafood, coconuts, tropical fruits, rice, tapioca, cane sugar, mushrooms and bananas.
The usual description of Thai food is that it is hot and spicy but the truth is that the marriage of Eastern and Western influences in Thai cooking highlights the principle of invoking harmony amongst each dish, whether it is exceptionally spicy or relatively bland.
Thai food varies in different regions of the country:
The north tends to serve quite mild dishes in comparison to central areas.
Food in northeastern parts is fiery hot.
Seafood is more commonly found in the south.
Muslim communities in the deep south are partial to curries and cuisine that tends to be heavy, rich, pungent, intense and very hot and spicy.
In the north, stranger and more bizarre food can be found. Common delicacies include insects, pig’s brains, snakes, snails, frogs and barbecued rat.
Originally, traditional methods of Thai cooking had involved boiling, steaming or grilling.
It wasn’t until Thailand opened to international trade in the years between 1350-1767 (known to them as the Ayuthaya period) that external influences began to affect Thai cooking and cuisine.
The Chinese enlarged the range of Thai cooking utensils and tools (e.g. the wok, bamboo steamer and chopsticks) thus broadening their cooking techniques.
Indeed, it was the Chinese who introduced the Thai cooking culture to stir-frying and deep-frying food.
In later years, Western influence saw the introduction of baking.
Further culinary additions began to arrive in the 1600s from the Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, Arab, Indian and Japanese visitors to Thailand.
The late 17th century brought chilli into Thai cooking for the first time thanks to Portuguese missionaries who had acquired the taste in South America.
Interestingly, the wife of a diplomat introduced the Thai people to custard and Arab Muslims demonstrated the art of cooking with peanuts.
Thai cuisine has a long tradition with elaborate food preparation known as palace cuisine where intricate dishes are presented with garnishes of flowers and masterfully carved vegetables and fruits. This was studied as a household artform.
The other side of Thai cuisine is traditional home cooking – simple, hearty and flavourful.
Thai people like to say that food should not only taste good but also look good and be good for your health.
The Thais are great eaters, not necessarily in quantity but in the way they relish their food, appreciating individual tastes and subtle combinations of dishes.
Thai cooking, like most Asian cuisine, is a style of cooking that ‘throws together’ the ingredients leaving room for creativity and altogether abandoning a rigid approach.
Thais use forks and spoons, holding the fork in the left hand to aid in pushing the food onto the right-hand-held spoon.
Stuffing ones mouth is considered impolite and, therefore, each spoonful should be moderately filled to correspond with accepted custom.
There shouldn’t be any sound of utensils scraping the plate nor should there be grains of rice on the lips.
Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting diners to enjoy complementary combinations of different tastes.
A proper Thai meal consists of soup, a curry dish, steamed rice and a dip accompanied with vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry would have to be replaced by non-spiced items.
The basic characteristic of Thai food comes form a mixture of salt and pepper, garlic and coriander root pounded together.
The aromatic qualities of Thai dishes are derived form a large number of herbs, spices, leaves, roots and even flowers. These include lemon grass, lime leaves and all kinds of chilli.
A most essential ingredient in Thai cooking is the coconut, used for its milk and cream.
Up until the middle of the 20th Century, Thai or Siamese cuisine was, for the most part, unknown outside of Thailand. Very much akin to its culture, Thai cooking owes much to its friends and neighbours from China, India and even Europe whilst simultaneously retaining the true essence of native Thai food.
The word thai means free meaning that Thailand literally translates to land of the free.
Thailand is renowned for its plentiful supply of seafood, coconuts, tropical fruits, rice, tapioca, cane sugar, mushrooms and bananas.
The usual description of Thai food is that it is hot and spicy but the truth is that the marriage of Eastern and Western influences in Thai cooking highlights the principle of invoking harmony amongst each dish, whether it is exceptionally spicy or relatively bland.
Thai food varies in different regions of the country:
The north tends to serve quite mild dishes in comparison to central areas.
Food in northeastern parts is fiery hot.
Seafood is more commonly found in the south.
Muslim communities in the deep south are partial to curries and cuisine that tends to be heavy, rich, pungent, intense and very hot and spicy.
In the north, stranger and more bizarre food can be found. Common delicacies include insects, pig’s brains, snakes, snails, frogs and barbecued rat.
Originally, traditional methods of Thai cooking had involved boiling, steaming or grilling.
It wasn’t until Thailand opened to international trade in the years between 1350-1767 (known to them as the Ayuthaya period) that external influences began to affect Thai cooking and cuisine.
The Chinese enlarged the range of Thai cooking utensils and tools (e.g. the wok, bamboo steamer and chopsticks) thus broadening their cooking techniques.
Indeed, it was the Chinese who introduced the Thai cooking culture to stir-frying and deep-frying food.
In later years, Western influence saw the introduction of baking.
Further culinary additions began to arrive in the 1600s from the Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, Arab, Indian and Japanese visitors to Thailand.
The late 17th century brought chilli into Thai cooking for the first time thanks to Portuguese missionaries who had acquired the taste in South America.
Interestingly, the wife of a diplomat introduced the Thai people to custard and Arab Muslims demonstrated the art of cooking with peanuts.
Thai cuisine has a long tradition with elaborate food preparation known as palace cuisine where intricate dishes are presented with garnishes of flowers and masterfully carved vegetables and fruits. This was studied as a household artform.
The other side of Thai cuisine is traditional home cooking – simple, hearty and flavourful.
Thai people like to say that food should not only taste good but also look good and be good for your health.
The Thais are great eaters, not necessarily in quantity but in the way they relish their food, appreciating individual tastes and subtle combinations of dishes.
Thai cooking, like most Asian cuisine, is a style of cooking that ‘throws together’ the ingredients leaving room for creativity and altogether abandoning a rigid approach.
Thais use forks and spoons, holding the fork in the left hand to aid in pushing the food onto the right-hand-held spoon.
Stuffing ones mouth is considered impolite and, therefore, each spoonful should be moderately filled to correspond with accepted custom.
There shouldn’t be any sound of utensils scraping the plate nor should there be grains of rice on the lips.
Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting diners to enjoy complementary combinations of different tastes.
A proper Thai meal consists of soup, a curry dish, steamed rice and a dip accompanied with vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry would have to be replaced by non-spiced items.
The basic characteristic of Thai food comes form a mixture of salt and pepper, garlic and coriander root pounded together.
The aromatic qualities of Thai dishes are derived form a large number of herbs, spices, leaves, roots and even flowers. These include lemon grass, lime leaves and all kinds of chilli.
A most essential ingredient in Thai cooking is the coconut, used for its milk and cream.