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Thailand, as in other Asian
countries, offers, along all its busy roads, a stream of eating stalls
from which one can compile an entire menu. In a market where fresh produce is sold, and there will also be stalls
selling prepared food, anything from freshly cooked curry puffs and
crisp pancakes to green papaya salad, fiery with chilli. More up-market
are the fast food shops taking perhaps an entire floor of a busy
shopping centre, or situated in the grounds of a five-star hotel.
A country which has never been conquered or colonised
(something which cannot be said of many countries), the food of Thailand
is unique. Yet there is obvious cross-pollination when ingredients are
deemed worth adopting. For example, Indian spices have been grafted onto
already complex flavours to give the world Thai Masaman Curry. Chinese
influenced one-dish meals abound too, yet no one would say they are
purely Chinese or that the Thais have copied blindly. It has always been
a prerogative of creative cooks to pick the best features of
neighbouring cuisines; but the Thais create bold combinations of
flavours to make the resulting dishes quite individual. |
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