Amazon.com
"Thai cooking is a paradox," writes Australian restaurateur David Thompson in his comprehensive and thus aptly named Thai Food. "It uses robustly flavored ingredients--garlic, shrimp paste, chilies, lemongrass--and yet when they are melded during cooking they arrive at a sophisticated and often subtle elegance." Pursuing this transformation in depth, his book presents hundreds of recipes that celebrate the Thai meal while exploring its historical and cultural context. Readers will delight in the wide selection of authentic dishes like Duck and Spring Onion Soup, Grilled Beef Salad, and Green Chicken Curry with Baby Corn, and relish Thompson's vast appreciation of his subject. Though the recipes are straightforward and workable once ingredients are assembled and techniques understood, those new to Thai cooking may want a less rigorous introduction to the subject. However, anyone with an appetite to explore it on Thompson's terms will benefit immensely.
Beginning with an exploration of Thailand's history and culture, the book then presents an extended section on rice, the centerpiece of the Thai meal. The "cookbook" follows, with a systematic introduction to the Thai kitchen, ingredients, and equipment. The chapter "Food Outside the Meal" is devoted to Thai snacks and vendor food, such as Stir-Fried Crisp Fish with Holy Basil. Noodle dishes include an exemplary pad thai, and sweet dishes like Grilled Bananas with Coconut Cream and Turmeric are also offered.
Readers should know that the recipes, published primarily for an Australian audience, give ingredients in a mix of metric and American measurements and/or with nonmetric equivalents, and that nomenclature is also sometimes foreign ("minced" for "ground" meat, for example). With photos throughout, the book sets a standard for Thai cookbooks to come while helping many cooks achieve the true, richly exotic cuisine. --Arthur Boehm
Customer Reviews:
Food as Culture.......2007-09-30
David Thompson's cook book is special in that it provides the user with a cultural framework for the recipes he produces.
He details the importance of the ingredients in the various regions and explains why they have importance. Sticky rice and lots of chilli in the north east.
he talks about the Royal Cuisine and how it evolved.
Then the recipes - wow, mouth-watering pictures and comprehensive listing of ingredients with straightforward prparation methods means that you will want to start cooking immediately and the results should be marvellous.
Thoroughly recommended
Best Thai recipe that is available.......2007-08-23
This is one of the best recipe books I have come across. Although some of the ingredients may be very hard to get your hands on, it is by far the most authentic in terms of history of thai cuisine is concerned
Serious Foodies Only.......2007-03-07
This book is not for the faint hearted. It is a serious book about a serious cuisine that will have you re-thinking Thai food. I have been fortunate in that I have had the opportunity to dine in Mr Thompson's restaurants on numerous occassions. Without doubt he has altered my concept of Thai cuisine to the point where anything less simply isn't good enough. I look forward to my next trip to London and the fabulous Nahn.... Thankyou Mr. Thompson for sharing your knowledge and your passion!
Excellent Thai recipes and interesting reading on Thai cuisine........2007-02-08
Recipes are augmented with info. on fundamental Thai cooking technique and cuisine presented within the Thai cultural context. Although the author is a westerner, he presents an in-depth understanding of the subject matter. Authentic recipes requiring some unusual ingredients aren't always easy to pull together --- may require online shopping if not available locally --- but are delicious and are most definitely worth the effort. Suggested menus are included for a full-course meal. Careful explanation of ingredients is very helpful. Beautiful book with vivid photography and well-written text. A very worthwhile addition to your kitchen library.
Now I can cook food as delicious as I ate when I lived in Thailand.......2006-10-19
I lived in Thailand for seven years but didn't try to cook Thai cuisine until I moved back to the U.S. I love all ten of my Thai cookbooks for different reasons, but this is the one which transformed my technique. Now I can cook curries as delicious as I remember. And tonight's gai yang (grilled chicken) was just like a little open-air restaurant in the north served. I've had this cookbook for three years and turn to it first when I'm cooking Thai food.
This is the best Thai cookbook on the market (with Hot Sour Salty Sweet and It Rains Fishes a close second).
Book Description
Food isn’t just a gustatory pleasure; it is the stuff of life. At its best and most memorable, a meal becomes a story—and a story becomes a feast. In this collection of essays by some of the country’s finest writers, food is the central player in memories both exquisite and excruciating. Steve Almond recounts the gleeful daylong preparation of a transcendent lobster pad thai dish. Sue Miller reveals that after a lifetime of practical cooking, she is finally fed by a man who presents food as an offering, made just for her. Aimee Bender ponders her lifelong envy of what everyone else is having for lunch. Richard Russo relates the celebratory day he and his wife spent eating their way through haute Manhattan—and departing utterly famished.
Expertly compiled and edited by Douglas Bauer—including pieces by Amy Bloom, Peter Mayle, Jane and Michael Stern, Ann Packer, and Andre Dubus III—this unforgettable collection presents food as education, test, reward, bait, magnet, and, most of all, gift. Gathered here are meals that sate our most complex palate, the appreciation of life.
Customer Reviews:
Delicious!.......2007-10-09
This book is extraordinary not only because it does entertain and delight with its insightful foodie short stories, but it also sends you on a nostalgic excursion of your own past gustatory experiences, seeing that the human brain is designed in such a way that food sensations are so closely linked to memory synapses! I literally went into a dream state after each story, remembering similar situations in my past: unforgettable bright crimson whole shrimp grill-roasted on the beach in Corfu that we ate with our fingers, my mother's "galettes surprises" which I always requested on my birthday (see recipe below), my first dinner in a French restaurant when I was seven years old tasting rubbery, garlicky Escargots a la Bourgogne and loving it! All these memories and more flooded my mind and gave me such marvelous Proustian moments...
Galettes Surprises
Take about 2-3 cups left-over mashed potatoes, and knead a couple of beaten eggs and some grated Gruyere cheese into it. Take balls of this mixture about the size of an egg and form flat pancakes about half an inch thick and put them on a greased cookie sheet. With your thumb, make an indentation in the middle of each galette, and fill with a mixture of crumbled cooked bacon, finely chopped onions and garlic, parsley, and grated Gruyere cheese. Sprinkle more Gruyere over everything, and bake in a hot oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese starts to melt and brown. Yum! I didn't realize as a child that this was my mom's way of preparing a really inexpensive meal into a festive creation!
A literary feast.......2007-09-01
Twenty short works using a particular meal as a catalyst to memory, some which relate an incident amusing in retrospect, some which illuminate a life, all written to the point and with skill. I highly recommend this collection of original works.
Perfection on paper.......2007-06-27
This is a book in which authors, some well known and others not so well known (at least to me) were asked to write about a memorable meal, whether in a positive or a negative light. Almost all of the resulting essays are, as the book's cover notes, not really so much about food, but rather about romance, disappointment, family and celebration. Highlights for me were the title story -- an operatic essay about creating lobster pad thai in an orgy of male cooking, by Steve Almond; a tragicomic story about a first Thanksgiving dinner by Jane Stern; and a hilarious tale of trying to impress visitors from Switzerland (friends of Andy Warhol, no less) in New York, by Michael Stern (husband of Jane). I recommend this book most wholeheartedly not just to food mavens, but to anyone who enjoys top-shelf writing about a subject which, after all, is near and dear to all of us -- food.
A refreshing experience.......2007-03-17
"Death by Pad Thai: And Other Unforgettable Meals" consists of 20 short stories that focused on stories of the experiences of different individuals which revolved around food. Most of the contributors are names in the literary world - poets, novelist, professors, and others, who wrote about his/her most memorable experience or sometimes, encounter with food. Some stories were more memorable than others, such as the case of this individual who was always envious of her friend's food, or the experience of a couple trying to impress their Swedish friends in a shabby restaurant in New Jersey. The focus of the book was not so much of the food itself but how food relates to each individual's life. The was an interesting read for me as the 20 stories in "Death by Pad Thai" were diverse and very much different from one another, but were all memorable to read, and it reminded me once again to think of food as more than just something to eat to sustain ourselves.
Twenty Essays That Should Please Any Foodie's Literary Palette.......2007-03-14
The quirky title was enough for me to pick up this entertaining and often penetrating collection of twenty essays by renowned writers who look fondly back on their personal culinary experiences. Some are better than others, but editor and author Douglas Bauer has recruited an irrefutably impressive roster of talent from professional food writers Jane and Michael Stern to acclaimed novelists like Richard Russo, Sue Miller and Claire Messud. His starting point is appropriately himself as he describes a week when he accompanied food essayist M.F.K. Fisher on a gourmet adventure in New Orleans as part of an assignment for Playboy. Their journey comes down to the hunt for the perfect Ramos gin fizz which they discover unexpectedly at a local dive. From there, we learn from Russo that even a glamorous restaurant in Manhattan is not immune to the compromising view of a man urinating off a neighboring rooftop. The irony of this sight comes just after the acceptance of his first novel, and he and his wife decide to celebrate in a place they can barely afford.
Miller reflects on the fast food that was her constant staple growing up and how that contrasts with the sophisticated dishes she has tried to concoct ever since. She celebrates the imperfections of the meals she has prepared and makes us acutely aware that hunger is never just about food. In her adroit essay, Messud revisits a French meal so incredible that her selective memory of it is at odds with the reality of what it was, while in contrast, Scottish-born novelist Margot Livesey writes emphatically of her distaste for mutton and mint sauce. Lan Samantha Chang, a short story writer specializing in the Chinese-American immigrant experience, goes into the details of an enormous feast that follows sudden revelations during a palm reading; and fellow essayist Steve Almond brings an infectious tone to his lively account of the day-long effort behind a homemade pad thai with Maine lobster.
Not too surprisingly, the writers closest to food professionally provide the most insightful stories. For example, Michael Gorra, the son of a New England produce broker, provides a meticulous but vivid description of an Italian immigrant worker who made do with what he could afford, which translated into a feast of fried peppers and Parmesan cheese for his co-workers. My favorite of the bunch is Jane Stern's account of her first Thanksgiving dinner, a comedy of errors beginning with a too-small oven and an array of canned goods served as side dishes and ending with her bulldog refusing to partake of the table scraps. With this anthology, Bauer has really brought together a set of stories that reflect shrewd observations and a good sense of humor but not at the expense of the very human experience that food creates for people. He even includes a recipe for each essay.
Book Description
Thailand has an increasingly well-known and well-loved repertoire of dishes, some more familiar than others. This culinary journey guides readers through Bangkok's markets to the seafood freshly cooked on the beaches of the Gulf of Thailand, to the sweet-makers of Phetchaburi province to the rice-growing hill tribes of the northern region.
The Food of Thailand features a myriad of dishes that make up modern Thai cuisine: from traditional green, red, and panaeng curries, eaten by every Thai, to salads like som tam and laap, redolent with herbs and chillies, and coconut-based soups, including the famous tom khaa kai.
To partner the recipes, special pages explore the essence of Thai food and cooking techniques. Subjects include:
- Making fish sauce
- Preparing som tam
- Mixing and pounding curry pastes
- Carving fruit.
About
The Food of... series
A culinary journey around the world.
Each book in
The Food of... series is a comprehensive introduction to the world's great cuisine. These books feature more than 100 delicious recipes that highlight each country's culinary treasures. With instructive color photographs throughout, each recipe helps readers choose and identify produce, from vegetables and flavorings to street snacks, sweets, and colorful and exotic fruits. Feature sections explore the essence of each culture's food and cooking techniques.
Customer Reviews:
close to home cooking!.......2007-04-15
This is an awesome cookbook. I love the enticing pictures that accompany the recipes. I'm no chef but I've had a lot of success in many of the recipes in this book. Highly recommended for anyone interested in learning to cook thai food.
THE BEST THAI COOKBOOK!!!.......2006-09-15
I just bought this cookbook and I must say I am extremely pleased. I bought my copy at Barnes and Nobels which was more expensive than the price at Amazon but I would still say that it was worth the few extra dollars. There are close to 300 pages of delicions, exquisite, authentic thai cuisine and food culture. Each dish has a beautifully photgraphed presentation of the dish so you can make dishes that are not only delicious but that can keep up with some of the best Thai restaurants out there. The first few pages also give you a breakdown of the different regions of Thailand and the foods that they eat, which differ sometimes based on economic status and other cultural influences. The best part I must say are they beautiful, eyecatching pictures that capture all aspects of Thai cuisine and food culture. This is a great book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to cook delicious, well presented Thai food. It could also be given as a gift to someone who you know that likes Thai food. It's just great and I cant wait till the next time that I get to cook with it!!!!
An excellent book for new and intermediate Thai Cooks.......2005-12-24
This is a great book for new or intermediate thai cooks. We bought the book because we wanted to try to make some of our favorite take out dishes in our own kitchen. We did have to find a asian food store that sold the curry paste and fish sause... (much cheaper than the Mega Market), which was part of the fun. About 80% of the recipes are things you can actually make yourself... Also there are descriptive pages about the types of foods, ingrediants, spices, and lots of colorful fantastic pictures. My wife now thinks I cook better than the take out joint... !!
Product Description
Discover the secrets of exotic Thai cooking with this collection of authentic, easy-to-follow recipes. With its exquisite photographs, extensive glossary, garnishing guide, and fun facts about Thailand, Lemongrass & Limes will be a big hit with both expert cooks and new beginners. Join Naam Pruitt on this wonderful journey of spices, herbs, and flavorful feasts.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing food and a beautiful cookbook..........2007-06-30
My husband was given this book for Christmas, and we thought it one of the most beautiful cookbooks we had ever seen. (Love the name, too!) In April we were lucky enough to take one of the author's cooking classes, and it was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had! The recipes are fairly simple and the food is just amazing. Her warm and buoyant spirit shines out through her writing as well as her cooking.:) Enjoy!:)
lemongrass and limes.......2006-07-26
It's pretty cookbook and very easy to follow. I like the way the pictures are organized. It makes me want to make all the dishes just like the pictures. The recipes are wonderfully executed. Naam really knew what she was doing when she wrote this book.
The first cookbook I've ever read cover to cover!.......2006-05-12
I am always interested in a good, new cookbook - the more pictures the better! (I want to know what the food should look like after I prepare it). After receiving Lemongrass & Limes in the mail I read it cover to cover. It was so interesting to me to read all of the little tidbits about Thailand and Naam's life that I didn't want to put it down. The book is very colorful and full of wonderful pictures! Even without trying any of the recipes yet I am pleased with it!
Book Description
Thai cuisine offers some of the most complex and delicious flavors to be found in the world of food. Often, however, with its myriad of seemingly exotic ingredients and methods, it is impossible to replicate in your kitchen. But take heart! New Thai Cuisine shows you how the wonderful tastes of Thailand can be prepared in your own home. Chef Nathan Hyam has studied Thai cuisine for over a decade and has mastered the art of Thai cooking for Western kitchens. With practical tips on how to substitute ingredients to adjust to your palate and how to master Thai cooking techniques, you'll soon find yourself on an exotic journey of the tastebuds.
Customer Reviews:
Simple and quick recipes.......2001-12-14
Very good book for those of us who can't (or don't want to have to) plan ahead and who want recipes that are quick to prepare.
The recipes I have tried so far have been well-explained and set out, the instructions easy to follow, the ingredients readily available and mostly with familiar English names.
Not too many ingredients reference other recipes - it always annoys me when I pick a seemingly quick and simple recipe which requires to a sauce that refers to a soup that refers to....etc.
This book does that very little.
...and the results tasted good too!
Customer Reviews:
Best Thai Cookbook.......2003-05-19
I have 4 thai cookbook, but I use mostly this one. The recepies are foolproof and simple to follow. I like so much this book that I bought copies for family and friends.
Wonderful cookbook!!!!!.......2003-04-07
If you love eating at Thai restaurants, you'll love this book. I had several Thai cookbooks before I purchased this one, and I had to experiment, cobble recipes together, and experiment again to get dishes even remotely close to what I wanted. And I wanted basics I found at Thai restaurants, like cucumber salad, satey, padd thai (Thai fried noodles), Tom Kha (chicken and coconut soup), panaeng curry, etc. Then I found The Elegant Taste of Thailand, which had most of my favorite dishes, all easily explained, and cooked the way I was used to eating them -- Cha Am cuisine seems to be the style cooked in most American Thai restaurants.
Yes, I'd love to see a better index (why give the titles in Thai and the index in English?) and some ingredients need better explanations (go to your local Asian market and ask a few questions), but overall, this is the very best Thai cookbook around.
If you love to eat Thai, and you love to cook, you'll love this cookbook. It's easy, got most of your favorite dishes, and they're prepared the way you're used to eating them.
Bon appetit!
Very Good Thai cookbook, One of the Best.......2002-10-19
I have a copy of 1995 printing of this book. I grew up in Thailand and have tried many popular Thai dishes. This book covers most of the popular dishes. It's got clear photo and step-by-step instruction for every single dish. The dishes taste exactly like the ones from restaurants in Thailand. I'm very happy with this book.
It's very authentic........2001-09-21
If you're Thais and live abroad. This is a good reference for authentic Thai cooking.
Narrow focus, limited value.......2000-08-07
A narrowly focused book with little to add to most run of the mill Thai cookery books. There are better texts on the market and I am afraid that I found this unchallenging and really a waste of money. My advice - if you are a keen Thai cook then look elsewhere.
Book Description
Food stalls are an essential part of Thai life and can be found on nearly every city street, bustling market or railway platform across the country. Most Thai's eat at open air specialist food stalls at least once a day, simply because they provide the freshest, most authentic and tasty Thai cooking there is. This book introduces key street dishes from across Thailand that are simple and easy to prepare at home. Recipes originate from every area of this beautiful country, providing a balanced mix of meat, seafood, vegetarian and sweet dishes. In addition the 'before you begin' section, introducing ingredients and cooking techniques, provides all you need to take up your wok with confidence.
Customer Reviews:
Great book!.......2007-09-22
I've never been to Thailand but feel as though I have. The descriptions of Thai culture and communities is wonderful. Very vivid in my opinion. The photography is excellent as well. I haven't yet tried the recipes (a procrasinator) but they look as if they will be very pleasing. I'm really looking forward to trying out the Dim Sum recipe.
In all I'd say this is a top-notch book and can wholeheartedly recommend it. Passport not needed!
best Thai enthusiasts cookbook.......2007-03-15
What a remarkable book! There is as much space devoted to conveying Thai culture and food history, as there is recipes... complete with both genuine snapshots of Thailand eateries, as well as gorgeous pictures of finished products.
Book offers a nice selection of ingredient introductory material, history, cultural snippets, and cooking tips. Recipes are easy and unfussy, but not geared toward novice cooks (i.e., directions include "Fry until golden brown," doesn't tell you over what heat).
If you want a taste of Thailand cuisine, this is the book to get! Real, everyday dishes that are simple to prep.
The Real Deal.......2006-01-19
I bought this for my husband, an inspired cook, after returning from a year of living in Bangkok where we ate wonderful street food every day. We have one of Vatch's older cookbooks and turn to it again and again when we want to make Thai food that tastes like real Thai food and not the overly saucey, overly sweet stuff that is sold in most Thai restaurants in the U.S. This cookbook has been great! We've already made a number of the dishes, including kao mon gai (chicken and rice) and guawaydiow (street noodles). The flavors are authentic and Vatch gives a wonderful sense of what it is like to be there. This book is particularly good for those that miss the regular, everyday, and oh so delicious food that rarely appears in standard Thai cookbooks, but that is regular lunch or on the go fare in Thailand. Highly recommended.
Amazon.com
If you've already been to Thailand, you may doubt that any book, even a Lonely Planet guide, could do justice to the bounty of wonderful food to be found there. With recipes for favorite dishes, mouthwatering photos, and excellent commentary, World Food Thailand will make a believer out of you. You'll learn basic phrases (for instance, if you want something hot and spicy, simply say: "châwp phèt"), the names of every delicious edible item seen at the market, and how to read menus. It's a great tool for preparing for a trip--with hints on what dishes not to miss in each region, from Muslim Curry in the south to Tôm Khaà Kài in Bangkok to Burmese-style curry in the north, as well as cultural pointers to help you avoid social gaffes. World Food Thailand also reflects the cultural and ethnic infusions that have added to Thai cuisine over that centuries, ranging from Chinese, Laotian, Malaysian, and even New World ingredients. Can you imagine Thai food without chilies and peanuts? Even if the only journey this book inspires is one to the grocery store, you'll be entering an exciting new era in your kitchen. --Jhana Bach
Book Description
From pulse-pounding Bangkok to tranquil villages moored along the Mekong River, Thai cuisine is as rich and diverse as the culture it sustains. This unique culinary guide takes you to the heart of the kingdom's food culture. Here you will discover what Thais mean by im jai (full heart), and expression that fuses culinary satisfaction with contentment in life.
- the essential guide to the culture of food & drink in Thailand
- an exploration of the regional influences that make up Thai cuisine
- descriptions of utensils required for authentic Thai cooking
- the definitive culinary dictionary, a quick-reference glossary and useful phrases for every food & drink occasion
- tantalising photography & recipes
Customer Reviews:
More than a Cookbook.......2002-01-31
I bought this book thinking it was just a cookbook, and was surprised to find much more. Eating is an essential part of life in Thailand, and Joe Cummings gives deep insight into Thai culture -- specifically how "being Thai" comes out in the preparation and enjoyment of food.
If you're buying the LP guide to Thailand and are going there for the first time, also buy this book. You'll get a much more in depth description of the Thai way of life, as well manners & etiquette for a foreigner. And you'll want the recipes when you return!!
Read, Learn, Eat, and Enjoy.......2002-01-30
You will enjoy & learn a lot from this book. One of the most pleasurable experiences I've ever had in Thailand is eating the food. There is such a wide variety food you can eat in Thailand. As you begin to fall in love with this cuisine, you will want to eat new and more varied dishes. Ordering can be challenging as you evolve into more advanced Thai foods. Yes, you can point and gesture, but if you want to more fully enjoy the culinary delights of real Thai food, you need to know what it's called, and say how you want it cooked or mixed to your spice preferences. There is a lot of important etiquette tips, that will help you if you're invited to eat in a home of a family in a village, or with associates in the city. The regional, colloquial, and relevant slang is included. This means, the author has been there and done it, having lived in Thailand for for the most of 25 years, along with superb homework & research. The photographer, Jerry Alexander helps the reader identify visually with some of the foods that are described. The dictionary at the end included many useful phrases in addition to the food vocabulary. One error though, is that the letter "G" in Thai is listed as a "K" which is only the case when it is a stop final, at the end of a word, or syllable cluster. Read, learn, eat, and enjoy.
Essential reading for Thai food lovers.......2001-06-25
The Lonely Planet Guides are justly regarded as bibles by backpackers the world over. They are exhaustively researched and very reliable. I backpacked through Thailand last year and relied heavily on Joe Cummings brilliant LP guide for advice, inspiration and tips on what to eat. When I heard that Joe Cummings had written the LP World Food Guide to Thailand I knew it would be as meticulously researched and filled with the same infectious enthusiasm as his guide to the country itself. I was not disappointed. Though this is not the only Thai cookbook you will ever need - there are only twenty or so recipes - the book rightly sets Thai cuisine in its rich context, building the case that Thai food - real Thai food - is one of the world's most exciting cuisines. The story of Thai food - it's distinctive ingredients, the way it is eaten by Thais, the many regional variations, how to shop for Thai ingredients, street food, etc - is studded with relevant recipes made all the more appealing by what you have just learned. Buy it - you won't be disappointed.
Food the necesity of life.......2001-06-10
I went out on a limb and picked this little treasure up with out even looking at any of the recipies. Glad I did. I spent years as a cook and found that most ethnic dishes are a product of the environment and what the people have at their disposal. And that most methods of cooking are the same with just different spices. These cook books have picked up on that and give you the basics. Every Thai Grandma has her own special recipie for curry but the core recipies are all here. Along with, and this is why I'm so impressed with these books, a history of the culture and it's evolution, common customes at the dinner table, how to shop in the markets, what to order when and where, a great map of the country specifying each regions specialties and (these guy's are great) a little dictionary of the Thai language and their pronunciations. These books would not only make a great gift but a perfect addition to a collection of cook books. I only wanted to buy one Thai cook book and I'm glad I found this one first. It's got evey thing you need to learn and creat great Thai food.
A Bestseller on Thai Food.......2000-04-14
I thought I was an expert on Thai food as I have been living in Thailand for 6 years. However, Joe's easy to read book taught me many a new thing. This is not your average cook book. It is really a cross between a travel guide and a recipe book with a sprinkling of cultural information. I would say that it is the definitive book on eating Thai food - whether that be in Thailand or abroad. Highly recommended for anyone who has visited Thailand and has fallen in love with the food or the armchair traveler who is eating Thai food at home.
Book Description
Natacha Du Pont De Bie is no ordinary tourist. She'll trek for hours or even days in search of a good lunch. Ant Egg Soup is the result of her adventures in Laos, the stories of the people she met, the places she visited and, of course, the amazing food she tasted. Drinking raw turkey blood with herbs in a tribal village, cooking Paradise chicken in a little guest house by the Kung Si waterfalls, and sampling fried cricket during the Festival of the Golden Stupa are just a few examples. Funny and refreshing, with recipes and lines drawings, Ant Egg Soup will awaken the senses while redefining the art of travelling and eating abroad.
Customer Reviews:
You'll be able to taste the laap..........2005-11-02
This is a beautiful book about Laos, its people, and their customs. The descriptions of the food are spot-on and the recipes are a great bonus. As a transplanted Lao-American trying to recreate flavors of my past, this was quite a gem of a find. If you have any interest in Southeast Asian culture or tourism, you definitely must read this. The parts about Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars will have you googling airfare to Laos in no time.
above average travel book.......2005-09-11
Refreshing (literally) travel book in which the author wanders around Laos as a 'food tourist' learning and sharing recipes en route.
a terrific read.......2004-08-04
From the moment she lands in Laos and asks a customs official for the most authentic place to eat in town I was hooked on the author's cultural odyssey into the country's gastronomic soul. It's beautifully written and I found it a brave, generous book, siffused with a passion for exotic cuisine and a genuine affection for the people she encounters. Her own illustrations and a glut of tasty recipes nestle with quixotic travellers' tales and stimulating insights into the history, politics and customs of a country that is little known to the West. There are also some apposite reflections on tourism and international development.Complex and, naturally, hunger inducing. I loved it.
Customer Reviews:
shocker.......2004-06-14
This book is a shocker. Don't waste your money. Save it up and buy David Thompson's excellent Thai Food, and the recent Quick and Easy Thai.
not that great.......2003-07-28
As cookbooks go, this series is lackluster. The photography seems to have a yellowish cast - and the food does not look very appetizing. The recipes are complicated and the writing is dry. I had purchased quite a few titles in this series and sent them all back.
One of the best of the "Food of" series........2003-03-30
I started with the Food of Asia, which I think is excellent. I decided to check into some specific cuisines, such as Thailand, of the seven cuisines that are presented in the Food of Asia. I am a little torn about many of the other cuisines, but not for Thailand.
The individual books in the "Food of" series by Periplus have extensive introductions. There are not as many recipes as I had hoped for. The ingredients list, along with the accompanying commentaries, are about the same, with an equivalent number of photos, as the Food of Asia. The Food of Asia contains many of the recipes, however, some do not have a photo.
The variety of main ingredients here is quite good, including chicken, duck, fish, beef, pork, all the shellfish, a couple of specific vegetables such as kale and green beans that go with a meat, and a general vegatable stir-fry that can be used with any vegetable.
The ingredients list is thourough, and there is little need for substitutions or omissions. Also, many of the spice pastes can easily be purchased pre-mixed. Some of the ingredients are obtainable primarily online, but unlike many of the other cuisines in the "Food of" series, Thai and Indian online stores are plenty.
In the case of "Food of Thailand", I think it is definitely worth the purchase if you really like Thai food, rather than my general suggestion that "Food of Asia" is the place to start. "Food of Asia" contains many of the recipes that are in "Food of Thailand", but the extra ones in "Food of Thailand" are worth purchasing this cuisine separately.
Hope this helps.
Tasty Thai Tome.......2001-03-03
A book that is both lovely and practical, with a mouth-watering selection of do-able recipes, 64 in all. It includes brief chapters on the history of the food, regional cooking, palace cuisine, and more; and an informative chapter on Thai ingredients describes 48 exotic ingredients, some with photos, from 'agar-agar' to 'water spinach'. The recipe directions are concise and clearly written. I like the fact that the recipes are not overly complicated and the number of ingredients called for in most of the recipes is fairly small. Many of the recipes are simple and in my opinion authentic and non-westernized. One thing they do not tell you is how spicy the resulting dish will be. "Red Chicken Curry with Bamboo Shoots" and "Pumpking Custard" are my favorites. Last but not least, if you are like me and love the visuals, sumptuous color photos abound, with exquisitely presented food in beautiful (table) settings, some with fascinating antiques or objets-d'art.
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Recommended Books
- The New CFO Financial Leadership Manual
- Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America's Eagle Scouts
- Chapel of Extreme Experience: A Short History of Stroboscopic Light and the Dream Machine
- History: Fiction or Science
- Inside the Titanic
- Metamorphoses
- Just before Darwin: Robert Chambers and Vestiges
- Enneagram Personality Portraits, Enhancing Professional Relationships, Inventory and Profile
- DRIVING DIGITAL - MICROSOFT AND ITS CUSTOMERS SPEAK ABOUT THRIVING IN THE E-BUSINESS ERA
- Electrifyng the Piedmont Carolinas: The Duke Power Company, 1904-1997
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Real Thai: The Best of Thailand's Regional Cooking
Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia
Thailand: The Beautiful Cookbook
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors
The Chinese Kitchen: Recipes, Techniques, Ingredients, History, and Memories from America's Leading Authority on Chinese Cooking
