Thai cuisine
"[1] Traditional Thai cuisine loosely falls into four categories: tom (boiled dishes), yam (spicy salads), tam (pounded foods), and kaeng (curries).
[5] According to the book Mae Khrua Hua Pa (first published in 1908) by Lady Plian Bhaskarawongse, she found that Thai cuisine had a strong gastronomical cultural line from Sukhothai (1238–1448) through Ayuttthaya (1351–1767) and Thonburi period (1767–1782) vis-à-vis Siamese governmental officers' daily routines (such as royal cooking) and their related cousins.
[8] These dishes were said to have been brought to Thailand in the 17th century by Maria Guyomar de Pinha, a woman of mixed Japanese-Portuguese-Bengali ancestry who was born in Ayutthaya, and became the wife of Constantine Phaulkon, a Greek adviser to King Narai.
[9] During the Columbian Exchange, Portuguese and Spanish ships brought new foodstuffs from the Americas including tomatoes, corn, papaya, pea eggplants, pineapple, pumpkins, culantro, cashews, and peanuts.
Chopsticks were foreign utensils to most ethnic groups in Thailand with the exception of the Thai Chinese, and a few other cultures such as the Akha people, who are recent arrivals from Yunnan Province, China.
Common flavors in Thai food come from garlic, galangal, coriander/cilantro, lemongrass, shallots, pepper, kaffir lime leaves, shrimp paste, fish sauce, and chilies.
"The stream is rich in fish of excellent quality and flavour, such as is found in most of the great rivers of Asia; and is especially noted for its platoo, a kind of sardine, so abundant and cheap that it forms a common seasoning to the labourer's bowl of rice.
Aquaculture of species such as Nile tilapia, catfish, tiger prawns, and blood cockles, now generates a large portion of the seafood sold in, and exported from Thailand.
[34] Far removed from the nearest sea, from northern Thailand comes nam pu, a thick, black paste made by boiling mashed rice-paddy crabs for hours.
The sweet roasted chili paste called nam phrik phao is often used as an ingredient in tom yam or when frying meat or seafood, and it is also popular as a spicy "jam" on bread, or served as a dip with prawn crackers.
The characteristic flavor of kaffir lime leaves (bai makrut) appears in many Thai soups (e.g., the hot and sour tom yam) or curry from the southern and central areas of Thailand.
Kaffir lime leaves or rind is frequently combined with galangal (kha) and lemongrass (takhrai), either kept whole in simmered dishes or blended together with liberal amounts of chilies and other aromatics to make curry paste.
Northern Thai larb uses a very elaborate spice mix, called phrik lap, which includes ingredients such as cumin, cloves, long pepper, star anise, prickly ash seeds and cinnamon.
Banana leaves are often used as packaging for ready-made food or as steamer cups such as in ho mok pla, a spicy steamed pâté or soufflé made with fish and coconut milk.
In Thailand one can find papaya, jackfruit, mango, mangosteen, langsat, longan, pomelo, pineapple, rose apples, durian, Burmese grapes and other native fruits.
These temperate fruit grow especially well in the cooler, northern Thai highlands, where they were initially introduced as a replacement for the cultivation of opium, together with other crops such as cabbages, tea, and arabica coffee.
It is not permitted in watershed areas and other sensitive environment zones, and farmers must submit proof of use including the type of crops and the size of their farms when purchasing glyphosate.
Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, who chairs the NHSC, said the committee reached its decision after reviewing information provided by the Department of Agriculture and the Ministry of Public Health.
Beef (nuea), chicken (kai), pork (mu), duck (pet), tofu (taohu), fish (pla), prawns or shrimp (kung), crab (pu), shellfish (hoi), or egg (khai) can, for example, all be used as main ingredients for kaeng phet (red curry).
Many markets in Thailand sell deep-fried grasshoppers, crickets (ching-rit), bee larvae, silkworm (non mai), ant eggs (khai mot) and termites.
In the evenings, mobile street stalls, often only a scooter with a side car, drive by and temporarily set up shop outside bars in Thailand, selling kap klaem ("drinking food").
It is a common sight to see Thais carrying whole communal meals consisting of several dishes, cooked rice, sweets, and fruit, all neatly packaged in plastic bags and foam food containers, to be shared with colleagues at work or at home with friends and family.
The Thaksin administration (2001–2006) launched the "Kitchen of the World" campaign early in its tenure to promote Thai cuisine internationally, with a yearly budget of 500 million baht.
The point of the e-book: "In the view of the Export Promotion Department, Thai restaurants have a good business potential that can be developed to maintain a high level of international recognition.
[106] Three restaurants that specialize in Thai cuisine, but are owned by non-Thai chefs, have received Michelin stars: Culinary tours of Thailand have gained popularity in recent years.
[115] These recipes were featured at a gala dinner promoting "Authentic Thai Food for the World", held at the Plaza Athénée Hotel Bangkok on 24 August 2016 at which Thailand's Minister of Industry was the honored guest.
For tom yam, the spicy soup flavored with Kaffir lime leaves and coriander, researchers posted notices at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, requesting 120 tasters.
[112] Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat announced in 2018 that between 2020 and 2024, his ministry will investigate ways to preserve authentic Thai cuisine from the increasing influence of foreign dishes.
"Unique in its preparation with recipes handed down for generations, Thai culinary art needs better protection against foreign influences which are now changing the look and taste of certain local dishes," he warned.
The 2003 convention intends to protect the "uses, representations, expressions, knowledge and techniques that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals, recognised as an integral part of their cultural heritage".
