| Like other Southeast Asian countries, food | | | | tied together at the feet - a Thai rooster's |
| stalls are everywhere in the streets, markets | | | | plumage is extraordinarily beautiful; plastic |
| and festivals of Thailand, providing an | | | | tubs and buckets just full enough of murky |
| endless smorgasbord of aromas, color, sounds | | | | grey water to keep the fish, frogs or turtles |
| and flavors - food in Thailand is a feast for | | | | alive until a sale was clinched; mounds and |
| all of the senses.Picture a barbecue hotdog | | | | mounds of green and red, and purple and |
| stand outside a North American sports | | | | orange; the pleasant stench of durian and |
| stadium. Now, instead of hotdogs and buns | | | | jackfruit - pleasant because I was just so |
| sizzling on a grill, the food cart is laden | | | | thrilled and in awe of it all!I tried |
| with fresh bananas, which are slathered in | | | | deep-fried grasshoppers at a carnival in |
| batter and deep-fried to golden in a giant | | | | Kanchanaburi during a sound and light show of |
| wok, then scooped into a paper bag like a | | | | "The Bridge On The River Kwai" that ended |
| super-size order of extra thick homecut | | | | with a fabulous fireworks display recreating |
| french fries. That was my first breakfast in | | | | the Allied bombing campaign that destroyed |
| Thailand while I watched hundreds of | | | | the bridges of the Death Railway in 1945. I |
| beautifully costumed elephants play soccer | | | | tried a few tiny roasted wood worms offered |
| and tug-of-war in an annual Elephant Round-up | | | | by a very thin host in a northern hill-tribe |
| in Surin, in the far northeast of the | | | | village near the Myanmar border, and feared |
| country!The next 'hotdog stand' does have a | | | | that I was eating his family out of house and |
| grill, placed over a large bin of charcoal, | | | | home. I discovered countless traditional |
| with flattened chicken quarters sizzling on | | | | dishes I had never tasted and savoured |
| sticks that you eat like a popsicle; next | | | | authentic versions of some I had had in |
| door to that is yet another steel cart heaped | | | | Toronto's newly arrived Thai restaurants. As |
| with fresh, ripe pineapple, mango and papaya, | | | | often as I could, I watched their creation so |
| and sporting a huge mortar and pestle for | | | | that I could try to replicate them when I got |
| transforming the greener papayas into a | | | | home and got a kitchen again.Many people are |
| crunchy, sweet-sour-spicy salad with morsels | | | | alarmed at how daring I was with my stomach. |
| of shrimp or squid, chiles, garlic and | | | | During two years of round-the-world travel, |
| sugar.What makes Thai food so delicious and | | | | including six months in Southeast Asia, I |
| distinctive among other Southeast Asian food | | | | only had one tiny bout of queasiness over a |
| is this unique blending of fresh herbs, | | | | couple of days on Sumatra in Indonesia. In |
| spices and other ingredients that combine for | | | | fact, I had never eaten so well or felt so |
| a perfect balance of sweet, sour, salt and | | | | healthy in my life. I must have found the |
| heat that leaves your mouth feeling clean and | | | | perfect balance of common sense and |
| your tastebuds popping in the afterglow.Fresh | | | | adventure, or, some might argue, I was just |
| fruit, salads and even soups and noodles are | | | | lucky.I don't recommend trying everything, |
| ladled into plastic bags with a skewer, fork, | | | | and I do recommend a few common sense tips |
| spoon or straw for eating on the go or | | | | for sampling the full range of the food on |
| perched on a folding chair at a nearby metal | | | | offer throughout your travels: |
| card table in the market.Thai buses and | | | | |
| trains become moving picnic grounds, with | | | | at street and market stalls, do watch the |
| everyone chatting, eating and sharing the | | | | cooking for awhile to ensure that the |
| fare hawked through the vehicles' windows at | | | | ingredients are fresh and the food is being |
| roadside stops and terminals: Gai Yang, the | | | | cooked thoroughly; if you have any doubts, |
| flattened barbecue chicken on a stick, | | | | move on to the next vendor |
| skewered meat and fish balls and sticky rice | | | | |
| wrapped in banana leaves.Carnivals and | | | | choose vendors that have a good steady flow |
| markets feature huge woks at knee-height, | | | | of customers - not only is the food probably |
| bubbling with deep-fried critters of all | | | | very good, but the turnover means fresher |
| sorts, many unidentifiable. Are they | | | | food |
| grasshoppers? crickets? spiders? baby birds? | | | | |
| small frogs? -- my mouth and eyes were | | | | ask your guesthouse host and any other |
| constantly wide open in wonder and | | | | residents you meet for their favourite places |
| amazement!I spent an inordinate amount of | | | | to eat, and for recommendations on dishes to |
| time in the fresh produce and night food | | | | order |
| markets -- exuberantly fascinated and often | | | | |
| visibly discombobulated, to the great | | | | follow the other safe eating tips you find |
| amusement of the vendors and shoppers.After | | | | in travel guides, like recommendations about |
| traveling every aisle of food carts and woks | | | | water, ice cubes, and peeling fruit and |
| on my mission to find the freshest, most | | | | vegetablesOf course, you will find an endless |
| interesting and tasty-looking dishes, I was | | | | selection of sit-down restaurants where you |
| often met with earnestly shaking heads or | | | | can savour some of the more familiar Thai |
| "No, you don't want that - that's Thai food!" | | | | dishes now found in restaurants around the |
| by English speaking cooks or bystanders when | | | | world: green curry with chicken, red curry |
| I pointed and gestured and tried to ask for a | | | | with beef, pad Thai and other noodle dishes, |
| meal I knew I truly wanted. On my first such | | | | and wonderfully aromatic sweet basil |
| adventure, I did not know that the custom was | | | | dishes.Whether you plan to sample the |
| for the cook to show the ladle with the | | | | fabulous foods from the street vendors and |
| amount of the garlic and chili for you to | | | | markets or stick to what you know, learn a |
| indicate how much you wanted: thinking she | | | | few tips on deciphering a menu or asking for |
| was simply asking if I wanted those Thai | | | | a type of dish with a few Thai Food |
| ingredients, I nodded vigorously at the | | | | Terms.Many supermarkets are now carrying a |
| heaped display, and in it all went! Yes, it | | | | range of prepared sauces, curries and other |
| was Thai food, and I enjoyed every sizzling | | | | Asian products, but if you enjoy adventure |
| touch to my lips under the watchful, laughing | | | | and creativity in your own kitchen, many Thai |
| eyes of the vendors and bystanders who had | | | | recipes are fairly easy to create once you've |
| gathered.I spent as much time learning about, | | | | mastered a few essentials. Gai Yang, after |
| admiring and experiencing the food as I did | | | | all, is really just barbequed chicken with a |
| with major tourist attractions, often | | | | Thai twist! A good food reference guide or |
| spending hours strolling through streets and | | | | cookbook with a glossary of Asian ingredients |
| markets taking in the sights and smells and | | | | will help you gain that perfect balance of |
| sounds: quiet clucking rising up from a heap | | | | sour, sweet, salt and heat that is unique to |
| of vibrantly coloured roosters or chickens | | | | Thai cuisine. |