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