Thailand: The taste of traveling through the senses
Culture
Cooking Europe. Tilburg, 10th November 2022.
Traveling to Thailand is always one of those things that is enjoyed to the fullest. It is a country that leaves no one indifferent and has an incredible capacity to transform the senses.
The culture, the gastronomy and the people arouse emotions and transmit happiness. We have traveled to the ‘land of smiles’ to see what is being ‘cooked’ gastronomically speaking, let’s go!
Thai gastronomy is very varied and changes depending on the region where we are, for example in the north of the country the flavors are more intense and spicy than in the south, where sours and sweets predominate. The cuisine is based on all points of taste and they use them in a fantastic way, attributing to their recipes some fresh and powerful details on the palate.
Some of the ingredients that they can’t miss are rice, coconut milk, coriander, Thai basil and of course shrimp paste, which although it is an unknown product for most, in Thailand they use it for many dishes, both fish and meat and it is the base of most curries.
The freshness of the ingredients and the total elaboration of the recipes is essential in all the food and beverage concepts that we visit, it is a premise that can be found in the country and of which they should feel proud, since lately in Europe, it is being lost. Perhaps the lack of qualified personnel or the search for maximum profitability in European restaurants make preparing a product or recipe from scratch with basic ingredients something that needs to be improved.
The street food in Bangkok
Bangkok is probably one of the favorite destinations for many foodies, it is a city that impacts and has so many records, virtues and defects that it can surprise the traveler for better or worse. One of those gastronomic virtues is that it has something for everyone and it doesn’t matter what the taste of each person is.
Walking through Chinatown the noise is penetrating and the amount of people that can be seen on the horizon together with the lights and the colored signs, create in us a disconcerting happiness and uncertainty.
The food stalls are set up every day in the afternoon on both sides of the road and in the middle the noise of the cars, the Tuks Tuks and the people tasting old and original recipes, trying dishes that are so simple to prepare but with so many taste registers that here, you can only think about eating.
Chiang Mai, the development of sustainable and vegetarian f&b concepts
A wall that preserves some of its gates, impressive Buddhist temples and mountainous surroundings full of natural parks are the introduction to Chiang Mai. A city that is located in the north of Thailand and that breathes an extraordinary atmosphere, full of nuances and with some very interesting vegetarian and vegan culinary proposals. Here the norm is quality and a certain cosmopolitan air due in part to tourism and the number of nomad workers who spend seasons here.
Walking through the center we find a multitude of food and beverage concepts in which vegetable dishes and recipes predominate, mainly based on Thai cuisine but also with international touches. Its small streets with different cafes, restaurants, shops and markets; they always have something new to offer. The Buddhist temples appear on the sides every time we walk a few meters and create a very pleasant combination with the rest.
There will be few cities in the world that give so much importance to food, sustainable and plant-based products. This is surprising at first sight, but after a few days, the feeling is that gastronomy and spirituality constantly emerge in Chiang Mai.
Not everything is Thai cuisine, the importance and diversity of cultures
One of the reasons that moves the gastronomy and cuisine of each country is the culture of its people, their ability to transform the local recipes and maintain them over time. Spanish cuisine, for example, would be nothing without the Arab influence that Spain had in the past and we should be happy when we find places with such diversity.
People from many different countries live in Bangkok and you can see that in every market, in every street food stall or even walking through the different neighborhoods. Although it doesn’t happen only in Bangkok.
On a small island in southern Thailand with stunning beaches and living mainly from tourism, we have found an Indian family from Calcutta who run their own restaurant and prepare high-quality, authentic cuisine.
Being an island, fishing is very important and this is transmitted in this restaurant that prepares fish curries at their perfect cooking point. Here they cook in the traditional Indian oven a fantastic naan prepared at the moment and a very juicy taandori that they hang for hours on top of it.
We have probably seen good quality Indian restaurants in many places outside of India, but the ability of this restaurant to implement a food and beverage concept based on its roots, with a cuisine adapted to an island of fishing tradition, is one of the things that have caught our attention.
In resume, a journey for the senses, to understand different culinary proposals, to better understand the culture of another country and to help us develop original, surprising and sustainable food and beverage concepts at Cooking Europe.
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