Thai

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Further Reading:

Hafner, James A., et al. “Thailand.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 13 Sept. 2017, www.britannica.com/place/Thailand.

  • Encyclopædia Britannica’s article for Thailand is, in my opinion, the most thorough and most accessible general-knowledge resource for Thailand available on the internet, as Wikipedia’s page is riddled with citation problems.

Wongyannava, Thanes. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: ‘Eastern Spaghetti’ in Thailand.” JSTOR, Nov. 2009.

  • A fascinating look at the introduction of Italian food into Thai culture. The author delves into the history of Thailand’s “Italmania,” the rise to dominance of Italian food in Thailand, and the thorough appropriation and modification of Italian foods to fit the tastes of local Thais.

Fuller, Thomas. “You Call This Thai Food? The Robotic Taster Will Be the Judge.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/world/asia/bad-thai-food-enter-a-robot-taster.html.

  • New York Times’ report on the Thai Delicious Project. The project, funded by the Thai government, seeks to standardize Thai food to protect the national cuisine’s authenticity by designing a robot that will taste-test Thai dishes.

Kasper, Lynne. “Chef Andy Ricker explains the cuisine of Thailand’s 4 regions | The Splendid Table.” The Splendid Table.Web. 9 Dec 2017. <http://www.splendidtable.org/story/chef-andy-ricker-explains-the-cuisine-of-thailands-4-regions>.

  • Famed Chef Andy Ricker explains the four regional cuisines of Thailand. Each of the four regions differs significantly in climate and culture, and so their cuisines differ significantly as well. Andy Ricker’s Thai restaurant Pok Pok received Michelin stars in 2015, and so it is reasonable to consider him an expert.

 

Recipes Resources:

“Thai Food and Thailand Travel.” ThaiTable, www.thaitable.com/

  • Thaitable.com is my go-to website for Thai recipes, as it offers a wide variety of authentic dishes. If you are looking for an aesthetically-pleasing food blog with mouth-watering descriptions, look elsewhere. If you are frustrated at having to scroll through six pages of ramblings and amateur photography and are looking for Thai recipes written in a simple, no-frills, easy-to-follow style, this is the website for you.

McDermott, Nancy. Quick & Easy Thai: 70 Everyday Recipes

  • Available for a steal at $3 for the Kindle edition, this delivers exactly what is promised on the box: 70 quick, simple Thai recipes. Written simply and accesibly, and accompanied by lovely photography.

 

Television:

“Parts Unknown – Thailand.” Season 3, episode 8, CNN, 1 June 2014.

  • Anthony Bourdain joins famed Chef Andy Ricker for a tour of Chiang Mai province in Northern Thailand. Together, they enjoy the many cultural and culinary delights the region has to offer, including street food, a visit to a ladyboy cabaret, and frightening quantities of rice whiskey. Also check out Season 5, episode 16 of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, where he spends time in Bangkok, Phuket, and visits Muay Thai fights.

The Effects of a Global Culinary Culture on Thai Cuisine

Thai cuisine has become a rockstar of culinary world. Thai flavors have spread to nearly every corner of the globe over the past half-century and have grown widely-beloved the world over. This year CNN held an international poll asking readers for their fifty favorite foods, and six of the fifty chosen dishes originated from Thailand, more than any other single country (Cheung). In 2010, Bangkok was listed as the third most popular urban tourist destination in the world, beaten out only by London and New York City (Brenmer). In the World Tourism Organization’s 2013 rankings, the nation of Thailand was ranked the tenth top tourist destination in the world, attracting 26.5 million international visitors, and by 2016 that number had risen to 32.5 million (UNWTO). Thai restaurants and chefs, both local and international, regularly win international culinary awards, such as American chef Andy Ricker’s restaurant Pok Pok receiving Michelin stars in 2015 (Adamczyk). Despite the immense economic and cultural pressures that such thriving culinary tourism and international attention bring to an underdeveloped country, Thai cuisine has remained remarkably resistant to change; this resistance is a function both of the singular tastes of the local Thai population and of a conscious effort to retain the “authenticity” of Thai dishes. Read More