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The Kingdom of Thailand (Prathet Thai, or “Land of the Free) shares a peninsula with Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. It is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been occupied by any foreign country, including the European nations, except in war. Absolute monarchy held the reigns of power in Thailand until 1932, when a constitutional monarchy was established. Since then, the government was run either by the military or the civilian government (is it the military today?); but the institution of monarchy has always been respected and idolized by the Thai people.
Food reveals a great deal about a country and in Thailand it has been described as “a palimpsest of its political history, its trade, and its geography. Thailand sits between the cultural and political powers of India and China and its food is clearly influenced by both. Yet Thailand’s food, like her people, has maintained its own distinct identity.”
Thai people divide their cuisine into four major regions— the North, Northeast, South, and Central cuisine. Rice is the staple component of Thai cuisine and their scientists, once upon a time, came to the Philippines to study agriculture in U.P. Los Baños. They went home, planted rice and since then, the Philippines has been importing rice from Thailand. Isn’t that great? Even our medical doctors go to nursing schools. Pastilan, where are you going, my beloved country?
Tourists travel to Thailand via Bangkok and then proceed to resorts like Pattaya or Phuket and Central cuisine dominates the region. This is considered as classic Thai cuisine and it tends to be richly flavored - a blend of hot, sour, savory and specially sweetness.
In the North, sour and bitter taste dominates with tamarind and pickled bamboo providing the sharp tang. Sticky or glutinous rice is also preferred in rural North and Northeastern due to the strong influence of Laos’ culture. The latter area is also known as Isan and their cuisine uses a lot of fresh herbs, preserved sauces and fermented fish. Two dishes are popular: gai yang (barbecued chicken served with a tamarind chili sauce) and somtam (shredded green papaya with lemon juice, fish sauce, tamarind, sugar, tiny crabs and chillies). If you love chilies, this is the cuisine to patronize.
In the south, with access to the sea, seafood plays a major role and the culinary influences of Malay combined with a large Chinese population have produced a cuisine that is unique and very tasty. Further south, Muslim communities dominate and chilies na pud in all kinds of curries.
The presence of royalty greatly contributes to the sophistication of any country’s cuisine. And in Thailand, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadaj (ascended to the throne on June 9, 1946) has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest-reigning monarch.
Your favorite food columnist, experiencing some form of unexplained poverty, cannot travel to Thailand. So, I attended na lang the Thai Food Festival at the Café Marco, Marco Polo Plaza (phone 253-1111). Lunch was prepared by guest Chef Raki Urbina, Corporate Chef of the Lemon Grass and the Café Laguna Group of Companies.
We had a Cold Entrée Pomelo Salad (Yam Som Oo) and this was one of the dishes in my wish list in a previous article (Songkran) written about a year ago. A pomelo always triggers food memories to a group of trees planted in our ancestral dwelling in Asturias, Cebu, and one of the very best I ever tasted. Unfortunately, years of neglect because of the thinking that such trees can take care of themselves and trees last forever, the fruits lost it juiciness and sweetness and the trees themselves finally rested in peace.
The soup was Thai Sour and Spicy Soup with Prawn (Tom Yam Goong), very similar to our sinigang (Luzon version). Main entrée was the Duck Roast in Red Curry & Rambotan served with Pineapple Rice. Very delicious! We then had a sorbet, the Kafir Lime Sorbet in Lime Cups before the main entrée, a Hot Entrée Pad Thai and Steamed Pogapo in Banana Boats. Completing this Thai Culinary adventure were the two desserts, Mango Sticky Rice and the Tako Haew (Rice Pudding with Water Chestnut Filling).
If you want to eat these Thai specialties, my apologies to my beloved loyal followers because the Thai Food Festival at the Café Marco, Marco Polo Plaza is over! I have accepted too many invitations these past few weeks and my appearance in this newspaper is once weekly and I have to write about the food events in chronological order.
Drink na lang Singha Lager Beer (brewed in Thailand since 1933) and imagine being served the Chor Ladda (dumplings with minced pork and prawn) colored blue from the juices of a flower called anchuan). Perhaps, same period, next year, the next Guest Thai Chef of Marco Polo Plaza can cook this exotic dish.
