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