I'm sorry, did you say food?

One night I was out to dinner with my now thankfully departed former-former boss.   It was his goodbye party and he chose the restaurant.  The food was excellent and speaking with him I told him how delicious I thought it was.  He responded by saying it was one of about six places in Chiang Mai where you could find good food.  At the time I had only been living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for two weeks.  "Are you kidding?" I thought.  I wanted to vomit on his shoe.

Thailand is a nation obsessed with food.  Food is everywhere.  Before I arrived, my Thai teacher told me that if they raise the price of food staples in Thailand the response is wide spread social unrest.  This is a country that feeds itself and does a good job at it.  In Thai a greeting saying "Hello" is literally "Have you eaten?"  If you say no they will find you food.  Most Thais don't even cook.  There is a network of family run food stands on the sides of the roads that cater to everyone.  I don't think a "capitalist" American could begin to conceptualize the environment of free enterprise.  Most Thais will swing buy food carts on their way home from work and pick up their plastic bag of something just freshly cooked.  Same thing happens on their way to work.  Every morning I see cars pulling over and people collecting their breakfasts.  Sometimes they even buy a lottery ticket in the process.  My neighbor across the street has a live in maid.  Every morning she departs the house on her scooter only to return 10 minutes later with plastic bags attached to her handlebars.  

Thai Hill Tribe Fusion cooked with Green Tea Paste

If you eat in a restaurant food is always made to be beautiful.  It is almost like some kind of recognition that food is not just food, it is also art.  At times it is decorated with flowers and always has some kind of garnish.  My wife is obsessed with taking pictures of it.  Well, to be honest almost all Thais are equally obsessed.  Every time a dish arrives camera phones come out and the posing starts.  This can go on for ten minutes before anyone actually starts to consume what is in front of them.  It's not enough to just take a picture of the food, often it has to be set against the perfect background.  This can require it to be moved to an entirely different place as photographs are taken.  The perfect light must be obtained combined with an inviting natural background.

My wife being of Filipino descent came to the conclusion that Filipino food is quite ugly.  It looks more like something that came up from the stomach at an inopportune moment.  It doesn't taste bad, it just doesn't have the variance of color and texture that Thai cuisine has.  In America we don't even try.  If a burger is still together when you start eating it is considered a success.

Japanese Soba Thai Style

I wonder if anyone ever looks at their food photos a second time.  It seems like they are typically a momentary broadcast to the world.  A "look what I have!" and  "Don't you wish you were here?"

Thais love their food so much when they travel abroad they often become concerned that they will have nothing they can eat.  As a consequence they pack a supply of their own rations.   A friend of mine took a group of police officers to the US for training.  Upon their arrival in Washington, months worth of Tom Yum flavored ramen noodles passed through customs.  Dehydrated noodles are a far cry from real Thai food yet it shows the urgency and concern they had.  I understand this to a certain extent.  For my entire married life I have had a wife that mumbles to herself just about every place we go, “I wonder if they have rice?”  

Mango Sticky Rice Northern Style

There are many facets of the Thai dining experience that never cease to mystify the western mind.  Things like the toilet paper like tissues provided as napkins that can scarcely wipe a drop of water from your lip.  Or the never ending amazement of the waiter bringing an order you placed not five minutes before completely unable to remember who ordered what.  It took a re-focus and three years living here for me to start to comprehend.  Thais don’t understand why you would want to constantly wipe yourself with the same dirty napkin.  When you order food in Thailand it is typically for the table, not for a person.  

I confess that at times my desire for variation pulls me in different culinary directions.  I seek out food other than Thai or even Asian as a whole.  That said I fully recognize that Thais live with a food like few others.  While at times the spiciness can make me cry and my head start to sweat, there are few equals in the world of food.  Not many cuisines can match the colors, elegance and depth of flavor.  Complex arrays of spices interacting in a panoply of mouth watering sensations.  At this moment before me an array of delights is being assembled.  If only I had a camera I might pose for a picture.