Bangkok Thailand - Gastronomy - The Thai gastronomic know how

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.Gastronomy

Beyond their eternal smile, Thais have another quality. Like other Asian societies, the people of Siam have a natural ability to produce choice cuisine.

A roasted pig's head on a butcher's stall in Chatu Chak market extends a smile to its future buyer.

Simple meals and fine dining

Whatever your means, it's perfectly possible to taste all these carefully prepared delicacies. The street canteens know how to prepare their dishes in the best of Thai tradition as well as any fine kitchen in the kingdom. The difference for the clientele is in the comfort, the hygiene and the luxury that's on offer. The bill at the end of the meal is also a matter of taste.

.A gastronomic know how

>> There aren't just temples, beautiful beaches, pretty girls and smiling people in Thailand, there's also the gastronomy and the seasoned traveller will tell you that the fine Thai cuisine is well worth the detour.

The art of Thai cooking is based on simple principles but it is vast, sumptuous and can be elaborate - in any case, its possibilities are endless. The immense menus in the local restaurants bare witness to this.

Of course many dishes are accompanied by the inevitable Thai rice, which can come in two forms - the classic long grain rice or as rice noodles (khoueitiao). With the latter, however, there are, like a lot of other foods, a lot of different ways to cook them. Asians have a reputation for cooking 'light' by boiling ingredients for example like vegetable soups, chicken, pork or beef consommé, or by steaming food. They do use oil as well though as with chicken and other deep-fried nuggets and a drop of oil (which they keep a secret) to sauté food in their famous woks.

As well as the classic meats (chicken, pork, beef) accompanied by various vegetables or grains, there are also many kinds of fish (eg catfish) and seafood (lobster, crab, oysters), all served with different kinds of sauces (chilli, fish, oyster, amongst others).

The list wouldn't be complete if we didn't mention the beautiful presentation of all these dishes and of course the spices (chilli, coriander, curry, pepper...) omnipresent in all Thai menus but not necessarily in every dish. Connoisseurs will definitely appreciate the local tropical fruits, which make up amazing desserts. (/LA)