Thailand remains one of the premier vacation destinations out of any other place in Asia. Because of its location off the southeastern part of the Asian continent, it has some of the most beautiful tropical landscapes in the world. From its pristine beaches to its golden temples and its cool, northern jungles, Thailand offers the traveler unspoiled expanses of wilderness and culture that are accessible and beautiful. Thailand is also known as “the land of smiles” because of the renowned friendliness of the people, but for anyone planning a vacation to Thailand, it is the food that is going to be the most appealing factor. Thai cuisine is famous the world over, and for the traveler, knowing a few things about what makes Thai cuisine so special can make a vacation to Thailand that much more pleasurable and memorable.
The key to understanding what makes Thai cuisine so unique is how it marries flavors. In Thai cuisine, there are four essential flavors: salty, sweet, sour, and pungent. The key to creating a successful Thai dish is how those flavors balance with one another. In Thai cooking, one flavor does not simply dominate a dish. A salty dish must be balanced with a sweet element, a sour element must be balanced by a pungent element, and so on. It is those harmonious balance of flavors that makes Thai cooking very unique, and there are an endless variety of combinations that Thai cooking employs to create its cuisine. For the Thai, a dish is not a proper dish unless it has that correct balance of flavors, and the Thai food that best represents this marriage of flavor is the curry.
Many people have the perception that much of Thai cooking is spicy, and while it is true that Thai people love chilies in their cooking almost more than any other style of asian cooking, many Thai dishes are surprising mild. There are even many styles of dishes that are quite savory in taste, perhaps more so than a westerner might be accustomed. Thai people also eat a a variety of different kinds of salads, although a Thai salad is not the same as a western salad. In a Thai salad, vegetables and meats are mixed freely, and fruits like shredded papaya are often used as vegetables.
Thai cuisine is very much a regional cuisine. Historically, Thai cooking is very much a marriage of Indian and Chinese influences. But since Thailand is so rich and abundant with food sources, those local sources have been blended into a uniquely Thai style. Each region has its own particular food sources that will be reflected in the cuisine. For instance, places like Phuket in the south will have a cuisine that is more abundant in seafood, and the northern jungles will have dishes that use more pork. Interestingly, the northern dishes tend to be much spicier than those in the south. Even the cities have their own unique styles of cooking. In cities like Bangkok, street vendors prepare dishes that are not found anywhere else in the country. Anyone planning a vacation to Thailand will have an abundance of new food to experience.
– Tami Therone blogs for www.thailandholidays.net where you can find out more about what you can do in in the gulf of Thailand.
