Showing 1 - 10 of 63
Spice of life
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 29/01/2012
» Cardamom is one of Thailand's most popular and widely-used spices. Scan the spice shelves at any big supermarket and you will find it in powdered form marketed under many brand names and imported from several countries. Buyers probably think that the companies that sell powdered cardamom obtain it from India or Indonesia and package it at home. But if you visit a spice shop or traditional pharmacy and ask for cardamom you will be presented with small, fragrant, spherical white pods containing black seeds. Many people also think that these all come from India or Indonesia.
Travelling Tastes
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 26/02/2012
» More than a century ago, many Thai civil servants travelled to study in the West, sent off to acquire knowledge that they could use in the country's development. When they returned home they brought the new methods, foreign languages and innovative approaches to administration and management that they had learned abroad. They also brought the knowledge they had gained of Western culture, including the delights of European food.
Fates in plates for traditional chefs
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 04/03/2012
» A chef's life is not an easy one. It means getting up and leaving the house early, getting everything ready in the kitchen, and working in front of a hot stove from 11am until about 2pm. Then follows another period of preparation in the kitchen before the cooking starts again at 5pm and continues until around 9pm.
China's culinary trail to Thailand
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 08/04/2012
» Fried favourites pad thai, hoy thawt and khanom pakkad are all Chinese dishes. Despite its name, pad thai is a Chinese invention, its moniker only signifying that it is different from the other fried noodle dishes created by Chinese cooks.
Culture served up daily at-markets
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 15/04/2012
» In Thailand, markets offer far more than just food and household items. Anyone intrigued by the country's language and culture, society and environment will find a lot to interest them in a market, as well as things that give insight into Thailand's economy, creative ingenuity, handicrafts and regional cuisines. In a way, a Thai fresh market can be seen as a rich, living reference library on all things Thai.
China soups up thai cuisine
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 10/06/2012
» The soup-like dishes called kaeng jued (bland soup) and khao tom (rice soup) are both Chinese dishes that have gradually established themselves deeply in Thai culinary culture. There are dishes of foreign origin that Thais have welcomed with open arms and that are now staples on tables here, while others have never quite made it. But these two Chinese dishes are among the success stories.
How sweet it was _ the tasty treasures time forgot
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 22/07/2012
» A particular dish can reveal much about the ways of eating and beliefs of the culture that created it. It can also show how certain non-native ingredients came to be accepted into local cuisine and the ways culinary traditions have changed over generations.
A beautiful work in progress
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 30/09/2012
» These days you often hear people wondering if Thai food is as good as it used to be. Has the quality of Thai cooking gone down? The answer is, no, it's no worse than it was in the past, just different.
Don't roll by Ratchaburi
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 11/11/2012
» Ratchaburi is a province that people pass through on their way to Cha-am or Hua Hin. When they take Phetkasem Road from Nakhon Pathom, they tend to just drive on without stopping there. Even those who go to Suan Phung district in Rachaburi province itself, with its valley setting, hotels and resorts, generally skip Muang district. The province and its capital city are also on the route to Kanchanaburi, although few travellers will bother to stop there. But those who do take the time to get acquainted with Ratchaburi will find that it has great charm, with a long list of interesting things to experience.
The sweet crop with a host of uses
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 27/01/2013
» When you see sugar in the market as the tan-coloured cakes called nam tan buek in Thai, or as nam tan peeb, the paste or liquid sold in containers, it is a type that comes from sugar palm or coconut trees. But if it is the white, granulated sugar known as nam tan sai, you will automatically recognise it as coming from sugar-cane. Most people will also probably know that Thailand is one of the major producers of cane sugar in Asia.