If cuisine is about cooking style and food, then its features must be related to people, race, history, tradition, culture and science. In comparing cooking styles of the Thais (actually ‘Tais’ rather than ‘Thais’) and the Chinese more than two thousand years ago, both peoples shared the land of present day China but cooked differently.

The Chinese had already developed the rice steaming technique but the Tais were still boiling their rice. With evidence of rice-husk imprints on 5000-year-old pottery jars and rice seeds radio-carbon dated at 4000 years before Christ, both peoples slowly changed their habits of eating wild rice to cultivated rice of glutinous and non-glutinous varieties.

Tags: China,India,Malaysia,Thai Food,Thailand
Categories: Thailand
No Comments »

Boxing clever
Muay thai kick boxing is going global, while preserving its ancient roots. Movies and live matches are making the sport a ‘must-see’ spectacle, while ever more visitors study this beautiful blend of force, dance and devotion.

The colourful boxer’s shorts arrayed at souvenir stalls show what a national icon muay thai (Thai kick boxing) has become. Many visitors who wouldn’t ordinarily see a sporting event while on holiday - and might not be boxing fans at home - seek out a muay thai match for the rich experiences it offers. Every bout combines ancient ritual with celebrity presence, brute physicality with balletic grace, fierce competition with modest respect.

Tags: Bangkok,Muay Thai,Thai Boxing,Thailand
Categories: Thailand
1 Comment »

For a long time everyone thought Pattaya began and ended with the walking strip, which is nothing but one bar after the other jostling for space. But over the years this destination has been cleaning up its act and adding other attractions to its portfolio. Nestled along a picturesque bay on the East Coast of the Gulf of Thailand, Pattaya is roughly 170 kilometers southeast of Bangkok and worth a visit.

Tags: Koh Larn,Pattaya,Thailand,Walking Street
Categories: Pattaya
No Comments »

I uncover some really cool facts about chillies.

Surprisingly, chillies were not known in South-east Asia - home to many of the world’s hottest cuisines - until the New World was discovered. The Spanish introduced them to Europe in 1514, and the Portuguese introduced them to India and South-east Asia almost 100 years later.

Natives of Mexico, Brazil and Peru used to drink chocolate spiced with chili, and colored red with annatto (a food coloring derived from the lipstick tree) which made their mouths red and bloody-looking.

Tags: Brazil,Chili,Hot,India,Mexico,Peru,Spain,Tabasco,Thailand
Categories: Thailand
1 Comment »