It's Songkran: Happy Thai New Year!

This is the season of Thai New Year, or Songkran, and Himself and I went to festivals both this weekend and last, to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy some really good walking around food. As I said in a blog entry after my recent trip to Thailand, the Thai are big on snacks, so going to a Songkran festival means lots of opportunities for incredibly good munching.

Meat on a stick is wildly popular, just like it is at your average American festival and fair. We got (left to right) shrimp balls, Thai sausage, squid balls and chicken. These treats don't sit around under heat lamps for hours, growing funky as they wait for someone to buy them. They're fresh and hot when you get them--which sometimes means a little wait. But it's fun talking with others in line and finding out what they're ordering and what their favorites are. The Thai sausage is my favorite--and the rate at which it sells out tells me it must be everyone else's favorite, too.

Papaya salad is tricky stuff. After you've had enough hot food you think, "Mmm, papaya salad. That ought to cool off my burning mouth." And if you think that, you're wrong! Papaya salad will make you cry for your mama. It's really good, crisp and refreshing--made from unripe papaya--but it can be punishingly hot. Considering how hot and muggy it gets in Thailand (think New Orleans in August), it's all about natural air conditioning--eat hot food, sweat and cool off. That wedge of cabbage to the upper right helps you cope with the salad's heat.

 We sampled plenty of sweets, too. The deep yellow you see in everything is made of egg yolk, a component of many Thai desserts (don't tell your doctor!).

These tiny pancakes are filled with a paste made of pandan leaves, green tea and coconut, then rolled.

The longest line we saw was not for snacks or papaya salad--although, believe it or not, papaya salad has quite a devoted following--but for crates of mangoes. Those smaller, gold ones that we call champagne mangoes here in the States--and pay dearly for--are one of the basic varieties of mangoes in Thailand, and the one Thais seem to miss most, hence the long, patient line.

 It wasn't all about the food, though. We stopped by and visited our friends at the Thai Tourism Authority and made the ritual observance, pouring water over the Buddha to bring good luck and prosperity in the coming year.

They presented us with wrist garlands called puang malai. I got really spoiled receiving these garlands while in Thailand. They're lovely and fresh and incredibly fragrant, made of rose buds, jasmine, gardenias and crown flowers. So nice to have in the car, in your hotel room or hanging from your wrist.

The incense wafting from the temple and from various altars scattered about the festival reminded me of those boat trips up and down the Chao Phraya River which runs through the middle of Bangkok. While the river is quite wide, so abundant was the incense being burned in temples on either side--and so numerous were the temples--that we could smell it all the way out in the middle!

The beauty pageant brought out some of the loveliest women I've ever seen. I'd certainly hate to be a judge at this pageant--what an impossible job! The variety of dress and adornment was as dazzling as the women themselves. (Notice the Latin food market in the background--and Thai Town interlaces with Little Armenia, too. LA truly is an international city.)

Every time we see these performers at Thai celebrations around Los Angeles, their routines and costumery are increasingly outrageous--but a lot of fun. Check out those huge boots beneath the pink flounces! Trippy, really trippy!

 Even more peculiar to me was the Thai woman in street clothes who hopped up on stage and sang "In Them Ol' Cotton Fields Back Home." Having come from the cotton fields of the South (while not specifically from Louisiana, as the song relates), I experienced quite a disconnect hearing it performed in this setting.

One reason I wanted to go to this second festival was because I found out there would be vendors selling Thai plants, and I've wanted a kaffir lime tree for a really long time.

Himself got the honor of toting the tree to the car. He was just a wee bit perturbed that I chose that moment to stop him in front of the temple for a picture. What?! Why wouldn't he want to pose whilst holding a tree?! More on kaffir lime later. Himself cautions me against making these blog entries too long. I just get carried away...!

Sweet Dreams of Thai Cuisine

It's 3:14 a.m., and here I sit, typing. This is no way to conquer jet lag. But right now my body thinks it's 6:14 the coming night, and it is, at least it is in Thailand. I was awake at this hour the night before, too. And the night before that.

Jet lag is a bitch.

My minister sympathizes but reminds me: "Epiphanies come in the early morning hours. I think that is why monastics get up at 3 a.m. to pray." I'm sure she's onto something, but at this moment there's nothing more profound going through my head than how much I'd like to find a 24-hour Thai restaurant and have a big bowl of tom kha gai, a super-charged soup made of chicken and coconut milk. It's flavored with the Holy Trinity of Thai cuisine: lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. None of these items has an adequate substitute, and while there are plenty of Thai restaurants here in the Los Angeles area, unless the ingredients are really fresh, the soup pales in comparison to what you find in the land where it was created.

Bubbling and fragrant when it arrives at the table,
one pot of tom kha gai and the world is at the rights...

Ah, the glories of Thai cuisine--and the Thai spirit. A people who understand the value of a well turned out meal as a way to show warmth and hospitality are a fine people indeed. Note that I didn't say an expensive meal. Or fancy, although Thai presentation is some of the most glorious I've ever seen. Cooks think nothing of placing fresh orchids on about every dish they prepare!

These scallops were served on their shells, atop of tiny beds of rice noodles and smothered in a sauce that was rich and bold--and hot!

Thailand's food is amazing in its variety, flavor and freshness. I've certainly never had so much excellent seafood so well prepared, with such attention to the balance of the five flavors in every dish: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and spicy (hot).

This poor guy doesn't stand a chance--
we'll lay waste to him as soon as I lower down the camera...

Food is typically served family style, and people casually serve each other's plates whether they're asked to or not. It's possible to sit at table and discuss nothing but the food, which is a welcome relief from world news and the heat, which is what necessitates all those spicy dishes. It's nature's quite efficient way of cooling us.

A fixture at every meal is a tray of assorted fruits, all cut up and ready for nibbling.

Dessert in Thailand is typically an array of the freshest fruit you can imagine. When fruit is this sweet and good--and plentiful--it makes me want to forsake lesser forms of dessert. It serves a dual function of finishing off the meal with a light sweetness while aiding digestion. Smart.

More on all of this later. I have hundreds of photos to paw through and a notebook filled with scrawlings about my experiences and impressions. And sleep to recover. I must toddle back to bed now, before Himself stirs and, realizing I'm not there, comes in to check on me. And we both talk about Thai food until the sun comes up.

In the coming days I'll recall more of what I want to share about the food on this trip. Please indulge me any unfocused ramblings that I'd like to put down to jet lag but know could well be my enthusiasm for the subject matter. I was already a cheerleader for Thai food, but having visited the source for this amazing cuisine, I'm nothing short of giddy on the topic now.

Good night, sweet dreams and if you eat before I do, bon appetit!

***The obligatory disclaimer: I went to Thailand as a guest of Thai Tourism Authority. That said, I'm not interested in urging you to stay at particular hotels or to dine at particular establishments or to seek out specific amusements. But rather to enjoy the cuisine, whether you dine in Thailand or in a Thai restaurant in your hometown. And to take a crack at making Thai dishes yourself. There's much to love about a cuisine so varied and flavorful.