Thai food incorporates all five tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and spicy and is influenced by many of it's south east Asian neighbours, yet it is difficult to define, making it a highly unique cuisine.Thailand was on the trail of East to West sea routes which resulted in a fusion of cultures and taste to be infused with Persian and Arabian influences and developing into what we see as traditional Thai dishes.
Originally, between the 6th and 13th centuries, the migrant"Tai" people, as they were known, slowly moved through China and settled in Thailand, Laos, the Shan States of Upper Burma, and northwest Vietnam. They took with them the Chinese cooking practices, such as Szechwan cooking techniques and dishes and adapted them to the diverse geographical terrains of the Thai peninsula.
Green curry is one of Thailands most popular curry dishes and is loved throughout the world. The mouth watering combinations of subtle and extreme taste reactions is represented by the use of fresh chillies, crunchy cooked vegetables and a variety of ingredients which make up the curry paste. This includes coconut milk, green curry paste, eggplant, sugar, nam pla (fish salt), kaffir lime leaves, thai basil and galengal.
Kermit eggplant, or Thai eggplant is an essential vegetable for red and green curries and is readily available at asian grocery stores. It is about the size of a golf ball and usually quartered and added to the curry sauce, where it then takes on all the flavour. Although it is of the eggplant family, it is difficult to substitute and is uniquely thai.
Thailand has long enjoyed foreign trade and in the 17th century the Portuguese introduced sweets to King Nari's court. Curry, typically a savoury stew type dish with both fresh and dried ingredients, was bought in by Indian Buddhist monks. In the 18th century a feast took place to honor King Rama I, culminating in the introduction of Muslim cuisine. Masaman curry and yellow curry are directly attributed to this and has a more obvious link with India as the spices that make up the paste are essentially dried rather than fresh.
