What do you think?
Rate this book
Bangkok Street Food: Cooking & Traveling in Thailand
The definitive guide to cooking and traveling in Thailand, featuring full of tips on local customs and eating habits.
207 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
28 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 11, 2012
What you might consider to be realistic Thai food - food that you can find on the streets when visiting Thailand - can be significantly different than the "Thai Food" you get at home from a local restaurant or supermarket. Similar, perhaps but maybe not really the same.
It is always depressing to see tourists neglecting local dishes when they are visiting from what clearly is a country with a totally different food culture, such as Americans visiting China or English people visiting India. It is natural to seek solace in what you know, but sadly too many will stick to the known chain takeaway foods, a culturally-sterile international style from many Westernised tourist hotels or maybe, if they are daring, what looks nearest to what they might have had at home.
This book is a different beast. It is both a guide to authentic food that you can find in Thailand (but not WHERE to find it) and it gives you a means to replicate the self-same food at home, whether before or after a holiday (or even during, if you are "self catering"). A deceptively small, firm little book this really does pack in the information without it feeling a burden or hassle to read.
Everything is intwined together. Introductory text and recipes, cultural sensitivities and social commentary, recipes and further exploration. If you don't have this book in front of you it could sound bewildering, a sort of neurotic book, but it isn't. It is quite a refreshing change to see a book organised in this manner as (the reviewer feels anyway) one is more likely to read and digest its contents.
By means of an example, if the section on grilled food is considered. Flanked by a hunger-inducing full colour image (and there are many of these, both small and large throughout) the section gives you the name both in English and Thai (written and phonetic). A great introduction to what grilled Thai food is, types of grilled foods, how grilled food can appear in a street environment and then a link to the various recipes as they appear later in the book. At various junctures, no doubt planned yet appearing with a casual ease to suggest they just turned up, are various stories or anecdotes from the author that do not feel like padding. Au contraire!
One great thing about this book is that the author acknowledges that unfamiliar dishes and a language barrier may stop even the more determined from trying and experiencing authentic food in the various streets and markets. However the author seeks to show ways of identifying the food, deciding if it is for you and then transacting business. This is not, however, a language guide per se with its "I would like three sausages, two apples and a small carton of orange juice please"-style that many tourist language guides teach. More subtle. More practical. No more Russian roulette wondering exactly what you have ordered either when it turns up! However there is a one page crib sheet for a few social language phrases should you so desire, and a small attempt can be positively received and appreciated at the same time.
This book does seem to break many "accepted norms" for a book of this genre, which in this case is no bad thing as it just feels like it works. The informal "formality of style", photography, mixed subject matters tied into a larger theme and the author's own style, tend to mark this book out for serious attention and consideration. We might even go as far as to suggest that you give this book some consideration even if you never plan to visit Thailand as you will still have amassed a great basic culinary and social education and have a lot of great recipes to attempt. Just remember that street food has that added "positive something" that you can never replicate at home. Oh if you could...
Dear Publisher. We want to see similar books in the same style for other countries. Now, how many countries are there again...?
Bangkok Street Food: Cooking and Traveling in Thailand, written by Tom Vandenberghe & Eva Verplaetse and published by Lannoo. ISBN 9789020987836, 208 pages. Typical price: GBP20. YYYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
It is always depressing to see tourists neglecting local dishes when they are visiting from what clearly is a country with a totally different food culture, such as Americans visiting China or English people visiting India. It is natural to seek solace in what you know, but sadly too many will stick to the known chain takeaway foods, a culturally-sterile international style from many Westernised tourist hotels or maybe, if they are daring, what looks nearest to what they might have had at home.
This book is a different beast. It is both a guide to authentic food that you can find in Thailand (but not WHERE to find it) and it gives you a means to replicate the self-same food at home, whether before or after a holiday (or even during, if you are "self catering"). A deceptively small, firm little book this really does pack in the information without it feeling a burden or hassle to read.
Everything is intwined together. Introductory text and recipes, cultural sensitivities and social commentary, recipes and further exploration. If you don't have this book in front of you it could sound bewildering, a sort of neurotic book, but it isn't. It is quite a refreshing change to see a book organised in this manner as (the reviewer feels anyway) one is more likely to read and digest its contents.
By means of an example, if the section on grilled food is considered. Flanked by a hunger-inducing full colour image (and there are many of these, both small and large throughout) the section gives you the name both in English and Thai (written and phonetic). A great introduction to what grilled Thai food is, types of grilled foods, how grilled food can appear in a street environment and then a link to the various recipes as they appear later in the book. At various junctures, no doubt planned yet appearing with a casual ease to suggest they just turned up, are various stories or anecdotes from the author that do not feel like padding. Au contraire!
One great thing about this book is that the author acknowledges that unfamiliar dishes and a language barrier may stop even the more determined from trying and experiencing authentic food in the various streets and markets. However the author seeks to show ways of identifying the food, deciding if it is for you and then transacting business. This is not, however, a language guide per se with its "I would like three sausages, two apples and a small carton of orange juice please"-style that many tourist language guides teach. More subtle. More practical. No more Russian roulette wondering exactly what you have ordered either when it turns up! However there is a one page crib sheet for a few social language phrases should you so desire, and a small attempt can be positively received and appreciated at the same time.
This book does seem to break many "accepted norms" for a book of this genre, which in this case is no bad thing as it just feels like it works. The informal "formality of style", photography, mixed subject matters tied into a larger theme and the author's own style, tend to mark this book out for serious attention and consideration. We might even go as far as to suggest that you give this book some consideration even if you never plan to visit Thailand as you will still have amassed a great basic culinary and social education and have a lot of great recipes to attempt. Just remember that street food has that added "positive something" that you can never replicate at home. Oh if you could...
Dear Publisher. We want to see similar books in the same style for other countries. Now, how many countries are there again...?
Bangkok Street Food: Cooking and Traveling in Thailand, written by Tom Vandenberghe & Eva Verplaetse and published by Lannoo. ISBN 9789020987836, 208 pages. Typical price: GBP20. YYYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
April 4, 2016
A neither fish or fowl book, it's not really a cookbook nor a travel guide, but it has pretty pictures and will make you crave Thai food.
Read
December 30, 2013Christmas present from Jack
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews