Vatch's Thai Street Food Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this for my husband, an inspired cook, after returning from a year of living in Bangkok where we ate wonderful street food every day. We have one of Vatch's older cookbooks and turn to it again and again when we want to make Thai food that tastes like real Thai food and not the overly saucey, overly sweet stuff that is sold in most Thai restaurants in the U.S. This cookbook has been great! We've already made a number of the dishes, including kao mon gai (chicken and rice) and guawaydiow (street noodles). The flavors are authentic and Vatch gives a wonderful sense of what it is like to be there. This book is particularly good for those that miss the regular, everyday, and oh so delicious food that rarely appears in standard Thai cookbooks, but that is regular lunch or on the go fare in Thailand. Highly recommended.

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Vatcharin Bhumichitr invites readers to join in the Thai street food experience, introducing key street dishes from across Thailand -- beginning in Bangkok and its surrounding areas, then moving on to the southern seashores, the isolated northeast and finally the far north. Food stalls are an essential part of Thai life and can be found on countless streets, market courts, roadside drive-ins, harbor walls and railway platforms across the country, and provide the freshest, most authentic Thai cooking. Covering soups, noodles, salads, stir-fries, grilled dishes, curries and desserts, this tantalizing collection includes such favorites as Som Tam, a fiery grated raw papaya salad and Khao Niew Mamuang, a mango and sticky rice creation -- easily the most popular Thai dessert. The 'Before You Begin' section, introducing ingredients and cooking techniques, provides all you will need to take up Thai cooking with confidence!

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Flavors of Burma: Myanmar : Cuisine and Culture from the Land of Golden Pagodas Review

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(More customer reviews)Great book. Great recipes. My wife and I cooked the double fish curry last night. Its great. The recipe was easy to follow and quick to cook. We already had everything needed - although we used red fish fillets instead of the mackerel or king fish suggested. It tasted really good - smooth and tasty but without that "after curry burp" you get with some of the traditional Indian curries. It looked really good when cooked too - its nice to cook something without knowing in advance how it should look like after the experts have cooked it!
We will definitly give the other recipes a go too.
The information on Burmese (Myanmar?) life is interesting too - obviously written with some compassion.

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Burma, also called Myanmar, is located in Southeastern Asia between Bangladesh and Thailand, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Typical meals include rice, curries, salads, vegetables, and side dishes such as cucumber and tomato slices eaten with traditional Burmese fish sauce (Nga-Pi-Yae ) and Fried Shrimp with Shrimp Paste (Balachung), which are presented here in 76 enticing recipes.
Susan Chan depicts the culture and traditions of Burma, providing ample information on the Burmese market, commonly used ingredients, and eating and serving customs, explaining, for example, that Burmese eat with their fingertips. She also familiarizes her readers with the language, festivals, and principal cities of this country. Complete with b/w illustrations and photographs.

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Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconuts: Recipes and Remembrances of a Vegetarian Legacy Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a great introduction to the myraid flavors of Southern Indian cuisine - which are simple and sublime.
The book focusses on Kerala and the author provides a fascinating background into the culture and customs of that state, immensely helpful to anyone new to its cuisine. I am from the South of India myself and can vouch for the authenticity and reliability of the recipes.
Ammini's voice is reassuring - introducing vegetables like telinga potatoes, ripe and unripe plaintains and breadfruit or teaching the basics of pillowy appams.
I have tried many of the recipes from the book and they are all keepers.
If you are interested in the culinary history of food of kerala, treat yourself to this book!!


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Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconuts is a wonderful book: a moving glance into a world that I would never otherwise have encountered. Recipes that make me want to rush to the kitchen, intriguing techniques that could be used with other cuisines, fascinating personal stories about growing up in a big Kerala household, all embedded in a deep understanding of Kerala as a pivot of Asian history. It's a wonderful tribute to Kerala and a stunning gift for the rest of us."Rachel LaudanCulinary Historian and author of The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage"Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconuts is a jewel of a cookbook---from its authentic recipes (many published here for the first time) to Ammini Ramachandran's evocative personal anecdotes of Kerala's culinary traditions. It is at once scholarly, yet accessible, and especially charming for its delicious recipes and intriguing stories from the royal kitchens of Kochi".Grace YoungAuthor of The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchenand co- author of The Breath of a Wok"In this passionate celebration of her ancestral cuisine, Ammini Ramachandran deftly interweaves history, religion, tradition, geography, and especially, intimate family memories to bring the delicious Keralan story to life. Familiar with the dosas and idlis of this cuisine, I was tantalized by the rich panoply of vegetarian recipes detailed here. Ammini makes it all very accessible, and she shares her discoveries: sensible substitutions, invaluable trucs and suggestions for integrating these traditional recipes into non-traditional menus. The world that Ammini chronicles may have vanished, but her food, enriched with memory and love, offers a very special taste for us all". Jayne Cohen Food Writer and author of Gefilte Variations: 200 Inspired Re-creations of Classics from the Jewish Kitchen, with Menus, Stories, and Traditions for the Holidays and Year-Round.

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