Little Girl in a Big World

On this particular evening, I noticed the tablespoon of love my favorite street vendor added into my shrimp pad thai. While devouring this piping hot goodness, it dawned on me what separates Thai cuisine from others: that extra bit of love in every dish.

When I started working amongst Thai people 6 months ago, I was bombarded with an interrogation of my eating schedule. My Thai co-workers ask me “gin khao reu yung?” literally meaning, ‘have you eaten rice yet?’ Inquiring about one’s eating habits is their way of expressing an interest in one another’s well being. A Thai co-worker asked me if I was hungry while driving me home, and seconds later we were pulled over to fix my seemingly urgent hunger problem.

In Thailand, eating is about sharing and caring. Rarely does a group of Thai people order individual dishes – instead multiple entrees are ordered for the table. There is no rhyme or reason for the order in which dishes arrive; they come out as they are ready and everyone indulges. Each curry and stir-fry is loaded with elaborate flavors seeping with the care in which they were prepared with.

The millions of food stalls, even in the most arbitrary locations and time, are always full of Thai people eating. For such a petite people, they really have room to pack on the carbohydrates; there is no meal without noodle or rice.

When you speak with a Thai person about food, you can sense the jubilation that it brings to their life. Their standard greeting is more than just a customary salutation amongst friendly faces – this embodies the atmosphere of the food culture in Thailand. They have taken the most primitive survival tool for human beings and turned it into something much more. Eating is the pivotal activity of the Thai way of life and the vehicle for bringing people together. Once you have experienced eating an authentic Thai meal with the native people, you will understand how eating can be transformed into a spiritual, enriching & unifying experience.