A somewhat Zen-like approach to food menus. The moustache is tiny squid roasts and The meatballs fries, enter the wood sound more like wise sayings or riddles than a few dishes. I think it is the use of English grammar that evokes a philosophical nature. Perhaps the last dish on the menu actually translates as fried meatballs on a skewer?
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Friday, 2 January 2009
Monday, 8 December 2008
Skewered to Eat
Wanting Quails’ Egg Wantons
My latest Thai food craze is Quials’ egg wantons. We first discovered them in Kanchanaburi on the many fried food street vendors stalls. Most of the time when walking down street lined with food vendors there is no point in us looking at them. Invariably everything is meat or fish. Skewer of five or six fat-coated pork balls are a ubiquitous Thai delicacy. As are squares of processed fish that on first glance looks temptingly like tofu. Delicious wanton parcels hide chicken and pork, again. Less attractive are slashed shiny hot dogs. All are served dipped in pots of various chilli sauces, some with fish and prawns, others light and dark red sweet chilli. Racks and rack of skewers shove food in your face of no use to the vegetarian because of the three commandments of Thai food – thou shall eat chicken, fish and pork.
The thing is, we would really love to be able to join in the Thai love for grazing skewered snacks with chilli sauce. Vegetable spring rolls are a rarity mostly confined to tourist ghettos and tempura is totally absent from the streets. The discovery that some of the yellow crispy rice batter of wantons concealed quails’ eggs was like waking up on Christmas Day to discover that amongst all those presents with other peoples’ names on were some for you after all. We could join in the party at last!
I have never had quails eggs in Britain. A bit too much of a costly luxury. But at 10 baht for a skewer of five, which works out at about 20 pence given the plummeting pound, it was time to discover and indulge, which did mean overlooking the living conditions of the quails. I'm usually very strict to only have free range organic eggs in the UK except when going out for the occasional fried breakfast.
And yes, I did want the hot chilli sauce please, despite being a farang. Darker and hotter the better.
My latest Thai food craze is Quials’ egg wantons. We first discovered them in Kanchanaburi on the many fried food street vendors stalls. Most of the time when walking down street lined with food vendors there is no point in us looking at them. Invariably everything is meat or fish. Skewer of five or six fat-coated pork balls are a ubiquitous Thai delicacy. As are squares of processed fish that on first glance looks temptingly like tofu. Delicious wanton parcels hide chicken and pork, again. Less attractive are slashed shiny hot dogs. All are served dipped in pots of various chilli sauces, some with fish and prawns, others light and dark red sweet chilli. Racks and rack of skewers shove food in your face of no use to the vegetarian because of the three commandments of Thai food – thou shall eat chicken, fish and pork.
The thing is, we would really love to be able to join in the Thai love for grazing skewered snacks with chilli sauce. Vegetable spring rolls are a rarity mostly confined to tourist ghettos and tempura is totally absent from the streets. The discovery that some of the yellow crispy rice batter of wantons concealed quails’ eggs was like waking up on Christmas Day to discover that amongst all those presents with other peoples’ names on were some for you after all. We could join in the party at last!
I have never had quails eggs in Britain. A bit too much of a costly luxury. But at 10 baht for a skewer of five, which works out at about 20 pence given the plummeting pound, it was time to discover and indulge, which did mean overlooking the living conditions of the quails. I'm usually very strict to only have free range organic eggs in the UK except when going out for the occasional fried breakfast.
And yes, I did want the hot chilli sauce please, despite being a farang. Darker and hotter the better.
Saturday, 15 December 2007
San Ignacio, Belize
12th-14th December
San Ignacio isn't a pretty town but it lies beautifully nestled at the confluence of two rivers in the western hills of Belize. It is easy to get to by bus from Belize City, the journey taking about 5 hours. If you arrive and hang out in the central park you'll quickly meet many of the local tour guide operators. There is quite a bit of budget accommodation along the main thoroughfare and a side street right in the centre of town. We stayed in a cabana set in the lawned campsite of Cosmos Camping and Cabanas on the outskirts of town and right by the Macal River. We opted for a 1km walk to get into the centre for peace and quiet at night and a rural setting near to the river. Basically, we wanted to get away from the main east-west road runs right through the centre of the town so it gets clogged up with traffic during most of the day. There were no other people staying while we were there, which could have made the place a bit desolate but the tranquility made up for feeling a little out on a limb. We'd often see the extremely friendly owner on our way into town because his house was on the roadside. He offers freshly squeezed orange juice if he sees you pass by, which is worth taking him up on.
The main highlights of a trip to San Ignacio include:
Going on a tour. We kayaked 14km down the River Macal, passing between forested hills, cruising over rapids and picnicking on a sand bank. We booked with a guy called D'Alessandro who was one of the guides who picked up on us in the central park. We chose him purely because he was friendly and not pushy. The kayak tripped consisted of D'Alessandro and his brother driving us 14km up the river, winding through beautiful farmland, where they put the kayak in the water and asked us to drop it off in San Ignacio just after the bridge before sunset. That was it.
Eating at the South Indian Restaurant! Belizean food is much of a muchness so to find an Indian restaurant run by a guy from Kerala was a godsend.
Meeting the many very friendly, laid-back people of Belize.
San Ignacio isn't a pretty town but it lies beautifully nestled at the confluence of two rivers in the western hills of Belize. It is easy to get to by bus from Belize City, the journey taking about 5 hours. If you arrive and hang out in the central park you'll quickly meet many of the local tour guide operators. There is quite a bit of budget accommodation along the main thoroughfare and a side street right in the centre of town. We stayed in a cabana set in the lawned campsite of Cosmos Camping and Cabanas on the outskirts of town and right by the Macal River. We opted for a 1km walk to get into the centre for peace and quiet at night and a rural setting near to the river. Basically, we wanted to get away from the main east-west road runs right through the centre of the town so it gets clogged up with traffic during most of the day. There were no other people staying while we were there, which could have made the place a bit desolate but the tranquility made up for feeling a little out on a limb. We'd often see the extremely friendly owner on our way into town because his house was on the roadside. He offers freshly squeezed orange juice if he sees you pass by, which is worth taking him up on.
The main highlights of a trip to San Ignacio include:
Going on a tour. We kayaked 14km down the River Macal, passing between forested hills, cruising over rapids and picnicking on a sand bank. We booked with a guy called D'Alessandro who was one of the guides who picked up on us in the central park. We chose him purely because he was friendly and not pushy. The kayak tripped consisted of D'Alessandro and his brother driving us 14km up the river, winding through beautiful farmland, where they put the kayak in the water and asked us to drop it off in San Ignacio just after the bridge before sunset. That was it.
Eating at the South Indian Restaurant! Belizean food is much of a muchness so to find an Indian restaurant run by a guy from Kerala was a godsend.
Meeting the many very friendly, laid-back people of Belize.
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