The Food is Amazing...and dangerous!

Thai food is known around the world for its complex seasonings and spicy flavor. I've loved food all my life and my first desire for a career , after stuntman, was culinary. Its no surprise to me that I'm in food service as a profession now. Food, family, and music go hand in hand in cultures all over the world. It is a central social bond shared with friends and strangers alike and I was determined to enjoy as much of these cultural foods as i could on this trip, and dont worry I have plenty of Immodium AD. Being from the Gulf Coast and raised in South Louisiana seafood has always been a part of my diet as well as rice so eating here is very reminiscient of home. In Thai cuisine rice is integral along with spice. Some things are spicier than others and some things are mild but overall there entrees are seasoned just right. I have been seeking out Thai food carts to try various things, some good some bad and some, well, give me shivers. They serve most of there foods bought from carts in small bags with a stick. Its cheap convient and delicious. Ive also had the pleasure of trying some dishes that were cooked in small store fronts out on the sidewalk. There are plenty of small restaurants that open out into the sidewalks maintained by a lone person who lives in back or above. These tiny cafes have no kitchen as everything in cooked over open fire or gas grills on the sidewalk. These littles cafes have well seasoned woks and the food prepared by people who have been cooking like this for longer than Ive been alive. Ordering a stir fry dish or fried rice and watching it prepared is akin to sitting in someones kitchen while they cook you dinner. You know all the ingredients are fresh because they have minimal refridgeration and the final product was made especially for you. We sat in one such cafe as an elderly woman cooked us fried rice and chicken. She was sweet and kind and spoke little english but she treated us as though we where her guests because essentially we were sitting in her dining room. She added a small bowl of tofu and lettuce soup because she wanted to and after we ate this tasty meal brought us a mix of fruit to cleanse our palates. We rested and let our meal settle while she was busy doing chores. We were the only people to stop and dine there which made it feel more like home. This may be the closest we get to eating at a locals house and if thats true i'll but perfectly happy.

I am not one to shy away from trying various foods but I will draw the line at somethings. I havent found that line yet but i certainly wish I had when I decided to taste what so far is the worst thing Ive ever eaten. One night sitting by the fish spa a cart rolled by with something dried hanging from hooks. It was very thin, a light tan color and the picture on the cart looked like a lizard. I watched as someone sitting next to us getting their feet treated bought one of these jerkied something or others. I asked her what it was and she said it was dried squid. I enjoy calamari as much as the next guy but the smell coming from this cart was well what you would think dried dead squid would smell like. She offered me a piece and I accepted a small piece and placed it in my mouth. Immediately my taste buds wanted to reject this as inedible but I didnt want to be rude so I chewed this dried tough nasty piece of squid and downed some water to was that putrid taste out of my mouth. I dont know why someone would eat something like this on purpose when there are so many other tasty options around. On the train trip down to Chompon someone keep coming by selling a tray of this mess and we knew she was close when our nostrils erupted as though we were in a fish plant. Laughingly i told Chris the next time she passes by Im going to buy that whole rack, smile and toss it out the train window to spare us the smell!

We tried some grilled fish wrapped in banana leaves and it was okay. I think it was cooked by being buried in hot coals. We ate some really good baked mussels at a few different places. We ate Thai BBQ in a market in Khanchanaburi which was a very cool experience. We have tried fried pig skins and numerous fruits. We ve had fried rices, pad thais and different rice noodle dinners. We ve had some food from food stalls that we werent really sure what kind of meat it was but it was flavored so well that Id certainly eat it again. There has been one thing that we've eaten in a few places that Ive yet to understand what its called but Chris and I have taken to calling it Boudin Beads. They are so tasty that every time we see some we buy it. It is made with pork, rice or glass noodles in a sausage casing and strung up on string. They are twisted to the size of marbles are grilled. They taste like a sweet version of Cajun Boudin but served by the ball for 1 baht a piece with grilled chilis and cucumber slices. The best version of these are made with glass noodles and grilled until hot. When you bite into one they pop and release the tasty treat inside. You can taste the sweetened pork and the texture of the noodle and if they served these everywhere Id never stop eating them. One night I decided to spice them up and eat bits of grilled chilis with each bite and it created such a simple sweet and hot taste I devoured 30 of these easily. After a few minutes had passed sitting outside of the guesthouse I wiped the sweat from my eyes and immediately felt the burning sensation we all know of when some pepper gets in your eyes. I asked chris if my eyes were red or if something was in them and he said they looked fine. Well not realizing that I still had the chilis oils on my hands I wiped them again and instantly the burning was magnified. I had accidently done the equivilant of pepper spraying my self! My eyes were on fire and I could not open them even for an instant as the air seemed to agitate the pepper residue even more. As this was happening I was telling Chris about it and thankfully he was there because by this time I was temporarily blinded and could not even for a second keep my eyes open! he took my hand to his shoulder and walked me through the lobby, up three flights of stairs to our bathroom so I could try to wash out the pepper oils Im very grateful he was there because if Id been alone I dont know what I wouldve done. In all the places weve stayed the bathroom floor is tiled, there is a drain in the corner and a shower head attached to a hose. The bathroom is just a small closet with a sink, a toilet, a hose for showering and usually a container of water to flush the toilet, They also have a small kitchen sink type hose near the toilet to "refresh " yourself after youve used the bathroom. I cant believe we dont have these in America, its so sanitary and delightful but thats another story because right now my eyes are blinded by chili oils and i need to flush my eyes immediately so Chris hands me these and I start blasting myself in the face with this hose. Thankfully the pressure is pretty high on these things and it flushed my eyes out very effectively and within a few minutes I could at least open my eyes. I couldnt help but think, Ive come half way around the world to go blind eating minuture boudin balls! Thankfully the pain subsided and the hose flushed out the oils and I was able to open my eyes again. I toweled off and went back stairs to meet Chris and thought, Im so glad I dont have to call home and tell my mom that Id lost my vision in thailand eating something I couldve gotten at Best Stop back home. Needless to say I learned a valuable lesson in eating anything with chilis, DONT TOUCH YOUR FACE IDIOT!!!