Thai Food

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5 star - Rated
i was recommended this book by a chef who specialises in thia cookery. it is a fabulous book and very well written.
the only problem is localing the ingredients in the south west

Yummy, but impossible - Rated
I bought this book with great expectations, all set up and ready for a new and better life full of thai food. I was first overwhelmed buy the book, and it took me an entire day just to read the introductionary chapters. It's very interesting, and there is a lot of background knowledge to be got about Thailand, it's history, cooking style and so on. However the recipes are SO complicated! Not the preparations (which tend to be on the hard side to) but the ingredients. I've only actually cooked a handful of things, and only by making great compromises. It's simply impossible getting the ingredients here, in spite of the fact that I have gone to Thai stores. If you live in Thailand this book is great for cooking. In Europe (and maybe America) it borders on impossible. To give an example of this is easy. By completely randomly opening the book I find a recipe that calls for: Langsart (peeled and stoned).. two types of chillies, ground caramelised peanuts, ..coconut vinegar (p. 357). The book is visually inviting, very extensive, and very well researched. A pity it's impossible as a cookbook

Good enough to eat! - Rated
This has to be the most beautiful, well-researched and comprehensive book on any cuisine, bar none! And very importantly, David Thompson has included a wealth of history and background info on Thai gastronomy, culture and lifestyles, to help put everything into context. In that sense, I'm actually glad this is written by a non-Thai (although first that slightly put me off), as many things which to a Thai might have been obvious are explained by Thompson as only he can who has had to make a conscious effort to learn them from scratch.

One word of warning, though: the recipes are complex, and many of the ingredients can only be found in specialist (Thai / SE Asian) stores, and even then it's a challenge. So in a way the book is a bit frustrating - you're eager to get on and try the recipes, only to discover that you cannot find some crucial spice, herb or fermented-what-not.

Still, the sheer pleasure of just reading this...!

an excellent book - Rated
The book is simply superb, great recipes, well presented and put together. It is, however, not for the faint hearted as some of the recipes really do require some skill. I found the greatest pleasure from this book was the hunting out of ingredients and then the patient cooking required to bring out true SE Asian flavours - A must for anyone who has sampled the real thing!

Not for the faint-hearted! - Rated
This book is a feast for the eyes - the photography is wonderful and the writing evocative. It is a very comprehensive survey of Thai gastronomy, setting it in its cultural and historical contexts. As the other reviewers have noted, it isn't and shouldn't be bought merely as a cookery manual. "Thai Food" is far more than that. If you want a simple, step by step recipe book, buy Ken Hom, for example. This is in no way a slur on the qualities of Thompson's book - it is a celebration of Thai food and a wonderful tribute the complexities of the cuisine. If you're really into Thai food, it's a must on your bookshelf.