My Experience with Thailand and Its Cuisine
I've never been to Thailand. However, when I lived in Tokyo, it was the destination of choice for many of my fellow teachers when they wanted to get out of the city for a little R&R during the holiday seasons. They always came back tan and relaxed, raving about the food, the nightlife, the people, the beaches and the scenery. One of them, a young man named Paul Faure, even fell in love with a Thai woman and bought her family a cow to give as a gift when he went to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Alas, my exotic Asia travel was curtailed by my pregnancy, so my travel experience was limited to several wonderful vacations to nearby destinations in Japan. Of course, I wouldn't trade my son Will for all the travel adventures in the world, and besides, there's still plenty of time to see and do it all.

As for Thai cuisine here in the U.S., I've only eaten it a few times. In my catering days, the ubiquitous Peanut Satay was a favorite finger food at all the gala events, and years ago, I think I had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Berkeley. But that was about the extent of it, until Rene took me to an unpretentious little place here in Napa called Thai Kitchen. I don't remember the names of all the dishes we had, but I recall everything being quite sweet, and a little spicy. I remember enjoying the salad most of all, but then that's true of nearly every meal. I really love salad.

The learning curve is going to be steep again this month, but judging from my advance research, it doesn't look very complicated. Can't wait to get started learning all about the cuisine and choosing the dishes.
02:20 AM PDT Permalink |

Welcome to Dinner & a Movie for September
The food and film for this month's Dinner & a Movie will be a five-dish menu of Thai cuisine and the epic film Suriyothai, written & directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol. Thai is another cuisine for which I have very little experience, so I'm looking forward to learning about the food, the culture and the history of Thailand.
12:09 AM PDT Permalink |

Next Month's Dinner & a Movie
Well...it's official. I've decided that September's Dinner & a Movie is going to be a five-dish Thai diner and a film titled Suriyothai, an epic period piece written and directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol. I've already delved into my cookbooks for lots of tempting recipes, and I have a copy of the film on DVD. Looks like I'm off to a great start this month.
02:25 AM PDT Permalink |

Looking Ahead to Next Month
Rene has a birthday coming up on the 18th of September, and has recently cultivated a taste for Thai food. And since I always like to spoil him on his birthday, this seems like the perfect time for me to learn how to prepare it. Of course, after a busy and productive summer season, we are going to indulge ourselves with a little well-deserved birthday getaway to San Francisco as well. (No details...That's still a surprise.) But when time comes for my Dinner & a Movie for the month of September, it's definitely going to be Thai.
01:54 AM PDT Permalink |

Back to Normal
The weather is much cooler today, after yesterday's 100+ temperatures, and at long last, I also feel like I have recuperated from last week's Indian cooking extravaganza. The kitchen has finally been restored to order, although I still have a half-dozen jars of homemade chutney in my fridge. But since they keep for a good long time, I will no doubt have a chance to use them for other purposes.

And now that the weather is so much more pleasant, I can turn my attention to next month's Dinner & a Movie. It's always so hard to think about food when the heat robs me of my appetite. So, I'm already getting out the cookbooks to plan my next Adventure in Asian Food & Film.
04:20 PM PDT Permalink |

Happy Birthday Will!
My son Will turns 15 years old today. He was born in Tokyo while I was there teaching English. And since Japan is 17 hours ahead of Pacific Time, we celebrate his Japanese birthday the night before, and his actual birthday here in the Napa Valley on August 28.

For last night's dinner, I grilled two beautiful steaks of tuna and served them with a medley of stir fried vegetables, sweet steamed yams with butter, and plain white rice. It was so tempting just to eat the tuna raw, but since it wasn't sushi grade, I didn't want to risk it.

The temperature was over 100 degrees today, so it's way too hot to cook. We're having Chinese take-out instead.

So, Will darling...Otanjobi Omedeto Gozaimasu! (That's Happy Birthday in Japanese)
08:26 PM PDT Permalink |

Monsoon Wedding Film Review
At long last, I watched Monsoon Wedding and was delighted beyond all expectations. This cinematic extravaganza of Indian culture had me laughing and crying at the same time. The story and characters are captivating, the music is enchanting, and the sets and costumes are a feast for the eyes.

Here is a link to my review of Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding.

12:05 AM PDT Permalink |

Miscellaneous Ramblings on Indian Cuisine...
I learned a lot while planning and preparing my Monsoon Wedding curry dinner. For example, I discovered that the turmeric in curry powder will stain everything in your kitchen yellow: cookware, plasticware, wooden utensils, china, countertops, sinks, clothing and even fingernails. So if you're cooking with curry powder or turmeric by itself, wear an apron, avoid using plastic containers of any kind, and rinse or wipe any stray drippings immediately. And if something gets stained with turmeric, you can remove it with a solution of water and household bleach.

I also learned that the Portuguese introduced Vindaloo to India. Meat rations were stored aboard their trading ships in barrels of wine with garlic. When the Portuguese traders arrived in India, they used the native spices to season the meat they had brought with them. They called it Vin d'Ail, which means garlic wine, and the word evolved into the Indian language as Vindaloo.

Chutney Demystified: Chutney is defined in the dictionary as a mixture of chopped fruits or green tomatoes cooked in vinegar and sugar with ginger and spices, which leaves it wide open to individual interpretation. Therefore, chutney can be made with most any kind of fruit or vegetable, but it would seem that authentic chutney should be made with fruits and spices idigenous to India. Once the ingredients are decided, making chutney is unbelievably easy.
02:40 AM PDT Permalink |

Monsoon Wedding Dinner & a Movie Recipes and Photos
My Monsoon Wedding Dinner & a Movie was a fabulous curry feast. For the appetizer, I served Curry Infused Shrimp with Mango Chutney, followed by a delicious Mulligatawny Soup, and for the main course, Chicken Vindaloo, Curried Lamb Stew, Spiced Lentils, Jasmine Rice and Naan Bread, accompanied by six different kinds of fruit chutney.

Here is a link to the Monsoon Wedding Dinner & a Movie Photos and Recipes.
03:05 AM PDT Permalink |

A Tally of the Cost of Dinner (in U.S.$)
The cost of the ingredients for my Monsoon Wedding curry dinner are listed below. Keep in mind that the prices are based on buying everything new rather than using ingredients that I already had in my pantry. Of course there were lots of things left over for future meals, so the actual cost of the dinner based on the quantities of the ingredients used to make the dishes will be much lower than the grand total of stocking a pantry from scratch for preparing Indian cuisine.

Specialty Ingredients:

Coconut Milk - 3.38
Mustard Seeds - .99
Cumin - .99
Cardamom - 2.49
Cinnamon - .99
Corriander Seeds - .99
Garam Masala - 1.49
Mango Chutney - 5.95
Curry Powder - 1.99
Turmeric - 2.49

Fresh Ingredients:

Shrimp - 2.73
Chicken Breasts - 7.99
Lamb - 3.81
Onions - .48
Garlic - .98
Ginger - .95
Green Peppers – .54
Carrots - .53
Lemons – .50
Limes - 1.00
Tomatoes – 2.00
Cucumbers - 1.98
Leafy Lettuce - .99
Jalapenos – .24
Apples – 2.18
Peaches – 3.56
White Raisins – 1.99
Watermelon – 3.99
Lentils – .99
Yeast - 2.19
India Pale Ale - 6.99
Root Beer - 1.99

Basics:

Oil - 1.99
Vinegar - 1.98
Sugar - 1.99
Brown Sugar - 1.69
Flour - 1.99

Total - $76.79 ($US)

12:24 AM PDT Permalink |

All About the Dinner & a Movie: How Everything Turned Out
Yesterday was my Monsoon Wedding Dinner & a Movie day, so I spent most of Friday night and all day yesterday in the kitchen, although I did manage to watch a French movie (The Hairdresser's Husband) on the Sundance Channel during my prep work. The dinner was a feast as usual, however, not everything turned out perfectly. My Naan Bread didn't puff, I didn't care for the combination of spices in the Lamb Stew, and Rene didn't like the India Pale Ale, so he drank Corona instead. But other than those minor details, it was quite delicious, especially the Curry Infused Shrimp with Chutney, the Mulligatawny Soup, the Tomato Cucumber Raita and the Spiced Lentils. Will really liked the Chicken Vindaloo, and Rene helped himself to lots of the homemade chutney.

As always, I was a little over-amped when it came time to sit down to dinner, so I didn't eat much on the first go-round, but I did have a second helping of everything later in the evening. As a result, I woke up this morning with a mild reaction to the spices... slightly elevated heartbeat, a series of hot flashes, and a general feeling of heat in my digestive system. Maybe it was the cardamom and the chiles. I'm just not used to cooking with so many different spices. I love the way they smell and taste but I can never predict what effect they will have on me. An overdose of allspice almost put me in the hospital one time.

Of all the incongruous things, we watched Kill Bill 2 during dinner because Monsoon Wedding is subtitled and it's hard to eat and read subtitles at the same time. Rene and Will were keen to watch it, so I agreed. I had suffered through the first installment a few months ago and managed to find certain things to appreciate about it, but I have got to say that the sequel is one of the most self-indulgent pieces of cinematic rubbish I've ever seen. Rene and Will both agreed. I have never cared for Quentin Tarrantino's films and his two latest are certainly no exception.

After dinner, when it came time to watch Monsoon Wedding, after 15 or 20 minutes, Rene was having such a hard time keeping up with the heavy Indian accents and the speed of the subtitles flashing by that he wasn't enjoying the film. He usually loves movies, so it's rare to find one that he can't watch. Although he is remarkably fluent, English isn't his first language, so he sometimes struggles with fast-paced dialogue. Anyway, we stopped the movie and watched several episodes of Sex and the City instead. We're in the middle of the third season, and are enjoying it thoroughly. There is no sexual subject left unexamined and lampooned. At first, I thought it would be too 'girly' for us both, but I think we mostly appreciate the candor of the humor. I'm going to watch Monsoon Wedding by myself this evening.

The moral of the story: Stay flexible and adaptable, and always remember to enjoy the moment, no matter what unexpected surprises it may bring.
03:32 AM PDT Permalink |

Monsoon Wedding Dinner & a Movie
Today was the big day for my Monsoon Wedding Dinner & a Movie. And although I didn't make it out of the kitchen in under two hours as projected, doing so much of the prep work ahead of time made for a very relaxed afternoon of cooking. Unlike the delicate steamed and stir-fried dishes I've prepared for other Asian meals, or the exacting precision of traditional Japanese cuisine, Indian food is much heartier and durable. The stews, soup and legume dishes can easily be reheated without damaging texture or flavor, and therefore the timing isn't so crucial. But between cooking, enjoying the meal and the movie, and cleaning up afterwards, the project was an all day affair that has left me quite spent, so I'm going to leave the details 'til next time.
09:16 AM PDT Permalink |

Preparing the Kitchen and Prepping Dishes Ahead
This evening after my day's work and errands were done, I set about preparing the kitchen for tomorrow's Indian cooking extravaganza. I even parcooked the Curried Lamb Stew, the Chicken Vindaloo and the Muligatawny Soup. That way, all I have to do tomorrow is add the remaining fresh ingredients and finish simmering them. The only items left to prepare are the Lemon Pickles, the Curry Infused Shrimp, the Tomato-Cucumber Raita, the Jasmine Rice and the Naan Bread. With all that I've already done, I should be in and out of the kitchen in under two hours.
12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

Shopping for Fresh Ingredients
I finished up with the shopping for my Monsoon Wedding Dinner & a Movie. Since I had already bought my spices and meats, all I needed were a few fresh vegetables. And my refrigerator is full of homemade chutney. However, I still have to stop and pick up some beer. I couldn't find any Indian beer in town, although I have seen Kingfisher from time to time in years past. But Cost Plus has an India Pale Ale made in Oregon. I'm assuming that it's made in the style of the hearty brew that was shipped to India by the British during the colonial era. Several modern micro-breweries have recently revived the style, and I'm keen to try it. Although I am a little wary, since beers of that type sometimes put me right to sleep. A bottle of Sam Adams will knock me out for hours. I'm told it might be the extra hops used in the heartier recipes. Anyway, I don't want to fall asleep during the movie after I've waited so long to see it.

With all the ingredients on hand, tomorrow, I will prepare the kitchen and make my Curried Lamb Stew. Since I don't have a pressure cooker (those things scare the bejesus out of me) I'm going to simmer it in my crockpot. I may even make the Chicken Vindaloo ahead of time too.
02:35 PM PDT Permalink |

Beverages to Go With My Monsoon Wedding Curry Dinner
Indian cuisine includes a wide variety of both spirited and non-alcoholic beverages. Chai is a hot beverage made with black tea, milk, and sugar, spiced with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom. Lassi is a cold milk beverage, similar to buttermilk, and is sometimes mixed with the pulp of fresh mangoes. Shikanjami is fresh limeade, Kanji is a cold beverage made with fermented carrots, and Thandai is a milk beverage seasoned with various seeds and nuts.

India also produces beer, wine and whiskey. Beer was first introduced to India during the British colonial era, when a hearty variety called India Pale Ale was brought over from England in ships. Breweries were soon established all over India, with Lion Beer being its oldest commercial brand. Lion is still produced today, along with many other brands, including Kingfisher, Cobra, Guru, Indian Tiger, Kalyani, Khajuraho, and Taj Mahal. Rice beer is also produced in the northeastern regions.

Wine has been an integral part of Indian culture and cuisine for thousands of years, however, varietal wines similar to those of France, Italy, Germany and California, have not been produced in India until recently. Most wine produced in India is made from imported varietals such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, blended with domestic grapes. The most common labels include Costa & Company, Grover Vineyards, Indage Group, Shaw Wallace, Sula Vineyards, Vinbros & Co., and Omar Khayam, a sparkling wine.
01:57 PM PDT Permalink |