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| Dear Food Lover |
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Tom som is a delicious Thai curry from Isan in the kingdom's northeast.
Unlike coconut milk curries so popular overseas, Thai dishes like tom som, som per and gaeng care are water- or stock-based. Usually very herbal, and often exceptionally spicy hot, they're more like a soup than main. Eaten with rice, they take on a new dimension. A special workshop on regional curries is slated for next year's Thai Cuisine Masterclass Weekend in Khon Kaen, part of the Isan Food Festival.
www.isanfoodfestival.com |
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 We've a new look HOMEPAGE at Globetrotting Gourmet® All our up-to-date reviews now run exclusively in the quarterly tgtgNewsletter, with easier links to download reviews and previews alike. There's also quick search options, book critiques, hotel guides, and information on our upcoming cooking tours. We've festooned the page especially for the holidays. www.globetrottinggourmet.com |
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Our Globetrotting Gourmet® Tastings Thailand '08 food tour runs March 6-16, taking in four days at the Isan Food Festival, plus ancient temples, floating markets, beach resorts, bustling Bangkok and a focus on Thai desserts. |
Sample rich khanom maw kaeng custard with fresh lotus seed -- it's creaminess coming second to none! In Nakhon Phatom taste local specialty khao laam rice roasted in coconut stalks. Visit Bangkok's largest food market, then a demonstration of summer quenching khao chair -- floral fragrant rice served iced, and myriad side dishes.
Further details on www.asianfoodtours.com |
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• PHUKET |
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| In September Morrison and Robert flew to the Strait Games -- an oxymoron if there ever was one -- on Thailand's popular tourist island Phuket. The event includes athletes from the Malacca Straits, namely Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, plus this year, Japan and Hong Kong. Nightlife was abuzz, and nary a sign of 2004's tsunami destruction. |
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| Highlight was our meal at Silk on chichi Surin beach. From the fashionable Hong Kong Lan Kwai Fong group, Silk's décor places it in the special-night-out category. Their chu chi of fish was stellar. Similar to a red curry, chu chi is thicker -- never swimming like a soup -- yet unctuous and slightly salty-sweet. We're also bowled over by Silk's larb gai yang -- more a nam tok really, of juicy chicken slices tossed in a tangy lime cum roasted rice dressing. Prior to her current stint here, 34-year old Chef Supreeda Khemkheang cooked at the rarefied Amanpuri, so it's no wonder her food excels. (And judging from Amanpuri's mediocre hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, no wonder she left!) |
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On Phuket we also ran into Marc De Schrijver and Corry Ringoet, formerly of the Michelin 2-star DeTafeljoncker in Belgium. The duo now have a sumptuous restaurant near Kathu waterfalls, so for a regal night of fine European fare at a fraction of the Euro prix fixe, check out www.royalenamtok.com |
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• FOOD MILES |
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| Inefficient farming is more critical to greenhouse gas emissions than airplane pollution. With jet-freighted food entering the green debate, this is the surprise conclusion from a study at New Zealand's Lincoln University. Energy used to produce lamb in rich Britain is four times higher than in frugal NZ -- even when transported across the globe. Similarly, the carbon footprint of British apples is three times those in NZ. So which is more Earth friendly -- local or imported? Inexplicably, England's Soil Association, responsible for verifying organic status, is jumping on the political bandwagon, by including "green miles" transportation in their ratings guide. |
We all hear about responsible tourism, but what about its antonym? www.irresponsibletourism.info promotes a forum for concerned citizens wanting to draw attention to unacceptable behavior. Now's the time to blow that whistle and dob in a mate…
Topping our irresponsible list are "paperless" e-tickets. CLICK>>> |
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• BOOKS |
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My last Supper, by Melanie Dunea.
Here's a Christmas pressie for the foodie with everything. Melanie Dunea is a regular contributor to Vanity Fair, Newsweek, People, etc. so with her connections, she's approached leading chefs for ideas on their ideal menu. Its contents are thin but intriguing, and chef portraits range from mundane to interesting. (Angela Hartnett and Suzanne Goin's portraits exceptional, and Laurent Tourondel at Krispy Kreme a quirky favorite!) Australia is well represented with Chui Lee Luk, Neil Perry and Tetsuya Wakuda. Includes recipes to justify the expense. Coffee table perfection to amuse bored guests. |
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| Canadian prices of US-based cookbooks are reaching parity, and soon the duo pricing on North American fly leafs a thing of the past.. "For the past year, Barbara-Jo McIntosh has been one of the book industry's most vocal advocates for price parity. We look forward to this trend continuing as more of our suppliers lower their prices…" says Books to Cooks in Vancouver. www.bookstocooks.com (We also remind US readers that Southeast Asia is still one of the world's great travel bargains despite a falling American dollar.) |
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| We've subscribed to the delightfully esoteric English cookery magazine Petits Propos Culinaires since year naught, and relish their facsimile cookbooks as well as ethnic book lineage. Latest is the extremely topical |
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A Baghdad Cookery Book, a new translation of the 13th century text from the golden age of Arab civilization. |
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| Inside the Southeast Asian Kitchen editor Tan Su-Lyn. This 272 page, glossy print & photo paperback is too good not to be hardbound. |
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Basically the foods of ASEAN, it covers all 10 member countries, with recipe contributions from local cooking authorities. Only about 80 dishes in all, the book is a font of information for ingredients, background. Deft editing gives us easy to understand English ingredient translations for the esoteric, something which lacks in most similar Asian-sourced books. www.bookwise.com.au |
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• HOTEL RAVES |
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| S15 is a trendy new Bangkok hostelry on busy shopping street Sukhumvit. Great location, and small rooms decorated in modern minimalism. We loved the free internet, but everything else left us cold, and we moved out after only one day. Why? If you advertise yourself as 4 and 5 star, and charge accordingly, the stay should be exceptional. It wasn't. www.s15hotel.com In our next edition, read our review of Bangkok's swanky new Siam@Siam hotel. |
| And we find New York expensive! Russia's capital is officially the world's most costly hotel city. Numbers two and three are New York and Dubai, the latter shooting up four places, bypassing Rome, London, Paris, and Milan. Meanwhile, Mumbai prices skyrocketed this year, with an increase of 30 percent over the last six months, following a 49 percent increase over 2006. Previously we complained about Singapore's 30% government-mandated rise, which by comparison is now a bargain. The city state, by the way, has just instigated a $370 million training program in new tourism jobs. With a new megacasino opening in 2010, they obviously expect an influx. But not from the gay market. Refusal by the government to repeal discriminatory laws this year has prompted a backlash, and travel boycotts imminent. |
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• AIR FARE |
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The inaugural A380 flew Singapore to Sydney in October, and a new era in aviation history begins… Passsengers were feted by celebrity chefs Sam Leong of Singapore and Sydney's Matthew Moran, with steamed black cod wrapped in cabbage served with hon shimeji mushrooms sautéed in soya bean crumbs; pan-roasted Muscovy duck breast with black cherry jus and a light celeriac puree. As for champagne? Dom Perignon Rosé vintage 1996 for first and business classes, and Charles Heidsieck NV in economy. Globetrotting Gourmet® already has reservations to fly the world's largest commercial plane in November, so look for a run down in our next issue. Considering Boeing 747 dominated, if not monopolized, jumbos for almost 40 years, start getting used to this behemoth.. Already critics claim the plane is less green friendly than promised. www.etravelblackboard.com |
| A380 first class private suites are neither sound proof, nor completely sealed. “If couples used our double beds to engage in inappropriate activity, we would politely ask them to desist,” a Singapore Air spokesman stated. Singapore Airlines bans sex on A380’s |
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| JAL expands their Mebaekai Kyoto cuisine to most flights ex Japan. Kyoto, the former royal capital, is the origin of Japan's famed kaiseki-ryori while mebaekai are special associations of long-established restaurants owned and run by generations of the same family, adhering to traditional cooking techniques. For more about Japanese haute cuisine, see the sumptuous photos in Kaiseki The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto's Kikunoi Restaurant, by Yoshihiro Murata. |
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• CAMBODIAN SEASONAL HONEY |
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| Considering the diminishing hives in North America and Europe, time is ripe for Cambodia Biologicals wild forest honey. Their wet season harvest should always be refrigerated, as bees can't dry the honey sufficiently in such high humidity. So natural yeasts are still active -- giving it a meady flavour and aroma. It's unpasteurized, sustainable harvested, and fair traded -- ensuring locals receive reasonable compensation for their labors. |
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| Not to mention added health benefits. Medicos now put raw honey on wounds for faster healing! Cambodia Biologicals is seeking overseas sales representation. www.cambodiabiologicals.com or email its director Andrew McNaughton amcn46@gmail.com |
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• PRESS |
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It's been a bumper harvest for Globetrotting Gourmet® this quarter. Robert was interviewed for an article on Thai Cuisine as a Fine Dining Expereince for FOODService, Thailand's #1 source for the restaurant & food service industry. "It quickly became apparent that most Thai food doesn't have a fine dining representative in the country," writes Tom Curran in his article. He also adds, "I'd like to acknowledge Robert Carmack for his vast contribution to this story…,"
FOR THE FULL STORY CLICK HERE
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| View Youtube for Robert eating bugs (Yuk!) -- but for a good cause. Shot by Morrison, the video promotes the upcoming Improbable Cuisine workshop at the Thai Cuisine Masterclass Weekend during the Isan Food Festival. Another local delicacy, ant egg soup, should be no surprise to anyone reading Natcha Du Pont De Bie's book Ant Egg Soup, The Adventures of a Food Tourist in Laos. |
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| Articles on Isan Food festival, click here |
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• IN BRIEF |
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• UPCOMING |
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| Tastings Thailand '08 March 6-16, 2008 Our Globetrotting Gourmet® 10-day Thai feast includes 4 nights at the Isan Food Festival, beach resort of Hua Hin, bustling Bangkok, and Thailand's 2000-year-old temple in Nakhon Phatom, plus market tours, cooking classes, and personally hosted by Robert & Morrison. |
Tastings Burma'08 March 17-22 Tourism to Burma/Myanmar is now more important than ever. Locals depend on its income to survive, and tourists are one of their few windows to the outside world. We have VIP reservations at The Strand, the city's best address, and a colonial gem. Fly to colorful Buddhist lunar festivities along Inle lake: Pindaya's cave festival, home to 8000 Buddha figurines; the colonial hill station Kalaw; and Kakku's colorful party in an ancient "orchard of stupas." Should I go?
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| further details on www.asianfoodtours.com |
Happy Holidays,
Robert & Morrison |
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