"Thais Bristle at Australian's Take on Thai Cuisine" by Thomas Fuller

Full article: Thais Bristle at Australian's Take on Thai Cuisine in The New York Times

by Cedric Arnold for the International Herald Tribune. Source: The New York Times

This article reminded me of my heated discussion about the authenticity of Thai cuisine in Sydney with an Aussie friend. I, an Asian that grew up in Asia, believed that Thai food here is not real Thai; my friend, an Aussie bloke who had travelled to Bali (which is not even part of Thailand!) a few times, believed that Thai food in Sydney can’t be too far from being authentic because there were so many Sydneysiders that frequently travelled to Thailand.

He thought Sydneysiders must have brought back their knowledge and palate of authentic Thai cuisine.

But can an outsider really master all the nuances of an exotic cuisine without immersing himself in the culture? This was the question raised by Fuller in this story.

Fuller reported that Thais went ballistic over Michelin-starred Australian chef, David Thompson’s audacity to declare his mission to “revive Thai cuisine”. Thompson said Thai cooking was “decaying” and lacking the complexity and variation that it once did.

This declaration infuriated Thais. Fuller wrote that Thais’ pride and identity are closely tied with their venerable cuisine because many recipes were “tested and refined in royal palaces”. Thais are generally peaceful and pleasant towards outsiders, but not when their pride and identity are threatened in the kitchen.

Even though the angle of this story is pretty much straight news, Fuller managed to invigorate it through great quotes, anecdotes and “show, rather than tell”.

The quotes Fuller used are precise and vigorous. For example, Fuller cited a Thai food writer saying Thompson was “slapping the faces of Thai people!” or a Bangkok-based food writer from overseas comparing Thompson’s blasphemy to “Osama bin Laden going to the Vatican and saying he is the high authority on Catholicism”.

I wonder how much effort Fuller had spent to get those great quotes.

He also intertwined a couple of anecdotes, such as Thompson’s finding inspiration in “funeral books” and his winning the compliment from the wife of a Thai government official, to spice up the story.

To give us details, Fuller painted us the picture. He portrayed a food writer’s anger as “bitten into an exceptionally hot chilli pepper". And he showed us how Thais usually eat – on plastic tables and flimsy stools, on roadside.

I also admire his effort in balancing arguments on both sides of whether Thompson’s declaration was ambitious or insane. So at the end, it’s left to the readers to decide what they believe.