Thai Cuisine - Mastering the Art of Versatility
The generic name for cooked items or dishes from a Thai kitchen is "kap khao" - "in addition to rice" or "to be taken with rice." Such dishes vary in accordance with the geophysical makeup of the land it originated in. Because the people have resided along the country's waterways since ancient times, fishbased dishes make up the Thai people's daily diet, complemented by fresh vegetables found in abundance near their homes. As time passed and the society developed, conventional Thai dishes also underwent changes and became more versatile, in terms of ingredients, cooking methods, and tastes. International trade that the country engaged in through the ages also brought foreign food cultures that the Thais embraced and adapted to suit their tastes.
Thai dishes can therefore be roughly categorized into two types: genuine and adapted.