Book Review: Books for Cooks 2010

Thai Street Food

by David Thompson
Ten Speed Press, 372 pp., $60

This is the follow-up to David Thompson's Thai Food, his award-winning magnum opus dealing with all culinary things Thai. Like that first title, expect this one to sweep annual cookbook awards, and justifiably so. Focused sharply on the dishes produced by street vendors all over the country, the recipes are authentic and adjusted for the home kitchen (as much as can be). Rest easy knowing that what a Thai vendor produces from a rickety cart on the side of a busy thoroughfare, you should be able to approximate in a modern kitchen with all of the conveniences.

Thai Street Food begins with a history of Thai mobile food-vending, both as a companion to the food market and later as a convenience for bustling pedestrians. Thompson divides the nearly 100 popular recipes by the time of day they are typically consumed ("Morning," "Noon," and "Night"), which sheds even more light on the snacking habits of the modern Thai. Most recipes come with highly informative headnotes that provide all of the nuance and historical background of the dish. Dish names are spelled phonetically in Thai, written in Thai script, and also written in descriptive (Australian) English. There's a fine glossary explaining ingredients and basic preparations. Earl Carter's lavish photos are inserted throughout the book, with a photo of each recipe, and in the back is a separate section of caption details on the nondish photos.

I was especially excited to find a recipe for shrimp with glass noodles, peppercorns, and bacon (goong ob woon sen), and the recipes for kao soi, khanom jeen noodles with green curry, and lard na gai all look first-rate and very authentic. The one problem I have found is the index. Thompson's phonetic transliteration seems to get sidetracked by Aussie pronunciation, making it difficult to locate recipes in the index that you know you've seen in the book. If you didn't know that "pikelets" are actually pancakes, you might not find sticky rice pancakes. Talay becomes "tarlae," lard na becomes "raat nar." But Aussieisms and transliteration aside, if you cook Thai, you really need this book.