Page 205 - เธญเธฒเธซเธฒเธฃเนเธ—เธข
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The Identity of Thai Cuisine in the 4 Regions
Thai arts and culture are accepted all over the world as being exquisite through the work
of craftsmen who painstakingly created the work by paying attention to all the minute details.
The same is true about Thai cuisine. There are many well-blended tastes even in one dish, thus
making Thai cuisine the favorite of people all over the world. Thai cuisine also offers nutritional
values as well as medicinal values of Thai herbs well reflecting the identity of wisdom of each
region.
Thai cuisine is divided geographically into 4 regions: Northern, Central, Southern and
Northeastern. Each regional cuisine has its own different identity according to the cultural and
traditional way of life as well as the different food sources and materials from the lush fields of
the four regions of Thailand. Foreign dishes and immigrants from other countries who came to
reside in each region also played an important role in influencing the characteristics of Thai Cuisine.
Thai people in the olden days used plants, vegetables, fruit, roots and tubers and local
raw materials to improve the tastes, resulting in good health. Plants used in food are called herbs
which possess medicinal values. Thai cuisine, thus, besides having many well-blended tastes, shows
its identity relating to culture and wisdom of the people from each region. From this wisdom,
Thai cuisine is nutritionally well-balanced whether it be plain rice or glutinous rice, consumed
as main dish in each region. Some regions eat hand-milled rice which is highly nutritious. Dishes
which accompany rice are cooked in the simple way by boiling, mixing with dressing, pounding,
grilling, roasting, stir-frying, frying without oil. These cooking methods are simple, without complex
preparations. A small amount of time is required. As a result, the food retains freshness and natural
flavours. Only a small amount of oil is used in the cooking and a small amount of meat is used.
Local vegetables are used as main ingredients. The natural source of protein is from the sea,
rivers and waterways or from the animals raised locally. All the ingredients are local
vegetables and herbs. The local ingredients which differ from one region to another in addition to
the different methods of preparation which differ in some details resulting in the different kinds
of regional cuisine. Even though there are different ways of preparation, there are still some
similarities. For example, fermented soybean is used in the north region; shrimp paste and fish
sauce are used in the central region; shrimp paste and salt are used in the south region; fermented
fish is used in the northeastern region. All of this depends on each of these regions.
202 เธญเธฒเธซเธฒเธฃเนเธ—เธข เธกเธฃเธ”เธเธ เธกเธน เธดเธเธเธฑ เธเธฒเธ—เธฒเธเธงเธ’เธฑ เธเธเธฃเธฃเธก
Thai Food : Thai Cultural Heritage ๆณฐๅผๆ–็-ไผ ็ป้ฅฎ้ฃๆ–ๅ–้—ไบง
