A Food Like No Other

by Matthew Fisher

The spice running up your nose, the rice hitting your mouth with an explosion of flavor, you want to stop eating but you can't; that was my first experience with Thai food. At first I didn't know what to think because it was just so different from anything I had ever experienced. However, I found myself going back again and again like a kid in a candy shop. It became a tradition every Thursday night, my family and I ate Thai food together. Sitting around our dining room table, sharing the sweet, spicy, aromatic dishes. That gave us quality time with each other. Now, five years later, there are moments when I wish I could go back in time and be a kid again to enjoy those Thai Thursday nights. 

It wasn't just us. Thai food consumption exploded across America between the 1960s and the 1970s (Fuller). Thai food in America can be traced back to the 1950s during the Cold War when the United States went to Thailand and U.S. citizens first came into contact with Thai food (Lam). They would copy down Thai cookbook recipes while there and introduce them to their wives when they came back to America (Lam). Fast forward a decade, and you have a massive migration of Thai students coming to America to study (Lam). They are the first ones to open up these local Thai restaurants for themselves and other people to enjoy Thai cuisine (Lam).

I feel that my family and I have to experience Thailand's culture and have begun to learn about it. Since consuming the cuisine, I have discovered a great deal about the culture of Thailand people. Because of the traditional Buddhist heritage, people in Thailand have traditionally shunned substantial amounts of meat in their dishes (Jieman). It has impacted the culinary traditions of civilizations such as Portugal, China, and India (Jieman). 

The simple act of eating Thai food has taught me a great deal about how the cuisine has shaped the world. I had the good fortune to visit my friend's family restaurant in Michigan and sample their homemade Thai food. He educated me about Thailand's culture and cuisine, emphasizing that rice is the foundation of all Thai dishes (Schmidt). No Thai dish is complete without rice, he said. My personal favorite Thai dish is fried rice with chicken. The flavors and texture make it the perfect dish. Learning about Thailand's culture has only increased my fascination and love for Thai food.