The Land Of A Thousand Suns: Cultural Differences

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Since the rise of civilization and trading, spices have been heavily valued. Whether it was Columbus traveling to the Americas or Britain trading with and consequently taking over India, people have gone to great lengths to acquire flavorings for their food. First the desire was for salt, then the focus shifted to pepper, but lately the flavoring that is slowly traveling across the globe is curry. With globalization foods and cultures are much easily shared. Exposing not only a single countries people but those it may trade with to new flavors. Curry comes in many forms across the globe. The same ‘curry’ spices may have travelled, but each culture enjoys it differently. Throughout the world there are two common ideas of what a curry consists …show more content…
Defined by the earliest definition found in the first Thai dictionary, circa 1873, gaeng is simply a “watery substance”(“What is Thai Curry”). True to its name, curries from this region are more of a soup than the thicker Indian version often either with a water base, known as gaeng shom plah, or a coconut base, which is named by it’s color or the spice mixture used. Unlike its Indian counterpart, Thai curries employ the use of pastes that often come from fish and shrimp along with chilies, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, and coriander root. After the ingredients for the paste are chosen they are ground in a mortar and pestle or thrown in a food processor with spices such as tumeric, pepper, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, and cumin. It is then briefly stir-fried in a general cooking oil before the other ingredients such as fresh water fish or easily caught game are added. Some common examples would be: frogs, snakes, snails, or wild birds, fresh fruit, vegetables, and tree leaves and flowers. The kaffir lime leaf is most commonly used to add a fresh flavor to the kaeng. It is then served with jasmine or sticky rice, fermented rice noodles known as khanom chin, or roti canai, a kind of na’an