This Sunday the New York Times had a long piece on the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, a religious fest in Southern Thailand that follows a set of injunctions against certain behaviors during its nine-day course, including one against eating meat. Thailand has always had vegetarian restaurants and food, but this article takes mouth-watering food porn to new heights with passages like:

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“Salad dok mai was a mound of vibrant fried flowers: fuchsia bougainvilleas, little green buds and pink blossoms like crepe paper that carried a note of bitterness under a lush garlicky dressing. Khao Soi, a classic northern dish of egg noodles in yellow curry sauce, was spicy and rich. The crispy-soft noodles fell like elegant ribbons from the tips of my chopsticks. Pad pak good was a stir fry of fiddleheads, which I had never before encountered in Thailand. The unfurling fern leaves were crunchy and just slightly succulent, offset by delicate cubes of tofu and shiitake buttons. This artistry emboldened me to try Pun Pun’s gaang massaman. It was creamy and rich, just as it should be; tawny with cashews and angular cubes of potato jostling on my spoon with silky oyster mushrooms.”

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Food is serious business in Thailand with the recent Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej, ostensibly being forced to resign because he continued to host the cooking shows “Chim Pai Bon Pai” (Tasting and Grumbling) and “Yok Khayong Hok Mong Chao” (All Set at 6AM) while in office – although there was general unhappiness with his administration beyond his cooking show duties.

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(Read the full NY Times article here)

(Some basic info on vegetarian food in Thailand, although ignore the writer’s blanket distaste for street vendors)

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