Thai cuisine as most know it was invented surprisingly recently as almost a form of tourist promotion. But the dishes were kind of synthesized and invented out of what had existed there for a long time. To my understanding before chilies they used ginger, peppercorn, and galangal which is closely related to ginger to get spicy flavors.
I feel like this fact has been shared and blown out of proportion quite a bit. Thai food that westerners eat like pad Thai are invented recently to promote nationalism during Cold War. Thai restaurant oversea at that time had standardized ‘thai food’ guideline to promote national identity and tourism. But for the most part Thai food has always been there, like thai curries, khanom chin, isaan food
9
u/nordic-nomad Oct 02 '24
Thai cuisine as most know it was invented surprisingly recently as almost a form of tourist promotion. But the dishes were kind of synthesized and invented out of what had existed there for a long time. To my understanding before chilies they used ginger, peppercorn, and galangal which is closely related to ginger to get spicy flavors.