Lists of the most popular or delicious dishes in the world always include Thai food. Sriracha sauce has gone from a dipping sauce made in a small town of Thailand to become a recognizable flavor in cuisine worldwide. With a reputation of being hot and spicy, it is not uncommon to see those who try Thai food for the first time shedding tears and sporting a red nose. Yet, the Thai national cuisine has gained high degree of global recognition and admiration despite Thailand being a relatively small country. Is this down to sheer luck, its being an extensive work of art or, possibly, because of scientific literacy?
The Science of Thai Cuisine: Chemical Properties and Sensory Attributes approaches the art of cooking and serving from the perspective of science and proposes the possible rationales behind Thai culinary art. With applied chemistry and sensory science, it bridges the gap between food science and culinary arts, explaining the functional properties and changes in major ingredients and techniques used in Thai cuisine.
Key Features:
- Discusses the chemistry of ingredients and techniques in Thai cuisine with possibilities of application and innovation
- Presents scientific research combined with arts and history of Thai food
- Provides scientific evidence linking Thai food with the sensory perception and the joy of eating
- Contains vibrant color photographs of Thai cuisine
While there are numerous cookbooks that feature Thai cuisine, none are dedicated as this to explaining the science behind the ingredients, cooking methods, and sensory aspects. This book will be beneficial to professionals in the food industry, appealing to chefs, food scientists, sensory analysis experts, as well as anyone who has an interest in Thai culture.
About the Author:
Valeeratana K. Sinsawasdi (Valee) grew up in Thailand. Her interest in food started at a very young age because she liked to observe Miss Pa-ob Dhanasevi, a relative who she called "grandma", making the meal plan every day. Miss Pa-ob would start the process with writing a shopping list in the late morning and then gathering the raw ingredients at around 3 p.m. The cooking took about three hours of intensive labor in the kitchen before the dinner was ready at around 6 p.m. It was fascinating for Valee to see the transformation of a wide variety of raw materials, especially herbs and spices, during the cooking process. She was impressed at how almost all of the herbs and spices would become invisible in the finished dish but, nevertheless, easily detectable through taste and smell. With her other interest in science, Valee has committed herself to the field of Food Science. She received her bachelor's degree in Food Science from Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Later on, during her graduate studies at the University of Hawaii, she discovered another exciting dimension of Thai food, i.e., its nutritional and functional health benefits. Her research topic, thus, emphasized the antioxidant activities of ginger (served as a beverage) and turmeric (even in the very small amounts found in a serving of curry). This interest was carried on in her Ph.D., research into the natural red food colorant, a water extract from sappanwood, used in Thai beverages. Valee has an extensive familiarity with the food industry, after four years of experience in California in the USA, and five years in Bangkok, Thailand. Her roles have included managing a quality assurance program for the largest dairy processing plant in the western part of the U.S., with Dean Foods, and developing and enhancing the nutritional profile of food products with Unilever Thailand and Asia. In the academic sphere, Valee is currently a lecturer in the Food Science Department at Mahidol University International College, Nakornpathom, Thailand. Courses she has taught have included; Essentials of Food Science, Food Chemistry, Food Analysis, Food Product Development, Seminar in Food Science, Production Management and Marketing of Food Products, and Essentials of Culinary Science for Food Business.
Holger York Toschka is German, married to Ute and with 4 fully grown up children. He studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Institute for Biochmistry at Free University in Berlin, focussing on Gene structure and expressing of ribosomal genes.
He received his PhD in that research field in 1988 and joined Unilever after a short Post Doc stint in early 1990 as scientist manager for Gene Technology and Fermentation in the Netherlands. Since then he worked at various locations in various roles in R&D and Supply chain for the Food and Refreshment Divison of the company. Since beginning of 2018 he is the Foods R&D director for South East Asia and based in Bangkok. Its the 2nd time he lives in Thailand, which gave him 7 years to learned about Thai Food and cooking.
