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It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions and the Joys of Thai Cooking Review

First and foremost the book presents a series of recipes, easy to follow and in every instance a delight to prepare and to serve. The preparation of the ingredients, their traditional uses, and helpful information about potential combinations provide the reader with a banquet of information about the preparation of food in the traditional Thai style. Moreover, the book contains helpful suggestions on preparation techniques, for locating and purchasing ingredients, and for ultimate presentation of the dish. Loha-Unchit clearly strives to prepare the reader for the Thai cooking experience: providing basic instruction for those just beginning and important details to more experienced Thai cooks.

The book also is visually beautiful. Numerous line drawings and beautiful images (apparently watercolors) provide the reader with beautiful images ranging from market scenes in Bangkok to illustrations of people working in the countryside. I found myself going back to the pictures and imagining myself observing the scenes they depicted.

Finally, this book is a feast for the mind. Loha-unchit provides the reader with a history of the foods, their origins, and their place within the Thai cuisine. Loha-unchit guides us through a process that enables us to obtain and employ ingredients to produce authentic and traditional Thai cuisine with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of results. For example, although the book contains recipes for making your own curries from scratch it also provides suggestions for commercially available curries that provide the flavors closest to Thai home-made.

This is not a cookbook for those who think you can label a dish Thai by adding a few peanuts and a bit of lemon grass. It is a book that provides the reader with a taste of the sensibility of Thai cuisine and Thai culture, a journey for both the mind and the palate.

Experienced cooks will benefit from the insights Loha-unchit offers; inexperienced cooks will find their skills grow through use of the book. All will delight in the flavors, both visual and gustatory, that "It rains fishes" provides.

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Customer Reviews

Excellent - -
This book is excellent for beginners (like me). It gives so much details about cooking techniques that it can get you started real quick and yet keep you going back to the book for little nuances and finer touches that could keep you recreating your favourite dish in yet another wonderfully different way. Kasma's love for her culture, her deep understanding of Thai cuisine and her intuitive knowledge of what a reader wants makes this book a must have for anyone venturing into Thai cuisine. As for me, the very first curry paste that Kasma's words walked me through paid for the cost of the book. Everything else I got out of the book is a sheer bonus of a pleasure. By the way, thanks to Amazon.com for helping me discover this book...!



Definitive. - blakletter - Brooklyn, NY United States
The author of this cookbook goes out of her way to present not only traditional recipes, but enough knowledge and technique to help you achieve traditional taste. This is no mere recipe book, it's more of a guide to Thai cooking.

From the very start, Loha-Unchit explains everything about the essential components of Thai cuisine and exactly what they do to each dish. Interspersed amongst her recipes are stories related to the dishes that may seem sappy to some, but generally help explain what the cook is trying to achieve with each recipe.

This book will definitely challenge and enhance your cooking skills. After preparing a few of the selections she presents, you won't just know how to whip up several dishes by rote- you'll have a very good understanding of the essentials of Thai cooking.



utterly charming! - -
The prose in this book is so charming, and so well written. Kasma's stories of her youth sometimes almost brought a tear to my eye!

More cookbooks should contain the cultural essays and autobiographical information that Kasma uses to explain why she loves the recipes shes shares with the reader.

Enchanting!




*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 03, 2010 14:51:04