Advertisement
Published: November 16th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Okay. So here's how the whole thing started....
We had plans to watch Muay Thai tonight, that famous Thai boxing match that so closely resembles the carnage that is known as "Extreme Fighting Championship", or whatever. We saw two of the family members from the Pong-O Guesthouse at our favorite noodleshop down the street (they came on OUR recommendation) and Naan asked us what we were doing that evening. After stating our plans, she told us of a Thai food festival that her family was attending, and she thought that we might want to come along. "Well", we asked, "where will the event be happening?" Naan said it was in a gymnasium, and her, Fluke, and a friend would be driving over at about 6:30. We figured, "great! An invite from the locals! We can get some great authentic Thai food and still be back for the fights at 10:00!"
After waiting for Robin and Darcy (our Canadian co-horts), we rode off in a couple of cars to the event. It was a ways north, further than Suz and I had explored, and we did our best to small talk with the amicable Naan and her friend. It
Kebabs!
Pineapple and pork wasn't long until we were being directed by traffic cops into a huge sports complex that was called "the 700-year Stadium". We drove by row upon row of parked cars and people walking to an event I could only describe as the size of the Olympics.
I could feel the excitement crawling up the base of my spine, making my extremities tingle. How could a food festival be so big? Was this some sort of feast prepared for the King of Thailand himself? When Naan had said it was in a gymnasium, I pictured a scene from the Columbus Greek festival, a few old ladies cooking up some old-world recipe to a line full of people holding food coupons and plastic cups full of Pepsi. Not what appeared to be the Southeast Asian Super Bowl.
We walked straight into an immense throng of people that were completely surrounded by food tents, except on one side which had an enormous stage. After finding a table right in the middle (not hard b/c there are always, ALWAYS, at least 20 people in Thai food operations ready to assist you), we ventured out into the caravan of food stalls that surrounded
The Baking Stand
An army hard at work this sea of people.
What we found was nothing short of my most self-indulging culinary fantasy. It was like the New York restaurant expo only without all that front-of-the-house presentation kitch and the newest, state-of-the-art cooking equipment that nobody needs. It was just food. Tent upon tent of glorious eats that were cooked up to order and priced at about 50 cents a plate. There was a whole bakery, making pastries filled with jellies, pork, mushrooms, and nuts. There were cakes with 7 different layers of jellied tropical fruits. Tents with 4 or 5 different types of noodles and sauces, complete with fresh herbs, peanuts, chilies to add on top. Seafood stands of steamed cockles, giant grilled prawns, and marinated skewers of squid. Pork that was fried with sesame, roasted in 5 spice, or grilled in chinese barbecue. There were things that I had only read in books about, like 100 year old quail eggs, tossed in vinegar and served over green papaya and sliced shallots. There were sausages made from fish, shrimp, and crab. A whole salad bar of roe from every imaginable type of creature to swim and crawl it's way though the ocean....
.....And suddenly
Our Table
Notice the mini beer tap there it was.
It was clearly a larger, 4-legged animal of some kind that had been skewered and placed over a large charcoal pit. It was too big to be a suckling pig, and even if it was, the skull wasn't the right shape. The creature had been carved so much already that I could only guess. A whole lamb? Maybe goat? Suz asked our hostess who already had her nose scrunched up and had turned away from the stand, unable to look at what remained of the carcass. What could it be?
Naan said simply, "unborn baby cow."
I don't want people to get me wrong. I have a certain appreciation for what some might consider the more unethical dishes of the western world. I enjoy foie gras, sweetbreads, calf's liver, and even calf brains (if I can get them). But it's not like I'm out to eat every animal on the endangered species list. A lot worse happens to the protein that we put on our plates everyday anyway, right? And besides, this is my own little culinary adventure, I'm supposed to try new things. And maybe it was the excitement of the whole scene,
making my eyes pop out of my head from the rush of adrenalin in the presence of all this new and exciting food. Or maybe it was the huge cylinder of Chang beer, complete with it's own tap, sitting on our table half emptied. Either way the idea of an animal cut from it's mother's womb, cleaned, and then strapped onto a spit to be slow roasted over an open fire didn't sound too bad to me. I walked right up and ordered a plate.
And it, like everything else I ordered, was delicious.
The food and drink proved to be a ridiculously good time. How could it not be? It was completely filled with all the elements of a Baccus-like experience, straight out of Roman times. Stuffing yourself on fantastic food to the point of exploding. Drinking cheap beer to the point of vomiting. Good conversation, friendly people, and oh yeah....apparently there were fireworks, dancing, and some guy named Film shook his ass for a bunch of screaming teenage girls. And to think that the whole thing started by a simple invitaton from Naan and Fluke. We had NO idea that the event was going on. How
100-year Quail Egg Salad
Not really, maybe just a few weeks... had this slipped by our tourist-savvy radar?
The night led on to other wacky events. There were carnival games.....Robin couldn't stop talking about the air-gun target shoot (even though there was no prize), a bunch of kids were bouncing around inside a giant inflatable dragon's mouth, and a fantastic dart and balloon game. This, of course, was my favorite. With my best bar form (and a couple of tries before finally understanding the rules), I managed to win a prize by cheating a little. Naan picked out the Barbie doll (for herself or the little girl at Pong-O?) because obviously Suz and I weren't going to carry some cartoonish stuffed animal in our packs. We walked away from the experience giddy, and once at home, crashed out like kids after Christmas.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.173s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 49; dbt: 0.1358s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
digital_explorer
Reymos
Elephant Ride
It seems that you did not explore the mountain trekking and with the elephant ride. Night market is the best part of this region. Rey