The Thai Cookbook (Editors of Chartwell Books)

I love Thai food but I have never had a Thai cookbook.

This one is a real gem. It is very pleasant to read and has beautiful illustrations. And it is much more than just a cookbook. It is also more generally about Thai food a culinary habits. Both the photos and the text tell us about what people eat in the various provinces of the country, what are the culinary traditions and influences and we learn a lot about the ingredients.

The recipes are very well explained and cover a wide range from street food to salads, curries, stir fries, desserts etc. I appreciated the very informative section on ingredients and there is a good section on basics such as curry pastes.

The challenge is to find a good store where one can source the fresh ingredients but once you have that, this book will take you straight into a culinary trip to Thailand.