Sarge

Sounds better than a tasteless mahtzah with a tiny amount of flavourless toppings!

you mean as in "...soften the matzoh first, then soak in egg mixture, and fry. Traditionally in butter or chicken fat...", yeah right I guess anything is better than that tawdry fried dough, baked in electrical ovens that people in NY criminally insist calling pizza

Try a pizza made by Italians from a wood fired oven and forget about the Microwave stuff...

Sounds great, but Italian pizza in Thailand is not usually up to much. If you do like it, try Pizza Hut/Company "thin and cripy crust". It is just as lousy as a real Italian pizza.

how would you know pizza? what you're used to, is chewing baked dough covered with acrylic cheese substitute and layered with a lurid amount of flavourless toppings, just as your typical American baked bread offering

The man is entitled to sue his new wife in a court of law and get his dowry back, if it is found that the bride had had sex with another man before, and so - not a ‘virgin’ at the time of marriage.

that, i'm sure, will make comforting reading to all those who had married (ex) trollops and / or single mothers the irony is that they paid sin-sot in the first place

 And I always bring back 210 pounds of luggage, mostly with food, but with the occasional meat slicer, Vitamix, All-Clad cookware (I brought a Le Creuset pot this time).  And I don't forget the Diet Dr. Pepper!  48 cans this trip.  

interesting ..... and how you manage to get past the airline's luggage allowance policy, airport check in, security scans and immigration controls (US & Thai) with almost 100kg luggages full of food, drinks and equipments, every time you travel

Feb, 1991, but I've been to Australia a number of times and that reminds me of America in the 1950s.

that's so true, kinda entering a time machine and setting the clock back to 50 years, socially & culturally (if I can use this word) with a twist of Orwell's 1984 added to it

lol times must be really bad if one has to haggle for 5฿ over a 10฿ fare, and that with a sudden sense of outrage after boarding songthaews for 6 years. Time for a permanent return (or deportation) home perhaps

I use my beloved moka express that brews coffee with steam of pressurised water; hard to find proper ground coffee in mahasarakham, so whenever I go Korat or further down BKK I stock up a few packets of Lavazza Oro

prolly after the yobbo on the bike took closer look at the passenger, burst out in disgusted laughter and thought "blimey, this geezer needs money more than I do!" and then sped off

spare a thought for the poor bath bus driver who had to wipe clean the stained bench at the end of the run

sometimes translation can be quite deep, as well as funny. I took this pic at Korat Zoo, in the reptile section so maybe there is a link

yep funny post from OP, some of the lost in translation situations are so hilarious. I remember once in Samui I passed by a laundrette sign "Drop your trousers here for best results", the funny thing is that the one up the street had also a "private room", should you have wanted some hanky panky, whilst your laundry got washed. One thing that I have noticed with Thais is that they're unable to pronounce or spell the word tired, invariably the say tried. Dunno why

Another comment about those who think "Siam" is doing just fine themselves.

Do you read Thai? Comprehend it?

Do you write Thai? Comprehend it?

Do you speak Thai? Comprehend it?

If not then you are basically saying you would like to change their country

but cannot even communicate with a 6 year old Thai?

If you said yes to all of the above good for you & your on your way.

Next,,,,,, You want to tell Siam how to run the country? Become a citizen get involved.

Why not? It is allowed & your sincere in your hopes for their betterment right?

I have no horse in this race really I do not. ( nor does any other falang really)

But what I get tired of is the pompous ...& yes your right it is obnoxious .....arm chair wanna be jockeys.

Leave the citizenship to the citizens.

Can you image a Thai citizen posting a comment in the Washington post about how he would/can make the US so much better? Oh & yes he posts it in Thai as he cannot read. write or speak English.

No need to reply OP if you agree or cannot read

lol good post

I’d leave Thailand as it is, warts and all, that’s what makes the place fascinating and different to the western world. If one starts chopping and changing, cherry picking the aspects & traits that likes whilst adding foreign concepts taken from their own countries, you’ll end it up with a cultural mishmash. One cannot change certain cultural characteristics without affecting others, in other words if one implants liberal socialist policies (so dear in the west) and anglo-saxon business, working ethos to Thailand, the unintended cause effect is a society that frowns upon certain behaviours practiced by foreign absconders in places like Pattaya, whilst making it an expensive life style.

Just look at a possible reverse scenario; let’s say that Somchai a retired bath bus driver from Nakhon Nowhere, leaves Thailand and absconds in San Francisco. After years he still can’t spit a word of the local lingo and he’s bewildered by it all. He’s unable to comprehend what’s going around him and yet he pontificates on the American way of life and political system. He’s judges everything and everybody by, using his Thai moral & cultural compass. Offering his wisdom on how to fix things in the host country.

tellya wot, that is a great script for a Chevy Chase & Steve Martin movie

sigh...sure wish I could find canned tomatoes at my local tescos...anybody have a quick recipie for making pasta sauce with fresh plum tomatoes?

supermarkets (anywhere in the world, not just Thailand) have habits of purchasing vegetables not yet ripen for convenience (they can be displayed longer) and aesthetics (customers are attracted to shiny perfectly formed vegetables, even though they're tasteless). Furthermore they compound the problem in storing (and re-storing) vegetables in cold cellars for long period of time, to preserve that shiny "fresh" looks longer. Your best bet is the local farmer market, vegs are uglier and unven sized in comparison to supermarkets, but in terms of flavours are miles ahead.

Apart from that, just follow my previous post (it was written using fresh tomatoes), it doesn't get any easier and quicker than that. Best variety of tomatoes is San Marzano, it has thicker flesh and less seeds, full on flavour - but it's highly unlikely you'll find them in Thailand, hence you'll have to make do with the local variety.

Planning with some friends to have a nice dinner with some fresh salmon steaks this week but can not find a solution what kind of sauce to serve with it .

What would you like???

Gerd

for me, I'd bake the salmon in a gas oven, wrapped in cooking foil as follows:

for 1 salmon steak

cut a square size cooking foil sheet, smear butter over it,

place salmon, season with sea salt and coarse black peppecorns,

add julienne carrots & fennel

wrap it up

transfer it to a shallow oven tray filled with an inch of water

cook at gas mark 9 for 20 mins

serve it with Sarge's own version of blackened butter sauce -

butter, few capers, finely chopped anchovies, squeeze of lime, dash of Lea & Perrins', pinch of coarse black pepper & chopped parsley

all accompanied with pomme nouvelle

it looks good, what type of flour/s and yeast are they using?

But how's the taste?

therein lies the problem

yo kirk, I see you still distributing the sauces with original labels; when are you going to phase-in the new labels and have you finalised the artwork?

get in yer motor, drive to your local market:

buy 500g plum tomatoes,

1 clove of garlic,

a few hot chillies,

a bunch of basil (Italian variety),

500g Spaghetti №5 (Italian brand only),

and optional a wedge of Parmiggiano Reggiano (Grana Padana will do the same) if you can find it.

Return home, head straight to the kitchen:

ignite the gas cooker,

get a large, deep saucepan and drizzle some Olive Oil (Extra Virgin is better),

add chopped garlic & chillies,

sauté for a minute or so until golden brown,

add diced plum tomatoes and cook at medium heat for 6 mins appx,

add a pinch of salt salt,

In the meantime in a cooking pan filled with boiling salted water,

cook spaghetti for 8 / 9 mins (depending on how al dente you like your pasta, remember to slightly undercook as further final cooking will be in the saucepan).

chop the basil coarsely, add some of it in the sauce in the final stage of cooking,

drain the pasta and mix it in the saucepan allowing drops of the starched water to mix with the sauce for better emulsion, stir for 30 seconds, drizzle a few drops of Olive Oil to further enrich the sauce.

quickly transfer the saucepan to the table in the porch, outside your front door,

sprinkle some freshly grated Parmiggiano Reggiano,

garnish with the remaining chopped basil,

sit down & open up a few blond coldies - Nastro Azzurro Export,

.... and watch the soi neighbours scurry thru’ the front gate for their share of pasta 'n' booze.

Enjoy the hot meal with your newly found friends.

the wifey is a skilled cook, very methodical in her approach to prep-work and fussy in choosing the freshest and bestest ingredients. She's a bit on slow side and it's not unusual to see me nibbling on snacks long before dinner is served. Funny thing is that when she lived abroad with me, she was doing all the (Thai) cooking, but when we're in Thailand I mostly cook (farang fare) for everybody in the house, and sometimes soi neighbours too. Yeah I know quite a unique arrangement, such is life

best bet would be at Yago-Thai restaurant in Tha Khon Yang (ท่าขอนยาง), as there'll be morlum concerts in nearby Kham Riang (ขามเรียง) on Sunday 18th and Monday 19th. Expect to meet people in mood for a party, and lots of noise

btw, but this must be the coldest winter in Isaan I ever experienced, lowest temperature at 7 °C in some nights, not much of change from London.

quick post, when living in Thailand I don't spend much time on related forums. As promised to CH, I tried one of his offering: Nana Artichoke Sauce. Purchased it in krung thep at Villa Market in sukhumvit, at the Ambassador Hotel complex, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts (no stock at Villa in Ploenchit Centre and Emporium food store). Paid 109฿ and took it back home in mahasarakham, paired it up with pennette rigate, no extras, just the sauce and pasta. It tastes fine when compared against non-Italian commercial sauces, bit on the sweet side, chunky texture to give that rustic, home made feel. Good value for people who don't know how to cook sauces from scratch, convenient to those who just want to whip up a pasta meal with minimum fuss. I'd say buy Nana, when Italian sauces are not available in store. The quality ain't inferior to American (Prego) or Australian (Leggo) brands, it's cheaper, plus you support a local venture.

I only ate samples (sorry CH but I just don't eat commercially prepared, shelf stable pasteurised foods of any type) and gave most of it to monks at our local temple. We feed them everyday when attending morning rites. I guess it made a welcoming change from stale khao niaow and cold Isaan fare

pizza prosciutto e rucola

in the lift

free musical gigs to lesbians

with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

with 3 legs