Thailand and Italy cook up a delicious deal for gastronomy and tourism

[webfact]

 

A mutual agreement has been reached between Thailand and Italy to collaboratively promote the gastronomy and tourism sectors of both nations, according to Thai trade representative, Nalinee Taveesin.

 

The Thai-Italian collaboration announcement was made on Sunday, with Italy expressing an increased interest in investing in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

 

Such an understanding was gleaned from a recent meeting between Nalinee Taveesin and Paolo Dionisi, Italian Ambassador to Thailand. Both parties identified that their respective national cuisines, renowned for their unique identities and global popularity, present profitable opportunities for cross-promotion.

Nalinee stated that in Thailand, Italian restaurants outnumber the Italian population itself, indicating the popularity of Italian cuisine among Thai diners.”

 

by Mitch Connor

Photo: Nalinee Taveesin/ AP.

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2023-10-02

 

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[KannikaP]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

Nalinee stated that in Thailand, Italian restaurants outnumber the Italian population itself, indicating the popularity of Italian cuisine among Thai diners.”

I take it that the number of Italians here in Thailand is meant.

Pizza is very popular with Thais, as for spaghetti, lasagne, ravioli etc etc, I think not.

[JackGats]

What about doing away with punitive custom duties on cheese, balsamico and olive oil then?

[klauskunkel]

Aah, Durian Pizza...

 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Nalinee stated that in Thailand, Italian restaurants outnumber the Italian population itself, indicating the popularity of Italian cuisine among Thai diners.”

The spaghetti my missus eats by a Thai owned restaurant tastes like sh#t...

tomato ketchup and a spoonful of sugar.. disgusting.

[Sydebolle]

Well, there is possibly only a one-digit percentage of Italian restaurants in Thailand serving authentic food - everything has to be adapted to "Thai style". 

Pasta seriously overcooked, unless it is local pasta which is not pasta; pizze normally could serve as manhole lids and have nothing in common with the Italian original, sugary ketchup instead of a pelati sugo, local salami which tastes as disgusting as it looks, anchovies moved in favour of "pla rah" - the Isan fermented fish of dubious origin and some even roll sausages into the rim of a pizza. I had risotto based on sticky rice, saltimbocca (using veal and sage) got altered to thin pork neck with Thai basil, etc. etc. etc. 

To recalibrate the tastebuds of Thais after 1 ½ to 2 generations of Italian food which has absolutely nothing to do with Italian food - uphill battle of the finest order! 

[arithai12]

23 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Well, there is possibly only a one-digit percentage of Italian restaurants in Thailand serving authentic food - everything has to be adapted to "Thai style". 

Pasta seriously overcooked, unless it is local pasta which is not pasta; pizze normally could serve as manhole lids and have nothing in common with the Italian original, sugary ketchup instead of a pelati sugo, local salami which tastes as disgusting as it looks, anchovies moved in favour of "pla rah" - the Isan fermented fish of dubious origin and some even roll sausages into the rim of a pizza. I had risotto based on sticky rice, saltimbocca (using veal and sage) got altered to thin pork neck with Thai basil, etc. etc. etc. 

To recalibrate the tastebuds of Thais after 1 ½ to 2 generations of Italian food which has absolutely nothing to do with Italian food - uphill battle of the finest order! 

I don't know where you eat, but I am sorry for you. In addition to true italian restaurants with italian owner and italian ingredients, I eat in a number of Thai places that serve italian brand pasta, cooked "al dente", often with a mix of thai (eg. spaghetti kee mao, or spaghetti with spicy northern sausage), or mix of japanese style e.g. teppanyaki spaghetti on a hot plate. Delicious. The only disgusting (to me) places serving pizza and pasta are the american franchises where indeed some of the nightmare combinations you mention seem to be true.