Thai Women And The Humble Potato!

[aneliane]

That works for about the first 3 years and then it just gets boring.

So true!

So you have exhausted all the varieties of thai vegetables (200 of them) ?

That very thought is exhausting.

And you have come to the conclusion that eating imported / non indigenous no nutriments no taste veggies were better for you than any of this 200?

Um, I think we've concluded that we like what we like. However, you do have a point.

My point is: give a real go at Thai food before going straight back to imported/non indigenous food, I don't believe many people here have tried half of the 15 types of aubergines available here, or sampled even 3 of the 12 types of gourds, or make the difference between the 5 types of basil, etc etc ...

We are very lucky to be in a place where the vegetation variety is so uniquely rich, that it is a shame not to fully explore it

[harrry]

Potatoes are not indigenous to the LOS.

They need a temperate climate with temperature between 18 and 24 deg to reach optimal quality and quantity, which means that unless some crazy farang decide to grow spuds in an air con green house at 20 deg and selling them at caviar price, you will never get anything like home.

So those you find in local shops are bound to be bland tasteless with hardly any nutriments and of the wrong texture.

Top French fries require good quality potato with adequate firm texture Roseval / BF15 or Binjte which are not imported here, ( a good thing IMO) so yes French fries are disgusting here.

The real question is why absolutely always try to bring / import / grow your temperate climate food here when the local option are plentiful and of good quality?

sweet potato for example has far more interesting nutritious qualities especially in vitamin A, B and fibers, and has the same uses as spuds including fries.

They're not indigenous to Europe either!

Yes you are absolutely right 8000 years ago they were in South America and imported in Europe "only" 5 centuries ago.

What I meant is the climate and soil is not right for it and everyone has understood that it is a temperate climate vegetable.

Lots of Mountain areas in Thailand too....gets nice and cool there.

[StreetCowboy]

Why would we try any of the aubergines, or gourds, or beetles, that people eat here? Why is it a shame not to explore it? What is unique about having indigenous vegetables? As a friend said - if they were that good, Sainsburies would import them.

SC

[aneliane]

Potatoes are not indigenous to the LOS.

They need a temperate climate with temperature between 18 and 24 deg to reach optimal quality and quantity, which means that unless some crazy farang decide to grow spuds in an air con green house at 20 deg and selling them at caviar price, you will never get anything like home.

So those you find in local shops are bound to be bland tasteless with hardly any nutriments and of the wrong texture.

Top French fries require good quality potato with adequate firm texture Roseval / BF15 or Binjte which are not imported here, ( a good thing IMO) so yes French fries are disgusting here.

The real question is why absolutely always try to bring / import / grow your temperate climate food here when the local option are plentiful and of good quality?

sweet potato for example has far more interesting nutritious qualities especially in vitamin A, B and fibers, and has the same uses as spuds including fries.

They're not indigenous to Europe either!

Yes you are absolutely right 8000 years ago they were in South America and imported in Europe "only" 5 centuries ago.

What I meant is the climate and soil is not right for it and everyone has understood that it is a temperate climate vegetable.

Lots of Mountain areas in Thailand too....gets nice and cool there.

Yes Cool ... for Thailand, still tropical though

[cardholder]

I was told by a lady who worked for a potato wholesaler in the UK that the Chiang Mai potato is of Scottish origin.

(Just seen that the Maris Piper was only developed in 1964)

[aneliane]

Why would we try any of the aubergines, or gourds, or beetles, that people eat here? Why is it a shame not to explore it? What is unique about having indigenous vegetables? As a friend said - if they were that good, Sainsburies would import them.

SC

Yes why discover new stuffs?

Why eating local nutritious climate suited food when we can buy under-developed low nutriment veggies full of starches designed for vikings to fight harsh winter in Northern Scotland and will get you fat ?

Why not discard the local cheaper equivalent that would grow easy when we can buy low quality spuds for more money ?

Why help preserving biodiversity and cultures when the whole world can just eat spuds everyday ?

BTW Sainsburies does import them. I bought Thai eggplants from them.

[StreetCowboy]

Why would we try any of the aubergines, or gourds, or beetles, that people eat here? Why is it a shame not to explore it? What is unique about having indigenous vegetables? As a friend said - if they were that good, Sainsburies would import them.

SC

Yes why discover new stuffs?

Why eating local nutritious climate suited food when we can buy under-developed low nutriment veggies full of starches designed for vikings to fight harsh winter in Northern Scotland and will get you fat ?

Why not discard the local cheaper equivalent that would grow easy when we can buy low quality spuds for more money ?

BTW Sainsburies does import them. I bought Thai eggplants from them.

To be fair, the comment was made regarding other vegetables and fruit. I don't think potatoes were specifically tailored for the vikings, since the first time they would have encountered the potato was eight hundred years after invading Ireland, when Sir Walter Raleigh brought the potato back from South America, along with Navy Woodbines.

In my local curry shop, the Aloo Gobi is priced the same as the Bhindi Masala, and the mushy peas. The fact of the matter is that things that can be transported by ship might as well be transported from Liverpool to Chiang Mai as Liverpool to Motherwell (assuming that the demand for e.g. Patak's curry sauce justifies the same level of demand) - the cost of sea transport from dock to dock is trivial, if the bulk is sufficient, for anything but the cheapest commodities (bauxite, coal, iron ore - not potatoes, cauliflower, cars....

The things that determine retail price are - local demand and retail costs, local taxes and tarriffs - and for expensive things, marketing and brand, and production costs....

SC

[cardholder]

The things that determine retail price are - local demand and retail costs, local taxes and tarriffs - and for expensive things, marketing and brand, and production costs....

SC

Plus profits.

[StreetCowboy]

The things that determine retail price are - local demand and retail costs, local taxes and tarriffs - and for expensive things, marketing and brand, and production costs....

SC

Plus profits.

If we asked people to forego their profits, we would starve

We can minimise costs, but minimising profits is a dangerous road to walk along...

SC

[cardholder]

The things that determine retail price are - local demand and retail costs, local taxes and tarriffs - and for expensive things, marketing and brand, and production costs....

SC

Plus profits.

If we asked people to forego their profits, we would starve

We can minimise costs, but minimising profits is a dangerous road to walk along...

SC

Agree 100%.

Without profits there would be no Chinese in Thailand.

[Chonburiram]

My (Thai) wife has the perfect recipe for potatoes:

Feed them to the pigs - than eat the pigs!

Cereals are for humans, potatoes are for animals.

[cowslip]

Potatoes are not indigenous to the LOS.

They need a temperate climate with temperature between 18 and 24 deg to reach optimal quality and quantity, which means that unless some crazy farang decide to grow spuds in an air con green house at 20 deg and selling them at caviar price, you will never get anything like home.

So those you find in local shops are bound to be bland tasteless with hardly any nutriments and of the wrong texture.

Top French fries require good quality potato with adequate firm texture Roseval / BF15 or Binjte which are not imported here, ( a good thing IMO) so yes French fries are disgusting here.

The real question is why absolutely always try to bring / import / grow your temperate climate food here when the local option are plentiful and of good quality?

sweet potato for example has far more interesting nutritious qualities especially in vitamin A, B and fibers, and has the same uses as spuds including fries.

Tell that the Burmese who successfully cultivate potatoes in quite large quantities.

They're not indigenous to Europe either!

Yes you are absolutely right 8000 years ago they were in South America and imported in Europe "only" 5 centuries ago.

What I meant is the climate and soil is not right for it and everyone has understood that it is a temperate climate vegetable.

[maxme]

One of the reasons for the Thai don´t particulary like the spud is that they think it's fat, because farangs are always associated with fat food

As for recipe how about Pad Kra Pao Moo with mash?!?

[onionluke]

Why would we try any of the aubergines, or gourds, or beetles, that people eat here? Why is it a shame not to explore it? What is unique about having indigenous vegetables? As a friend said - if they were that good, Sainsburies would import them.

SC

Yes why discover new stuffs?

Why eating local nutritious climate suited food when we can buy under-developed low nutriment veggies full of starches designed for vikings to fight harsh winter in Northern Scotland and will get you fat ?

Why not discard the local cheaper equivalent that would grow easy when we can buy low quality spuds for more money ?

Why help preserving biodiversity and cultures when the whole world can just eat spuds everyday ?

BTW Sainsburies does import them. I bought Thai eggplants from them.

That's called freedom of choice . They've got what you want . You want what they've got .

I am just a spud boy , looking for a new tomatoe .

Thank you Devo .

[Ulysses G.]

Why help preserving biodiversity and cultures when the whole world can just eat spuds everyday ?

Quite right. Potatoes, cabbage and corned beef.

[cowslip]

I would suggest that the relative lack of potatoes in Thailand is largely cultural - potatoes are successfully grown throughout the tropics and unlike in temperate climates, 2 crops a year are possible. AS the tubers came via western colonial powers it usually meant that the consuming country would have to have been either a coloniser or a colony. Thailand doesn't fit either - except possibly now under the economic "colonisation" by the US.(Japan has no such effect).

[coolhandjoe]

I planted some potatoes last time i was in Thailand and gave instructions for their development and harvesting only to find the leaves and stalks had been eaten and the spuds left to rot in the ground!

[billd766]

Yesterday for lunch I had 2 boiled potatoes,some chopped raw onion and some mustard mayonnaise mixed together.

The mayo I bought in BigC and it is called Molly mustard mayonnaise and they also do a Wasabi mayo for that extra taste.

[tutsiwarrior]

when we were first married I made roast spuds with a chicken I had in the oven and she was impressed and has always been partial when I got a roast in the oven at home in Thailand...then there is the mash which is enjoyed by the younger nieces who defy the thai food nazi step daughter who pretends to barf into the sink when requested to sample my humble falang offering set out on the family dinner table...I made a massaman curry once which was devoured by all but they don't normally prepare that dish themselves...I've done potato salad with both mayo and vinegar dressings but that don't appeal to no one but me...and lets not forget how well potatoes curry with other ingredients (cauli and chickpeas); I put some out once at home heavily dosed with chili and it got mostly eaten by the unsuspecting...

potatoes are highly glycemic (mostly starch) and unsuitable for diabetics like meself also most tots ye get in the supermarket in thailand are greenish (better quality selection down the traditional market) and unsuitable for consumption under any circumstances...still, gotta have 'em...

[cowslip]

I planted some potatoes last time i was in Thailand and gave instructions for their development and harvesting only to find the leaves and stalks had been eaten and the spuds left to rot in the ground!

HMMMMMMM - heard that story before!.........

That's what the English did when potatoes were first introduced at court - consequently they weren't consumed in England for decades - it was only after they found out that the

irish were thriving on them that they war re-introduced to England.

[cowslip]

when we were first married I made roast spuds with a chicken I had in the oven and she was impressed and has always been partial when I got a roast in the oven at home in Thailand...then there is the mash which is enjoyed by the younger nieces who defy the thai food nazi step daughter who pretends to barf into the sink when requested to sample my humble falang offering set out on the family dinner table...I made a massaman curry once which was devoured by all but they don't normally prepare that dish themselves...I've done potato salad with both mayo and vinegar dressings but that don't appeal to no one but me...and lets not forget how well potatoes curry with other ingredients (cauli and chickpeas); I put some out once at home heavily dosed with chili and it got mostly eaten by the unsuspecting...

potatoes are highly glycemic (mostly starch) and unsuitable for diabetics like meself also most tots ye get in the supermarket in thailand are greenish (better quality selection down the traditional market) and unsuitable for consumption under any circumstances...still, gotta have 'em...

It's no wonder that potatoes aren't popular in Thailand when so large a proportion on sale have been allowed to go green thus rendering them inedible.....though not necessarily toxic. But the potato is a member of the "deadly nightshade" family of plants and eating the tops could lead to undesirable effects.

[aneliane]

Why would we try any of the aubergines, or gourds, or beetles, that people eat here? Why is it a shame not to explore it? What is unique about having indigenous vegetables? As a friend said - if they were that good, Sainsburies would import them.

SC

Yes why discover new stuffs?

Why eating local nutritious climate suited food when we can buy under-developed low nutriment veggies full of starches designed for vikings to fight harsh winter in Northern Scotland and will get you fat ?

Why not discard the local cheaper equivalent that would grow easy when we can buy low quality spuds for more money ?

BTW Sainsburies does import them. I bought Thai eggplants from them.

To be fair, the comment was made regarding other vegetables and fruit. I don't think potatoes were specifically tailored for the vikings, since the first time they would have encountered the potato was eight hundred years after invading Ireland, when Sir Walter Raleigh brought the potato back from South America, along with Navy Woodbines.

In my local curry shop, the Aloo Gobi is priced the same as the Bhindi Masala, and the mushy peas. The fact of the matter is that things that can be transported by ship might as well be transported from Liverpool to Chiang Mai as Liverpool to Motherwell (assuming that the demand for e.g. Patak's curry sauce justifies the same level of demand) - the cost of sea transport from dock to dock is trivial, if the bulk is sufficient, for anything but the cheapest commodities (bauxite, coal, iron ore - not potatoes, cauliflower, cars....

The things that determine retail price are - local demand and retail costs, local taxes and tarriffs - and for expensive things, marketing and brand, and production costs....

SC

Wow .... discussing the price of a veggie in THL by refering to an India take out ... really ?

I think we reached a new low in intellectual dishonesty here.

Sorry even a six years old would not buy into this argument :your indian take out put the Binndhi Massala at the same price as mushy peas, so it proves that the price is low?

Have you ever been to a market ?

Do you actually know the price ?

Have you ever bought a potato in THL ?

Do you actually know what a potato look like or should look like ?

[coolhandjoe]

1/2 a kilo of potatoes at Tesco in Hau Hin for 199bht...............Pure extortion!

Grow your own....................Priceless

[IanForbes]

Is this topic STILL going on? It should be in the Chiang Mai forum where the main topics are always about food.

The only time I eat potatoes is when I'm in Canada at a friends home who might be doing the cooking. Or, on the odd occasion where I'll have a hamburger meal (with fries and pop) at a fast food joint when I'm traveling. I never buy potatoes myself when I grocery shop. All I buy are veggies and bread. I can't give up my multi-grain bread. I love it too much. In Thailand I eat rice almost exclusively. However, I'm not saying I don't enjoy potatoes. I like them many ways, but probably roasted with sour cream and butter the best.

[cowslip]

I wouldn't say the piecing is the result of extortion or gouging, I would think it is the result of low turnover and no real constant market forces to stabilise prices.............

One thing I notice about potatoes on the shelves in Thailand is that the quality and price vary tremendously - not just from store to store but within individual stores. It helps too if you live in an area with enough foreigners to make stocking spuds worthwhile.

Foodland in Pattaya wrap and price their spuds individually - which gives you some idea of how they might value them!

It is fairly obvious that the average supermarket manager has no idea of how to store potatoes, allowing them to get over exposed to UV resulting in them going green. THey often are too old and soft or going to seed.

[Patronus]

I like mine to turn out like this:-

[StreetCowboy]

I got round to going back to the Indian place for aloo gobi, mutter kheema, some dal (I felt obliged, after dropping a lump of potato in it) and the best samosa I've had since I left Scotland.

Otherwise, the food was pretty average, but what do you expect for less than two quid? I'm sure it would have been better if I'd caught the aloo gobi as soon as they brought it out...

The samosas are really good; plump, the pastry is not too heavy, and really rich with potatoes and peas and other stuff that I'm probably better not to recognise

No irn bru, but can't have everything...

SC

[billd766]

I asked my wife to get me some more from the market on Saturday but the cupboard (or stall) was bare.

Never mind the is another market today in the afternoon, Wednesday morning and Saturday afternoon, failing which I will have to go to BigC, LotusTesco or Makro next week.

[cowslip]

I like mine to turn out like this:-

Boring!

[Johnniey]

You can use it in some curries, specifically Yellow Curry and Massaman.

Other than that, french fries is a good option.

Massaman curry is a fine example of thai food with the humble spud!

Massaman curry is Indian food.