There are many people in Thailand who believe that traditional home-cooked Thai food is becoming a thing of the past. This image of Bangkok’s junior MasterChef gave me some hope that wasn’t the case.
Pre-packaged curry pastes and even entire Thai dishes that were historically the staple of a home cooked meal, now sit in plastic, foil and cardboard on the supermarket shelves in Bangkok, ready for a Thai version of a TV dinner.
Even street food is succumbing to short cuts and substitutions of traditional ingredients.
Vendors of unique street food treats such as Chiang Mai sausage might still make their own sausages, but many increasingly shortcut the preservation process that’s so critical to achieving the perfect sausage.
But is the future of Thai street food all doom and gloom? I hope not. And I think not if this little boy who we nicknamed Bangkok’s junior MasterChef is anything to go by.
The little guy was busy mimicking his mother’s wonderful rhythmic technique for making som tam for most of the time we sat feasting on their fantastic food on one of our favourite street food streets, Sukhumvit Soi 38.
His enthusiasm, dedication to the task, and attention to detail gave me hope. Could he be the next Ian Kittichai? Maybe.
Details: Nikon D700, 35mm F2 @ F3.2 @ 1/100th second @ ISO2500.
Monday Memories is a random series of reflections on photographs taken by pro photographer Terence Carter, half of the team/couple behind Grantourismo, a project/site launched in 2010, dedicated to slow, local and experiential travel and food. Terence has a decades-long career spanning editorial, portraiture, and food and travel photography.
If you enjoyed this post and found it helpful to your photography, do browse these Monday Memories posts on Flying into Siem Reap for the First Time, Street Photography in Siem Reap, Siem Reap Dance Troupe Portraits, Photographing Phnom Penh in the Wet Season, My Kind of Blue, Traditional Shadow Puppet Show in Phnom Penh, Capturing A Face in the Crowd to Convey a Vast Crowd, A Girl Crossing a Suspension Bridge in Battambang, A Student Stretches at Battambang Circus School, Love at First Click of the Camera, An Elephant Encounter in Siem Reap, Reality Bytes, A Monk on the Mekong River in Laos, and The Dubai Camel Handler.
Oh, he is so cute and looks very put together with his cooking. Do you have any great advise on the best Chiang Mai sausage? Going in February…
Greetings Annika and thanks for your comment.
We do not have any up-to-date info on Chiang Mai, have not been there in several years and despite how much we love Chiang Mai sausage, there were too many travel/food bloggers living there ;)
Cheers,
T