A colloquial Thai greeting “gin kao ruu yang?”, commonly translated as “How are you?”, literally means “Have you eaten rice yet?” The greeting shows how cordiality here is automatically associated with an invitation to share food – and with a bowl of rice. Everything else is ‘merely’ trimmings. However elaborate or delicious the various relishes, curries, salads, vegetables, fish, poultry or meat that are served, somehow they are always subordinate to the grain that feeds the Thai people and defines its countryside. Rice is intrinsic to everything. And throughout life. When a child is born a banana leaf is filled with rice and a boiled egg: the egg connotes life, while the rice will later nourish the infant – a symbol of the future. But rice also plays a crucial role when life comes to an end: a handful of rice is scattered before the funeral procession and on the floor of the room where a body is laid out. No one is allowed to walk on the grains since they are what separate the living from the dead.

Those unfamiliar with Thai cooking at first find it somewhat paradoxical that ingredients as rustic as shrimp paste, garlic, lemon grass and chillies can be combined with fresh vegetables, meat and fish. During preparation their flavours merge and frequently develop a subtle elegance. Recipes often consist of over twenty utterly different, if not contrary ingredients. Yet as finished dishes they act in wonderful harmony, like the individual voices of a huge choir which stand out against each other, enhance and mutually support one another and join forces.

The secret of Thai cuisine is the harmonious interplay of natural taste, consistency and spices. Not only is the chilli’s hotness important, but its texture is too. The same is true of crisply fried shallots in a curry dish as of the crunchy peanuts in a salad or the raw vegetables accompanying a relish. Spices can add further nuances to the natural flavours of vegetables, fish and meat – sweet, sour, hot, salty, bitter – and all of this simultaneously within a single dish, provided the cook is blessed with the highest culinary skills. Nonetheless, balance is the key word in Thai cooking, which means balance between taste, consistency and spices. The leaves of fresh kaffir lime or basil are cut into strips not merely for decoration but also for their taste, offering a refreshing surprise to the taste buds.

Incidentally, in Thailand, people tend to face East or South when they eat, as this promises a life of unremitting content and affection. What else should one do but say: “Jareum ahan!” – bon appétit !