Peanuts in Thai cuisine

[Una_Persson]

@ShibbOleth

Well, I didn’t notice that you referenced Thai dishes directly, but perhaps that is an oversight on my part.

I thought that the question was asking:

But those dishes must be a relatively recent addition to their cuisine, am I right? Peanuts were, IIRC, unknown elsewhere in the world until Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492… and even then, it had to have been quite a few years before peanuts made their way to Thailand (Siam).

and that what I had said gave some background to the introduction path of peanuts to SE Asian cuisine.

[Siam_Sam]

@ShibbOleth

Satay probably spread throughout Southeast Asia from Indonesia, but most likely it arrived in southern Thailand via the porous border with Malaysia and spread from there throughout the rest of the country.

I think that’s probably right. Satay is at least Malaysian if not Indonesian. Satay is easy to find in southern hailand and even here in bangkok. My wife is from Bangkok and always knew of it. But I lived for a while in the North, and I can’t remember seeing satay there. It’s at least not as prominent.

Speaking of peanuts and Indonesia, how about the peanut sauce in “gado gado”? Mmmmmm.

[Frylock]

@Lemur866

It is impossible to overstate the revolution in agriculture caused by the introduction of new world crops to the old world, and vice-versa. Maize, potatoes, chilies, sweet potatoes, beans, squash, tomatoes, peanuts, sunflowers, cotton, chocolate, the list goes on and on.

There’s a book, Indian Givers which dedicates one section to this phenomenon.

I read it several years ago, and liked it. I notice, however, that several reviewers at Amazon say there are, mixed in with the good parts, other more wild and unsubstantiated claims about the influence American Indian cultures had on Europeans and their descendants. So caveat emptor, I guess. I liked it.

-FrL-

[Sevastopol]

@11811

Yeah, but everybody gets a share!

Is that so? Then give everybody eat!

[Mangetout]

So was the use of peanuts (and cashews, I guess, since those are also a new world species) in asian cuisine completely novel, or did these ingredients simply supplant other, native nuts that were used previously?

[Dorjan]

Hijack:

Elendil’s Heir, if you haven’t been there already, check out Bangkok Thai Cuisine on 1982 Warrensville Center Rd. in South Euclid. It’s a tiny family-run place that’s awesome.

[StinkyBurrito]

Continued Hijack - my appologies:

Thai Kitchen at
12210 Madison Ave just west of 117th in Lakewood is a tiny little place with an old man taking orders and serving food, and the old woman cooking the food in the small little kitchen. I highly recommend.

Then of course there is the Lemongrass at 2179 Lee Rd next to the theater, and I have tried some food from Tyfun Thai Bistro at 815 Jefferson Ave in Tremont, and it was pretty good.

Also, on a bit of a tanget, Minh-Anh Vietnamese restaurant at 5428 Detroit Ave is good and has an excelent cinnamon beef ball soup (that’s balls of beef not beef’s balls), and has a vietnamese market next door that is fun to check out.

As far as food coming from America to other cultures after its discovery, I was completely blown away when I found out that there were no such things as tomatoes or tomato sauce in Italy before just a few genrations ago. I couldn’t have imagined that.

[Bippy_the_Beardless]

@Mangetout

So was the use of peanuts (and cashews, I guess, since those are also a new world species) in asian cuisine completely novel, or did these ingredients simply supplant other, native nuts that were used previously?

I wonder, Almonds are Eurasian aren’t they. Powdered Almond is used to thicken several Indian sauces and could well be used like Peanuts are used. What resources do we have for far east and Indian food prior to the 15th Century? There seems to be plenty of refferences to Medievil and Roman European cuisine, but I haven’t seen similar for ancient Chinese or Indian food.

One thing comes to mind is that Arabic food does not seem to use many new world produce. Eggplant, olive oil, wheat breads, lamb and chicken all being native foods.
Only a small amount of tomato and chilli use is new world crops.

[Jeff_Lichtman]

@Bippy the Beardless

One thing comes to mind is that Arabic food does not seem to use many new world produce. Eggplant, olive oil, wheat breads, lamb and chicken all being native foods.

A nit: although chicken isn’t a new world food, it isn’t native to the middle east. Chicken originally came from southeast Asia.

[JR_Brown]

@Mangetout

So was the use of peanuts (and cashews, I guess, since those are also a new world species) in asian cuisine completely novel, or did these ingredients simply supplant other, native nuts that were used previously?

What I heard (from a Korean-American whose family was very traditional-cooking intensive, so maybe a bit better than the usual WAG…), was that the “real” recipies generally called for sesame seeds, but peanuts were substituted since they were higher-yield and easier to grow.

JRB

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Thanks, Una, for reviving this thread with a link to your very interesting article. Sorry I overlooked it before posting my query.

Dorjan and StinkyBurrito, thanks for the restaurant tips. I love the Pad Thai at Siam Garden on the near East Side of Cleveland. I’ve been to Lemongrass several times, but don’t like their Pad Thai quite as much. I think I went to Minh-Anh once, but didn’t have anything peanut-y there. I’ll add the other places to my list.

God bless the Dope!