While most Brits love Thai food, only the lucky ones will ever get the chance to experience Thai cuisine in Thailand. 

Those who have visited Thailand, understand the way that the very country itself and the people; the powerful layers of smell, sight, sound, climate and landscape all feed into the cuisine sofamous for its bold yet balanced combination of salty, sweet, sour and spicy flavours. 

If you haven’t been to Thailand, you can get a decent feel for the food and folk of the far east with London’s Busaba Bangkok Thai Cookbook.

Packed with cultural insight andbeautiful photography of the people, food and recipes, the Busaba cookbook provides a well-rounded collection including Thailand’s most iconic recipes; pad thai, red curry, sticky rice, papaya salad and the essential pastes and flavour profiles you know and love. 

Once the introductory spiel about the brand is over, this book doesn’t feel like a restaurant-guided taste tour at all, and is, in fact, an impressive assembly of meals that covers the most well-known dishes along with some fresh, modern recipes. 

And it feels relevant; with an easy-going, friendly approach, characteristic of Thai people and their attitude towards eating and with a sensitive approach to the burgeoning British palate.

Busaba presents clear, easy-to-follow instructions and details along the way – from how to prevent your rice noodles from sticking to the wok to why curries in the north don’t contain coconut milk.

It provides options for vegans, vegetarians and those following gluten-free regimes, with labels indicating the suitability of each recipe. Highlights are the curries, small plates and stir-fries, with some modern, comfort-food mealslike the Sriracha Hor Fun Noodles, the Chilli Beef Jasmine rice and the Chicken Stir Fry with Butternut Squash. 

Once you’ve nailed the flavour profiles of Thai cuisine (chili, tamarind, lime, fish sauce, sugar), you’ll find that most recipes become familiar favourites in no time.

This is not only a great pick for beginners with all the basics well-covered, but offers a lot of fresh, new dishes for the more experiencedhome cook.  

{ISBN:0751571857}