Thai Food

"Thai cooking is a paradox," writes Australian restaurateur David Thompson in his comprehensive and aptly named "Thai Food". It uses robustly flavored ingredients--garlic, shrimp paste, chilies, lemongrass--and yet when they are melded during cooking they arrive at a sophisticated and often subtle elegance. Pursuing this transformation in depth, his book presents hundreds of recipes that celebrate the Thai meal while exploring its historical and cultural context.