Cultural Choices

Vincent asked me to bring him a locally grown variety of hot chili peppers from Banrai, and I gladly obliged. Vincent's wish also gave me a chance to know more about "prik karieng", reputed to be the spiciest chili pepper of them all in Thailand. That's saying a lot because we Thais enjoy hot and spicy food, so when we single out prik karieng, we mean it's the champion of champions.
The ladies at the market gave me mini-lectures on chili peppers, pointing to the different kinds that they were selling and explaining the differences in tastes and textures in words that evoke high art and subtle emotions.
That evenining I was having dinner at the Huey Pahpok Resort restaurant, and just to make sure that I had bought genuine "prik karieng", I laid the plastic bags out on the dining table. The resort owner came over to give the contents a close look and was joined soon later by a Thai food chef who is well known in the area. They confirmed that it's the real thing and then launched into a lively and fascinating discussion on the best shapes and sizes, cooking methods, and other culinary details that I can't possibly hope to understand, let alone appreciate, in this lifetime.
But I was thinking how wonderful it is to be part of a culture that spends a great deal of time, genius, and energy on creating great-tasting food. We Thais, and our ancestors before us, recognize, among many other culinary wonders, the enormous importance of harnessing and enjoying the fiery powers of chili peppers.
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Photo location: Bang Saphan Noi, Prachuab Khirikan province