28 July 2014

Chiang Mai

Pad Thai
Hi, sorry I haven't updated in a few months, I had all my exams, then my birthday, prom, then my Spain holiday with friends and I'm currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand. So as you can see I've been extremely busy and really haven't had time to blog. We are mainly eating out here or being cooked for so instead of posting my recipes I'm going to post some pictures of my trip and the food I've had here. My mum and I arrived here last Thursday and from today have two weeks left.




Since arriving in Thailand I've noticed so many differences in the culture between here and England, but the main difference is the manner in which people speak to each other; it is much calmer and there is a much greater level of respect for one another. I feel so welcome here and every where you go there is just great vibes, making you feel empowered and full of energy. My grandad and his partner Ploi live here so we are staying with them and I feel part of her family already and have been welcomed in! We have been shown some of the top spots to visit already and have definitely done our fair share of shopping!
The food here is amazing, everywhere we have been there has been a vast amount of vegetarian options, all of which I have enjoyed thoroughly and I am slowly learning to handle very spicy food, however I am no where close to a Thai person! All the food I have enjoyed has been packed with flavour and it's very hard to pick a favourite, if you ever do visit Thailand I would recommend trying as many different dishes as you can during your stay because everything is so wonderful! The variety of fresh fruit and veg here is truly amazing and some of my favourites are much cheaper than at home, meaning I'm having as many dragonfruits and watermelons as I can before I leave! Also the young fresh coconuts (still getting used to the taste) are less than 50p each (23 Thai baht) and the fresh Thai coffee is simply Devine, I've been having an Iced latte at least once a day.
Kuhn Churn
Last night we visited a vegetarian restaurant called Kuhn Churn near the centre of Chaing Mai. I have never seen so many vegetarian options on one menu and it was extremely difficult to choose, but as everything was vegetarian we ordered 5 dishes between the 4 of us and shared them out, meaning we all got to try some new food. Not so much over here, but in parts of England when you say you're vegetarian in a restaurant you get unwanted, heavily biased opinions about why you shouldn't be and the beauty of a vegetarian restaurant is that you can eat whatever you want and no one will question your beliefs or morals and you feel accepted. You also have a reassurance that you can eat every food in the restaurant without accidentally consuming meat or cross-contamination. I know there are many other vegetarian restaurants near where we are staying so hopefully I will get to try some more before we leave. Kuhn Churn is an extremely healthy but flavourful restaurant, they offer fresh juice and herbal tea and iced coffee at the lunchtime buffet (which I must try) and smoothies, fresh fruit slushes and fresh coconut at dinner time, all drinks have no added sugar and they only serve wholegrain rice. All of their food is made from scratch without unnecessary additives that some places may use, however I have found that most places offer fresh and healthy food here. Kuhn Churn is a must try and I look forward to going back one lunch time to be able to try a wider variety of dishes.
The key to healthy eating is having fresh ingredients that are not pre-packaged so you know exactly what goes into your food and that is very much the case here. Hopefully I will get the chance to learn some Thai cooking techniques before I leave, as Ploy's whole family are great cooks - her and her sister have a catering company and her brother owns a restaurant in the mountains so a foodie like me is definitely in the right place! I will try and update again before I leave, but if not check my instagram for daily pictures and updates of what I'm doing & what I'm eating! Cassidy xx
Buddha
Jackfruit
Mixed veg & yellow curry
Iced coffee
Grandad & Ploi
My Grandad's garden