Thai cuisine was created by blending many elements of Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on light dishes with strong aromatic ingredients. Thai cuisine is famous for being spicy, but it’s not essential. You can find many typical dishes with a pleasantly pungent balanced taste. Balance, attention to detail and variety are important here. Thai food is known for its balance of three to four fundamental tastes in each dish or the entire meal: sour, sweet, salty and bitter. This cuisine is about juggling disparate elements to create a harmonious dish.
Given the size of Thailand and the number of ethnic groups it’s not surprising that Thai cuisine is very diverse. Typical is the use of fresh, not dried, herbs and spices, the most commonly used are cilantro, lemon grass, Thai basil and mint. The other common additives include ginger, galangal, tamarind, turmeric, garlic, soy beans, shallots, white and black pepper, kaffir lime leaves and chilli.
Thai cuisine is known worldwide since the 1960s due to the rise in international tourism and the Vietnam War, during which many soldiers visited Thailand. According to one survey, where people were asked to name national cuisines, Thai cuisine was ranked fourth after Italian, French and Indian.
Thai food is served either as a single meal for one or rice with many small dishes for everyone at the table. It is usual to serve more dishes than there are guests at the table. Traditionally you eat with right hand, but today it is common to use fork and spoon or chopsticks.