Why Thai?

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Arts, Science, History, Food

4.7 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s hard to imagine the American restaurant landscape without Thai food: Tom yum and pad see ew are practically household names, and pad thai is the ultimate quarantine comfort food. (It's apparently zombie apocalypse comfort food, too, as shown on the Walking Dead.) According to the Thai Embassy, more than 50 percent of all Thai restaurants abroad are located in the United States and Canada. So why did the U.S.—and Los Angeles in particular—become the epicenter of Thai food’s global rise? How did Cold War politics and a shortage of ingredients lead to the creation of shrimp curry recipes made with anchovy paste and sour cream—as well as the jackfruit industry in Mexico? What does this all have to do with one street kid from Bangkok? Listen in now for these stories and more: it's a vacation for your tastebuds! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:26.9	Slack.com slash DHQ. Do you want a super power watching Rewatch
0:32.0	Meers fits? Lover noise jump suit? Watch and rewatch meers fits? Like young offenders?
0:38.1	Watch and rewatch meers fits? Are you thinking this is great but where can I watch meers fits?
0:43.1	Watch now on all fours? I've heard it's the UK's biggest free streaming
0:46.1	service. Now we've told you what to do. Watch and rewatch meers fits? Watch and rewatch
0:50.9	meers fits? We'll do. What watch and rewatch rewatch? But free. Oh bugging. Compare it channel 4.com slash verify.
0:57.9	Getting to know you, getting to feel free and easy.
1:05.9	I can say that after many years working together, Nikki and I do actually know each other
1:12.2	that is not the reason we chose to start the show with this particular song. It's not
1:16.1	often I let India indulge her love of musicals but this particular showtune is relevant.
1:22.3	Because this episode we're going to Thailand. And in case you're not familiar with the
1:25.9	King and I, the story takes place in Thailand. Or as the country was called for hundreds
1:29.7	of years, Sam. And the plot of the musical is actually relevant to the story we're going
1:33.8	to tell today. We of course are Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the
1:37.7	lens of science and history. I'm Cynthia Craver and I'm Nicola Twilly and because we're
1:42.0	Gastropod, we're not actually telling the story of Thailand or even analyzing its portrayal
1:47.6	in works of musical theater. We're talking about its delicious, delicious food, which
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