i learned that Pad Thai, the national dish of Thailand, is actually not a traditional dish, but was invented, standardized and promoted by the Thai government, and imposed upon the people, as part of a broad cultural effort to establish a sense of national identity (x)
it was also a part of an agricultural reform to try and reduce demand on rice, which was in shortage, and incorporate other agricultural products into the standard diet
as skeevy as a government imposing a national dish might be also consider how ‘traditional’ dishes are somewhat of a myth, as we often associate ‘tradtional’ foods with ingredients that have been available for less then 200 years, or were brought by conquerors, or are from a culture that country oppressed. chili peppers are foreign to asia as potatoes are foreign from europe, yet appear in half the ‘traditional’ dishes
‘traditional’ foods are ‘whats available, cheap, filling, and if at all possible tasty’, which changes constantly. a culture thats gone with bread as a staple for 2000 years may suddenly incorporate tomatoes, a culture thats relied on millet since before recorded history may change their staple to rice, the introduction of potatoes, peanuts, or bananas for economic or agricultural reasons should not mean foods produced by the local culture are no longer ‘traditional’
tradition is fake, but fakery is also traditional.
I thought Tom yum Goong was the national dish?
They might have multiple? All the English-language media I’m finding is naming padthai but it’s like travelogue articles not anything official.
Still tasty
I mean to make the obvious point, chili peppers (and cashews) are New World foods only incorporated into Thai cuisine after contact with European empires. A lot of “authentic, local” cuisines of the Eastern African and Indian coasts, even tempura in Japan, were originally Portuguese fusion.
