Chicken in the Mango Tree: Food and Life in a Thai-Khmer Village - Paperback

by Jeffrey Alford (Author)

* Winner of the Best Asian Cuisine from Books Outside Asia at the 2016 Gourmand Cookbook Awards! *

An intimate exploration of Thai-Khmer village cooking, seasonal recipes and everyday life in rural Thailand.

In the small village of Kravan in rural Thailand, the food is like no other in the world. The diet is finely attuned to the land, taking advantage of what is local and plentiful. Made primarily of fresh, foraged vegetables infused with the dominant Khmer flavours of bird chiles, garlic, shallots and fish sauce, the cuisine is completely distinct from the dishes typically associated with Thailand.

Bestselling food writer and photographer Jeffrey Alford has been immersed in this unique culinary tradition while living in the region with his partner Pea, a talented forager, gardener and cook. With stories of village and family life surrounding each dish, Alford provides insight into the ecological and cultural traditions from which the cuisine has developed.

Chicken in the Mango Tree follows the cycle of a year in Kravan, with recipes tied to each season--from steamed tilapia during the rainy season and tom yam het mushroom soup during the cold season to rice noodles with seafood during the hot months and spicy green papaya salad enjoyed year round. With helpful substitutes for more exotic ingredients and accessible cooking methods, Alford's recipes and stories blend together to bring the flavours of this little-known region to North American homes.

Inside this richly photographed culinary journey, readers will discover recipes for:

• Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)
• Khao Pad (Fried Rice)
• Pla Pao (Grilled Salted Tilapia)
• Pak Boong Moo (Stir-Fried Morning Glory with Pork)
• Laab Moo (Spicy Ground Pork)
• Tom Yam Het (Tom Yam with Mushrooms)
• Gaeng Keow Wan (Green Curry Paste)
• Khai Mot Daeng (Red Ant Egg Salad)

Part cookbook, part food memoir and part travel narrative, Chicken in the Mango Tree is an intimate exploration of Thai village cooking, Khmer cuisine and the deep connections between food, culture and place.

Author Biography

Jeffrey Alford is a writer, photographer, traveler and cook based primarily in northeast Thailand. He is the co-author, with Naomi Duguid, of six international cookbooks: Flatbreads and Flavors, Seductions of Rice, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, HomeBaking, Mangoes and Curry Leaves, and Beyond the Great Wall. Both Flatbreads and Flavours and Hot Sour Salty Sweet won the James Beard Award for best Cookbook of the Year and Seductions of Rice and HomeBaking each won a Cuisine Canada Cookbook Award.

Jeffrey has contributed to Saveur, Food and Wine, Food Arts, Gourmet, and many other magazines. He has appeared on the Food Network and The Martha Stewart Show. Formerly based in Toronto, Ontario, he now lives in Surin Province in northeast Thailand twelve miles north of the Cambodian border, with wife Somphit Janprung (better known as "Pea").