Food for Thought: Traditional VS Creative Curries

Now that we’ve talked about the structure of curries, at this point you might be thinking, “so if I just pick any curry paste, any meat, any veg, and any seasoning…I can make a mix-and-match Thai curry of my choice?” Well…yes, but let me give you some further thoughts on this.

In Thailand there are “traditional” combinations that are commonly done, and then there are combinations that you will never find for one reason or another. And the great thing about traditional curries is that they are combinations that are tried and true. You know they work, you know they are tasty. For example, we know that the traditional combo of Thai eggplant and green curry will be delicious. We know that pineapple in a red curry is also a very tasty combo. And it takes the guesswork out of making a delicious meal. 

There are also some cultural or historical significance to some of the ingredient choices, for example massaman curry never uses pork because it is originally a Muslim curry. So traditional recipes are the way they are for a reason.

But in your own kitchen, my general take is that you should be free to experiment. Maybe you don’t have access to Thai eggplants, and you want to use mushrooms. Or maybe you want to try putting cauliflower in a massaman curry. Go for it. It may or may not be good, but that is the spirit of an experiment!

Of course, if you do something like that, at some point you just can’t call it a “Thai massaman curry” anymore. You’re making a curry of your own creation, using massaman paste as a base…and that is fine! The line beyond which a dish can no longer be called its traditional name is going to be different for everyone, but I’m not worried about the granular. It’s the general idea of respect that I want we all to be aware of. We can respect tradition and the culture behind the cuisine, and have the freedom to experiment at the same time. 

Loe allikast edasi

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