Being generally food-obsessed, and in the course of travelling to new places, I've often wished for one thing: to encounter some sort of introduction to the local cuisine, something that goes beyond the cursory descriptions found in your average guidebook or Wikipedia entry. Ideally something with pretty photos and perhaps a bit of interactivity. Something that puts the cuisine in context, touches on the culture and history, and highlights a few must-eat dishes.
With the kind support of Chiang Mai's Tamarind Village, I've been lucky enough put together my fantasy introduction to the cuisine of Thailand's north. I'd never call myself an expert on northern Thai food, but in nearly 20 years of visiting the region, eating the food, talking with cooks, cooking with cooks, and writing about the cuisine for books, newspapers and magazines, I've assimilated a fair bit of information and photos on the topic. I've sifted through all this, and have put together what I think is a pretty solid introduction to a cuisine that few outside the Thai-speaking world know much about.
If I were visiting northern Thailand for the first time and wanted to know what to eat, it's the introduction I'd want to encounter.
The exhibition opens on February 28 and runs until May 31.