Noodles have been enjoyed since ancient times, and their popularity has become wide-spread the world over. They make for meals that are creative, tasty and quick whether one uses dried or fresh. Noodles are available now in every imaginable shape, width, color and flavor as many are so inexpensive that you may want to always have variety on hand, especially after you start making some really fantastic dishes of cuisine with noodles.

Caviar - What Is It? Is It All the Same?

Most of us are aware that caviar is one of the most expensive foods but most people couldn't tell a Beluga from a Sevruga, and that's if you were to know what these words mean. Caviar comes from Sturgeon, a toothless fish that is one of the surviving fish without bones in the flesh. There are 24 existing sturgeon species worldwide with five of them being in the Caspian Sea, with oly three supplying caviar. These species are the Beluga, the Sevruga, and the Osetra. These three give us 90% of the world's production of caviar. Throughout history, caviar has been a symbol of status; food fit for a king. Fine Beluga caviar is so sought after that its price far outweighs that of gold. There is nothing more expensive and revered than Russian black gold,caviar.

Authentic bird's nest soup is made using the nests of the swiftlet, a tiny bird found throughout southeast Asia.  The swiftlet lives in dark caves, using a method of echo-location similar to bats. Instead of twigs or straw, the swiftlet makes its nest from strands of its own saliva, which hardens when it's exposed to air.  Humans who harvest the swiftlet nests often come from poor islander families that have made their living this way for generations.  Prying the nests from the cave walls is extremely dangerous, and many harvesters die each year doing this job.

Oysters : An Aphrodisiac, Just a Good Meal, or Maybe Both

Oysters have been linked with love and sexuality for thousands of years. Back in the second century A.D., a satire by Juvenal, a Roman satirist, mentioned that the Romans documented oysters as an aphrodisiac food. In fact, Juvenal wrote about the reckless ways of women after they had ingested wine and ate "giant oysters. Well, oysters may not cause sexual desire or love, but many people have certainly fallen in love with oysters. They are eaten raw, smoked, boiled, baked, fried, roasted, stewed, canned, pickled, steamed, and broiled (grilled).

Have you ever eaten a meal where the wine and food were so good that you just couldn’t forget about it? Then, did you later have that same wine with a different dish or the same dish with a different wine, only to be disappointed? Count yourself fortunate to have experienced the perfect marriage of wine and food. Each complementing or balancing the other.

Herbs and spices, Thai cuisine is a lot more, it's an art and cultural expression that pays meticulous attention to details like the quality ingredients and the uniform method of cutting vegetables or scoring fish prior to steaming to allow the juice of the herbs and spices to flavor it. One of the keys to cooking delicious Thai food is the use of specific spices in each dish. Recipes vary depend on the region and herbs and spices are cut or chopped before being added to a dish. Seeds of spices are sometimes roasted on a frying pan or wok first before being they are mixed with other ingredients or crushed to release flavor. For cutting meat & vegetables, most Thais prefer using a chopping board from the trunk of a tamarind tree, which gives the food its uniquely authentic taste.

Taking pleasure in the preparation, cooking and presentation of food is central to the Thai culture. Every dish, even those that are quick and easy to make, are a culinary delight. Thai cuisine uses fresh ingredients, such as ginger root, garlic & soy sauce, all probably familiar to most cooks, while others - plum sauce, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, may not be as well-known in their native country.

Is the Food & Water Gonna Make You Sick in Thailand

Although the economical situation has had a great impact on the dining scene, locals and tourist alike are not about to stop enjoying the vast array of delicious foods available to us all in Thailand. We still venture out to restaurants throughout the kingdom for snacks lunch or dinner, and in many instances, greater numbers of people go out and eat meals prepared in restaurants, canteens, fast food outlets, and by street food vendors than in the past because it is often cheaper to eat outside the home and it is often more convenient.

Everyone wants to eat well while doing our body a good turn, and Thai food is one cuisine that does it.

We’ve been told that if it feels too good or tastes too delicious it is probably bad for our health. Fortunately, Thai food, bucks that trend. In fact, if you do it properly,  having a delicious local meal can prove to be quite healthy for you. Understanding Thai food breaks down to a few simple factors.