 THE COLOUR GREEN OF THAI GREEN CURRYNo, I am not a "foodie", I will not start blogging about food or recipes, but yes, here and there I might post a dish or recipe, as it is connected to my inspiration, my love for food, my love for other cultures and countries, my love for special people, my love for flavors and scents of exotic kitchens. Some years ago, while still working as Moto GP Coordinator for Yamaha Racing, I had dinner with my Japanese colleagues at the Movenpick Towers Hotel in Doha - Qatar. In their Asian Fusion restaurant I had an amazing Thai curry. So I wanted to ask the chef for the recipe. The waiter went to the kitchen and came back and said that he would not give me the recipe in detail, nor written on a paper, but that the chef allowed to mention the ingredients he was using. So it was up to me to remember what he said, to play with the quantites, to work with my own taste or availability of ingredients. And so I started to make my own Thai Green curry paste from scratch. much better than the already-made-pastes in the shop, as with the homemade paste, you also add as extra ingredients care, love and time. And no, it is not difficult. No, it is not a lot of work or time. Yes, it is a bit of a mess, compared to buying the already made paste......but it is so worth it.  WHAT YOU NEED (OR THE SUBSTITUTES)I will not give you exact quantities of the ingredients, play with your own taste buds and keep adding things to your own taste. Start with the basics, let it simmer and then you can add more of the spices or ingredients. I use: 2 shallots or half a big (red) onion 3 gloves of garlic (or more, up to you) One chunk of ginger (like a thumb) or ginger powder 2-3 hands full with fresh Thai Basil (or regular fresh Basil) 1 hand full with coriander / cilantro (more or less to your own taste, I am not a big fan of it, so I keep it low, I just like the finesse of it, not the overwhelming flavor. The juice of half a lime (or more if you like the fresh lime taste) Some pepper / salt Some olive oil Put all in a kitchen machine and blend it till you have the fresh green paste. Then you can use the paste for chicken, shrimps or only vegetables (for example courgette, broccoli, green beans, green peas, green paprika / peppers, mushrooms etc.) When you have your choice of chicken / shrimps / veggies in a pan with the green paste, you add a can of Coconut milk (I normally do a little more than a can, because I like the coconut taste). 2 table spoons of Thai fish sauce (it is a bit like soy sauce, so if you can not find the fish sauce, you can also use soy sauce) 1 small spoon of Cardamom powder 2 small spoons of Cumin powder A chunk of lemon grass (or replace it with some lime zest). If you can find lemon grass, you can keep it in the freezer. Some kaffir lime leaves if you can get them. If hard to find, you can always buy it on the internet) Add spicy red pepper powder to your own taste or add fresh green/ red peppers in the paste ingredients. Let it all simmer for quite a while. I also add a small piece of lime in the pan. But don't let that sit too long, the freshness will change in bitter after a while. Of course you can work with substitute ingredients, but the fresher and more original the ingredients, the better.  THE FINISHING TOUCHCook Thai jasmine rice, Basmati rice or regular rice with some dried jasmine flowers added. I normally cook the curry mix already the day before, so the ingredients can do their work better and you only have to warm it up while you cook the rice. Or at least prepare it in the morning of the day itself, the longer it stands, the better the taste. Serve rice and curry with a wedge of lime (to be squeezed over the dish) and some fresh basil and cilantro sprinkled over the dish. NOTE: If the dish is too spicy, add more coconut milk and / or lime If the dish is too mild, add more Thai Fish sauce or spicy pepper If the dish is too sour, add more coconut milk. Keep trying till you have it the way you like. In Qatar they served it with Amla berries (or Gooseberries) in the curry, that really gave it a special touch. 
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 LOVE - HATE RElaTIONSHIPLast weekend - the 9th and 10th of September - I joined again a market with my SUN SAND SALT products. The markets are fun to do, but it is also a tough and physically hard job. To give you inside information, I am going to show you the schedule of preparations, the 2 market days and aftermath of the event! This last market was the BLUE SUBUR MARKET in Sitges. A young event, organised by two very creative and enthusiast young ladies, Jenny and Lisa, with great eye for detail, service and support. Trying to establish a new monthly event, a market with a touch of festival. Full with happy live music, kids entertainment,a variety of products and services, food and drinks. A market which I like to support and help building up. A market with focus on 0 km products, handmade, bio, eco, vintage, art, creative, free spirited, family life etc. I mention " LOVE - HATE RELATIONSHIP" with regard to markets and the word love is quite accurate, hate is maybe a bit exaggerating, but definitely there are some things I dislike in the market business. I do LOVE the interaction with customers, customers of all ages, countries, interests, backgrounds and levels. I do LOVE the contact with the other market people, it is always a small family, helping each other. I love the market vibes, watching people who enjoy time together, with friends, family, kids, dogs, alone.......relaxing, dancing, listening, eating & drinking, buying. And I do LOVE that I can share information about my products, explain stories, backgrounds, which makes a product more interesting. And people like to hear about the stories. But yes, I also DISLIKE some things. For example people who (or try to) steal products, staying at the market in bad weather circumstances, not enough visitors = not enough good vibes, the physical job of preparing, loading, unloading, setting up, decorating, packing again, loading and unloading again. Kilos and kilos of weight, a tent, a table, chairs, sticks and then all the bags with products. The days are long. And when my husband is traveling, I also have to go home in between to take care of our 3 dogs, which gives stress, pressure and also disconnects you from the atmosphere of the market.  DAY 1 - SATURDAYOf course the market days start already the days before, with preparing, packing, making price tags and getting tent, table, chairs, lights, tools, etc. ready. This time I had the valuable support of my mother, who is also responsible of a lot of business matters in the Netherlands. Without her, I could not have joined this weekend!. Doing a market completely alone is almost impossible, well, at least in my case. 06h30 - Waking up 07h30 - Load the car & drive to Retiro in Sitges 08h00 - Unload the car, then hunting for a precious (free) parking spot, return and setting up tent and merchandising 11h00 - Start of the market 12h00 - Live music 14h00 - From this time the market gets more quiet, Sitges shops close, people go home for lunch, siesta etc. 15h00 - I drove back home to take care of the dogs and come back (this takes more or less an hour) 15h00 - And while I was away, my mother had to cover the whole stall in plastic because it started to rain heavy 16h00 - Also our lunch time, eating a sandwich or salad in the stall, but of course with a nice glass of wine 18h00 - Live music again and around 18h00 the rain stopped, people came and the atmosphere was great 21h00 - End of the market. Packing all the merchandising and bring it to the storage back stage 22h30 - Driving home, attention for the doggies, a very hot shower and to bed. Long and tiring day!  DAY 2 - SUNDAY07h30 - Waking up (an hour later today, because we left the stall and table all set-up = less work) 08h30 - Load some extra merchandising, drive to the market area, park & walk 09h00 - Get the merchandising from the storage and decorate the stall all over again 11h00 - Start of the market 12h00 - Live music 14h00 - From this time the market gets more quiet, Sitges shops close, people go home for lunch, siesta etc. 15h00 - I drove back home to take care of the dogs and come back (this takes more or less an hour) 16h00 - Eating our lunch in the stall, accompanied with a cold glass of white wine again 18h30 - Live music 21h00 - End of the market, packing everything, tent, table, curtains, lights, power cables, merchandising 22h30 - Bringing all materials and bags to the backstage storage again. 23h00 - Driving home 23h30 - On the sofa, surrounded by the dogs, with another glass of wine, taking care of my blisters, which I had because of all the walking up and down to the car, which was not parked very close. Time to reflect, talk a bit, count the money, have a hot shower and up to bed with a sore body of all the carrying. The next morning we went to collect everything, with some fresh energy, with no stalls and cars blocking the entrance. And now we have to shake off the soreness a bit and focus on the next market!!! BLUE SUBUR SITGES again on the 30th of September and 1st of October, a bit earlier than the organisers wanted, but adjusting to the Sitges Film Festival dates which would clash otherwise.  ABOUT LITTLE BOYS OF 35+ YEARS OLDAnd again kids have been the best and most interesting customers. It is almost like having a Sun Sand Salt Fanclub.
They amaze me, their love and interest for specific products. You can not shoo them away with a cartoon bracelet, no they have interest in all the treasures which we sell. The small Buddhist good luck charms, the unpolished crystal hangers from India, the Thai amulets, Buddha statues, big shiny rings etc. They kept coming back, to look, ask, touch, try and negotiate prices, free gifts and exchanges. They know what they want and they have class and style!!! Pushing parents to give more money, asking me to bring next time new things. Looking for treasures all the time! And the best selling products were the Koinobori fishes, in general bought by "little boys of 35+ years old", interested in the Japanese tradition and even many knew about it. Today there was a special attraction. With the most memorable one being a Japanese Tourist from Kyoto who was very surprised and pleased to see his Koinobori here at a market in Spain. All together a good weekend, for kids of all ages!!! (Photo credit: Sun Sand Salt - also with permission of the parents of the children) |
My name is Anneke AND I STARTED in January
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