THE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES OF THE GARDEN IN THAILAND...
In Thailand as in Europe, we enjoy gardening. For pleasure but also often by necessity, especially of course in the countryside where people are not wealthy and the garden is both a source of food but also of income by selling the products to the local market.
By a warm and humid climate and often a fertile land it is quite easy to grow a little bit of everything.
Vegetables
Without exhaustiveness we often encounter salads, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, cauliflower, white cabbage and all the herbs used in Thai cuisine without forgetting the chili.
The cucumber is either a size roughly similar to those found in Europe or smaller, the size of a large pickle.
It is eaten in accompaniment of dishes and especially in the Issan region of duck or beef salads to soften also the aggression of the palate by the chili. The cucumber does not undergo any preparation and is eaten as without any sauce.
Green beans are a variety different from those we see in Europe. They are very long (about 30 cm) and as the cucumber are eaten raw in accompaniment of the meat salads.
We can try to cook them even if the Thais do not but they remain quite hard even after cooking.
Tomatoes are mostly small tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, we rarely see large tomatoes apart in large supermarkets but they are imported vegetables.
You can find a little bigger tomatoes on the side of Chiang Mai but it is not an intensive culture.
The tomato is mainly used in the preparation of soups (Tom Yum).
The cauliflower is quite commonly consumed, accompanying a fricassee of pork or chicken but is very little cooked and cracks under the tooth.
White cabbage is consumed either raw in accompaniment of meat salads, such as cucumber and green bean, be cooked in what is called the "hot pot", pot traditionally in the ground but more and more today an electrical apparatus, in which a Boiled broth allows cooking meats and vegetables.
There is little or no potatoes in Thai gardens as it is a very little consumed vegetable.
The fruits
Different fruits are found in the gardens, including:
- Banana. The banana grows very fast and alone, not requiring any particular care. The banana is small, a dozen CMS and more fragrant than the bananas of the Caribbean of larger size. It is quite rare to find a garden or land around a house without seeing banana trees. It is important to know that banana trees can reach a fairly large size with a beautiful trunk. Shoots take birth fairly quickly and you find yourself fast enough with a banana grove. If you cut a banana you realize that the sap is very sticky and it is difficult to wash your hands to eliminate this glue.
- Papaya. Again just as the banana is found everywhere. No particular care, the tree grows quickly and gives fruit quickly. The tree is in the form of a leafless trunk, which is located at the crown where the fruits that are attached directly to the trunk are grown.
The ripe fruit is orange-coloured, rather little sweet. In Thailand it is pretty little consumed ripe but green and in salad (Papaya Pok Pok).
- Guava. The growth of the tree is slower, it takes 3 to 4 years before you really have a crop. The guava is of a rather bland taste, a little taste of a pear a little green. To raise the taste of the Thai people consume the guava with spiced sugar. Once the tree starts to really give fruit, the season is from July to October and it is not uncommon to have more than 100 kgs of fruit on a tree.
- Mango. A bit like guava you have to wait 3 to 4 years to have an interesting crop. The mango is a very juicy and very fragrant fruit and one of the most appreciated among the fruits of Thailand. The harvest runs from March to June with some variations depending on the region.
A large mango tree can give a very large amount of fruit.
-Citrus fruits.
First, you will find the lime that is widely present in the gardens because it is consumed a lot to season salads including papaya salad.
Oranges will also be found. They are quite small in size with a skin that is generally green with a few orange tones. The fruit is extremely sweet and gives delicious juices.
The grapefruit that is called here "pomelo" is the one that is quite peculiar compared to what we know. The fruit is the size of a beautiful melon with an extremely thick skin of about 5 cms and you have to arm yourself with patience to unpack and prepare the fruit.
The Jacquier. The tree will give on its trunk (much like papaya) fruits with rough and very hard skin whose size can be impressive with a weight up to 7 to 8 kgs. Undoing the fruit is an art because you first have to attack the carapace before you can find inside the fruit quarters of orange-coloured avac a banana taste that is not unpleasant.
Tamarind. This tall tree is quite common and gives a fruit in the shape of a pod. We will open the podto collect some kind of jam that comes in accompaniment of certain dishes. The jam of this fruit, called "tamarind", was used in France once to fight against constipation.
The Mangosteen. This fruit is not present everywhere and not all year round but especially in some parts of the south. It comes in the form of a fruit the size of a small orange with a cardboard skin of violet color. Inside you will find white-colored neighborhoods with a brown core. The fruit is very sweet and a little tart.
Grenade. Pomegranate and its fruit pomegranate is quite common. The tree grows without special care. The fruit is used to make juices.
It is curious to see that in Thailand we do not prune trees.
Certainly some do not need it (banana, papaya for example) but others give much more fruit (ratio of 1 to 6) if one makes a suitable prune at the right period.
Having learnt the art of prune in France I lent myself to exercise on citrus fruits (especially lemon trees) and guava.
The result was so spectacular that now the whole village wanted me to teach them the technique of the prune…
This panorama can still be of course completed but it takes what we see most often and so by strolling in Thailand you will now recognize the main fruits and vegetables...
By a warm and humid climate and often a fertile land it is quite easy to grow a little bit of everything.
Vegetables
Without exhaustiveness we often encounter salads, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, cauliflower, white cabbage and all the herbs used in Thai cuisine without forgetting the chili.
The cucumber is either a size roughly similar to those found in Europe or smaller, the size of a large pickle.
It is eaten in accompaniment of dishes and especially in the Issan region of duck or beef salads to soften also the aggression of the palate by the chili. The cucumber does not undergo any preparation and is eaten as without any sauce.
Green beans are a variety different from those we see in Europe. They are very long (about 30 cm) and as the cucumber are eaten raw in accompaniment of the meat salads.
We can try to cook them even if the Thais do not but they remain quite hard even after cooking.
Tomatoes are mostly small tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, we rarely see large tomatoes apart in large supermarkets but they are imported vegetables.
You can find a little bigger tomatoes on the side of Chiang Mai but it is not an intensive culture.
The tomato is mainly used in the preparation of soups (Tom Yum).
The cauliflower is quite commonly consumed, accompanying a fricassee of pork or chicken but is very little cooked and cracks under the tooth.
White cabbage is consumed either raw in accompaniment of meat salads, such as cucumber and green bean, be cooked in what is called the "hot pot", pot traditionally in the ground but more and more today an electrical apparatus, in which a Boiled broth allows cooking meats and vegetables.
There is little or no potatoes in Thai gardens as it is a very little consumed vegetable.
Different fruits are found in the gardens, including:
- Banana. The banana grows very fast and alone, not requiring any particular care. The banana is small, a dozen CMS and more fragrant than the bananas of the Caribbean of larger size. It is quite rare to find a garden or land around a house without seeing banana trees. It is important to know that banana trees can reach a fairly large size with a beautiful trunk. Shoots take birth fairly quickly and you find yourself fast enough with a banana grove. If you cut a banana you realize that the sap is very sticky and it is difficult to wash your hands to eliminate this glue.
- Papaya. Again just as the banana is found everywhere. No particular care, the tree grows quickly and gives fruit quickly. The tree is in the form of a leafless trunk, which is located at the crown where the fruits that are attached directly to the trunk are grown.
The ripe fruit is orange-coloured, rather little sweet. In Thailand it is pretty little consumed ripe but green and in salad (Papaya Pok Pok).
- Guava. The growth of the tree is slower, it takes 3 to 4 years before you really have a crop. The guava is of a rather bland taste, a little taste of a pear a little green. To raise the taste of the Thai people consume the guava with spiced sugar. Once the tree starts to really give fruit, the season is from July to October and it is not uncommon to have more than 100 kgs of fruit on a tree.
- Mango. A bit like guava you have to wait 3 to 4 years to have an interesting crop. The mango is a very juicy and very fragrant fruit and one of the most appreciated among the fruits of Thailand. The harvest runs from March to June with some variations depending on the region.
A large mango tree can give a very large amount of fruit.
-Citrus fruits.
First, you will find the lime that is widely present in the gardens because it is consumed a lot to season salads including papaya salad.
Oranges will also be found. They are quite small in size with a skin that is generally green with a few orange tones. The fruit is extremely sweet and gives delicious juices.
The Jacquier. The tree will give on its trunk (much like papaya) fruits with rough and very hard skin whose size can be impressive with a weight up to 7 to 8 kgs. Undoing the fruit is an art because you first have to attack the carapace before you can find inside the fruit quarters of orange-coloured avac a banana taste that is not unpleasant.
Tamarind. This tall tree is quite common and gives a fruit in the shape of a pod. We will open the podto collect some kind of jam that comes in accompaniment of certain dishes. The jam of this fruit, called "tamarind", was used in France once to fight against constipation.
The Mangosteen. This fruit is not present everywhere and not all year round but especially in some parts of the south. It comes in the form of a fruit the size of a small orange with a cardboard skin of violet color. Inside you will find white-colored neighborhoods with a brown core. The fruit is very sweet and a little tart.
Grenade. Pomegranate and its fruit pomegranate is quite common. The tree grows without special care. The fruit is used to make juices.
It is curious to see that in Thailand we do not prune trees.
Certainly some do not need it (banana, papaya for example) but others give much more fruit (ratio of 1 to 6) if one makes a suitable prune at the right period.
Having learnt the art of prune in France I lent myself to exercise on citrus fruits (especially lemon trees) and guava.
The result was so spectacular that now the whole village wanted me to teach them the technique of the prune…
This panorama can still be of course completed but it takes what we see most often and so by strolling in Thailand you will now recognize the main fruits and vegetables...
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