Experiencing new cuisines is part of the pleasure of traveling, just as much as experiencing new cultures. I love wandering through markets, seeing what’s on sale and how things are sold in any given destination. Then, a few years ago I was asked to write a book about the street food of Chiang Mai. The research for that book, which was never published, got me even more fascinated by the curious "journeys" that foods have made around the world. For example, everyone identifies the extremely hot chili pepper with Thai cuisine, but did you know that chilies are not native to Thailand, or even Asia? They come from the new world and were unknown in Asia until the 17^th century.

The book may never have been published – print is practically dead anyway, right? – but the material has proved useful for building Traveling Chili, a web site devoted to bringing you interesting stories about the travels and transformations foods have taken, as well as a few select recipes for dishes you can make in your own home.

The "featured ingredient&quot this week is ginger, a very common ingredient in Asian cuisine – and one of the original Thai spices. To highlight ginger’s universality, I’ve included not only a popular Thai recipe for pork and ginger stir fry, but also a sweet and spicy Balinese recipe.

If you want to keep up with all the happenings at all of my web sites, why not become a "fan" of Asia for Visitors on Facebook. Summaries and links of all updates are posted to this fan page.

Posted by michael under Guide Updates
Tags: Food • Recipes
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