Being part of it from the outside

Cooking is a rather unique skill.  Some people can do it and find joy in it.  That would be me.  Some people can do it and don’t care for it and in some regards, that is J.  She can and when she does it’s always good stuff, but she’d rather not.  Then, you have the people who order out or pick up food and have trouble boiling water, let alone constructing a meal.

I find joy in cooking.  The thing is, it’s a dynamic skill.  At least for me it is.  See, I refuse to spend on food that I want if it is out of season.  In CA, we had a better selection day to day, as the grocery stores there, especially in CA, could keep out of season items in stock because it’s SoCal; A lot of agriculture in the region and greenhouse growing can keep things like Bell Peppers, Asparagus, Brussel Sprouts, etc in stock and in price range pretty good most of the year.  We did, however, use the farmer’s markets and fresh markets and that was a lot more seasonal.  If they didn’t have apples because it wasn’t apple season, you weren’t getting apples.

That mentality has done us (me especially, since I’m the cook) well here in Thailand.  About 95% of our produce and fruit comes out of the market across the street from us.  You ain’t getting out of season items.  Things come and go, only to come back and then go again.  It is, daily, a game of what did I plan vs what can I get.  Kiddo wanted a salad the other night and luckily I was able to find lettuce in the market.

Here’s the thing.  Let me explain a bit.  I like in season.  It’s better.  It just is.  It’s not stunted, tasteless, or immature.  It’s seasonal, full of life and flavor, and plenty of good stuff.  It’s also a better price.  Not that I’m walking around the market counting coins and hoping, we are blessed and lucky to be well above median income here, but that’s the thing…. 

Let’s go back to the salad Kiddo wanted— I was at Tops that same day, we needed cereal, Peanut Butter, noodles, and other dry goods and stuff like that.  I went to my usual produce stand and they had a bunch of good stuff; carrots, celery, cuncumbers (I can’t say or think it normal anymore…. KIDDO!), bell peppers, and everything but lettuce.  I asked and was told, “No.  Not grow now.  Couple week.”  Luckily, I found another stall with some small lettuce on hand.  It was end of season, so it was a little small, but not bad.  I got a blend- Red Oak, Romaine, and a Butter head.  Nice salad blend, imo.  I was pricy for market lettuce.  I paid 80 baht.  Later in the day at Tops, I walked past produce and glanced.  A single head of red oak (smidge less than half of what I had gotten, by weight) was 79 baht.  Romaine was not great looking, but pretty big, but it was running 139 baht.  Butter lettuce I could get a “living” head.  Packaged with dirt so you can transplant it.  203 baht, on sale from 219.  So, I saved approx. 250 baht buying at market.  That’s about 8 bucks in USD.  

More than that, I am buying from a local, not a corporation.  We are supporting the people who we see everyday.  We are literally trickling down.  Produce lady and I have fun and friendly feuds from time to time over change.  It is being part of this community that we live in.  Like how we were known and knew our vendors and growers in CA at the farmers market.  Beyond even that, I’ve been shopping in the market for so long now, I don’t get charged full price.  Fruit today, I found grapes, a HUGE apple, and a bag of clementine oranges.  The booth is ran by a family; mom and two boys mostly, but a guy is there some days (dad?) and I’ve also interacted with some older people a few times, I can only guess grandparents.  Today, getting all I got, the one son that was helping me said something to his mom who looked over, gave me a smile, and commented back.  I saw him key his scale and change pricing, from what I think was 150 to 65 before he put the oranges on, he didn’t key anything for the grapes, just weighed, and the apple he just put in a bag, not weighing it.  He typed into a calculator and I could see it read 214.  Cool, 220 for a ton of fruit.  Nope.  He showed his mom who told him 200.  He told me 200, but I heard and was smiling and telling his mom thank you.  So, on top of a discounted price, I also got a price rounded down.  But, I shop and pick something up from these folks about 5 days a week and I’ve been doing that for 2.5 years now.  

It’s a strange comfort to know I can wander into the market and interact, chat, buy, and be part of that community.  A few of the vendors have teamed up with Produce Lady and if I mess with her and start a feud, they will ALL get me back.  I’m in on some of the jokes and games they play with each other.  There is a group of stalls (produce and fruit people are both in on it) that have this little cat statue thing.  They try to get it onto each other’s stalls unnoticed and see how long it will go unnoticed.  I’ve been made an accomplice in this.  However, puckish as I am, I have started playing back.  

Everyday as I head out and get those little things for the week or weekend, stock up for a few days or just the day, I am part of this thing that is Rama 2 and the market.  In less than a year, that will be gone and I will restart my understanding and how I shop and cook- again!  That’s ok, I love the challenge and it keeps me on my toes, but I’m going to miss my people.  I’m going to miss produce lady, fruit peeps, juice folks, chicken by Pinkee, Noodle Lady, 20 baht shop girl, and all the rest.  They will never read this (at least, I highly HIGHLY doubt it) but they have been my teachers, cohorts, and made me smile, almost everyday for the last two and a half year.

We will miss a lot of those little things that make up our everyday here in Bangkok.  We will miss the ins and outs.  The day to day.  The people that we have come to know, even though we don’t really know them.  It’s a strange and interesting thing; to be part of this community and yet still so far outside of it.  

To that end- What will China be like?  What routines and people will we get to know, even if it is the same peripheral type of knowing them.  Will Xmas start the day after Halloween like it does in Thailand?  So much wonder in front of us, so much to learn and see, so many places that we have yet to explore.

Let’s go, Kiddo… We are glad that you have some wanderlust in your heart and that you see this big world we live in as a place to explore and know, not as a place to be fearful of or avoided.  We live in this beautiful world and we are glad that you want to make the most of it and see as much of it as you can.  We really hope you keep growing with the mindset that you should be grateful and see it all, try it all, and experience it all.