{"id":1177,"date":"2011-02-21T18:03:01","date_gmt":"2011-02-21T08:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2011-02-25T21:52:07","modified_gmt":"2011-02-25T11:52:07","slug":"on-air-21-2-11-thomes-thai-secrets-finger-limes-and-baby-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/?p=1177","title":{"rendered":"on air 21.2.11: Thome’s Thai secrets, finger limes and baby food"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thome with a few of her magical dishes<\/p><\/div>\n

Yes, what a mix on today’s show!<\/p>\n

It was a big bouncing belly today – 2 hours, as Anna & Nicole couldn’t bring you their show birth pregnancy & beyond, so belly spread out.\u00a0 But\u00a0 I collected several stories about baby food,\u00a0 & the kids of all ages who are getting into it, Leah Roland from the Bangalow\u00a0 Cooking School came on to talk about getting kids to eat a varied diet, & we\u00a0 started a new belly series on cooking with local native ingredients – finger limes today. For much of this first hour on belly we explored one of Australia’s most popular cuisines, Thai, with the woman who first brought the food of Thailand to Byron Bay, Thome Evans. And Sister Nancy Jo, who brought Thome to the belly kitchen.\u00a0 NJ used to beg to work with Thome, offering to work for free, for the sake of getting access to her delicious food.\u00a0 Apparently Thome’s employees were all very faithful, because they were all addicted to the flavours.<\/p>\n

She grew up on the family farm near the ancient city of Lopburi, about 150 k north of Bangkok, with her 13 sisters and 1 brother.\u00a0 They used to grow everything that they ate, plus rice to sell.\u00a0 As they were along way from doctors and hospitals, like many Thais they also used food plants as medicine, and to avoid getting sick in the first place. The rice fields also provided frogs and little snails that were healthy and delicious as they only eat the tops of the rice.\u00a0 Healthy and delicious seems a good way to sum up her cooking.\u00a0 Thome came to Australia in 1975 with her husband.\u00a0 Her restaurant in Byron Bay was called the Lotus.\u00a0 She always used to add lots of extra herbs, and go out to the dining room to explain to customers why they should eat the various dishes, and why various ingredients would keep them young and healthy.\u00a0 I can’t imagine anyone being able to resist, disobey or fail to return.<\/p>\n

A few things we learned from Thome:<\/p>\n

* Prepare Thai ingredients in a mortar, not a food processor.\u00a0 The food processor makes the liquid come out, it will change the texture and the taste.
\nTo make it easier, get the largest possible mortar and pestle.\u00a0 The exercise is good for you, it will give you good arm muscles.\u00a0 And if there is chilli in there, cover the mortar with your hand so you don’t get chilli flying up into your eyes<\/p>\n

* You can use olive oil in Thai food, both Thome and Nancy Jo use only that<\/p>\n

* A 15 minute bath in turmeric and tamarind (the jar paste is ok) will give you lovely soft skin and keep you young<\/p>\n

* Small green Thai eggplants grow easily in our area.\u00a0 They look just like tobacco.\u00a0 You can get the seeds by mail order easily.<\/p>\n

* Coriander keeps you young too, and you should always use the roots as well.<\/p>\n

Actually most of Thome’s ingredients keep you young, especially everything in this lovely recipe.
\n <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>WILD CURRY<\/strong><\/span> By Thome Evans<\/p>\n

Wild Curry is a combination of fresh ingredients that can be accessed found at farmers markets or specialty Asian grocery shops. This curry is said to be healing as it contains ingredients that keep the blood pressure and sugar levels down as well as many other benefits to health. Therefore a kind of \u2018cleansing tonic\u201d food.<\/p>\n

For 4 people<\/p>\n

THE PASTE<\/span><\/p>\n

1 x long red chilli (Big Jim) chopped
\n6 x dried chilles (first soaked in water for 20 min then chopped)
\n1 or more birdseye chilli finely chopped (optional if you want it hotter)
\n6 x slices of fresh galangal root
\n5 x cloves of fresh garlic chopped
\n6 x slices of fresh ginger
\n2 x bulbs (not leaves) lemongrass sliced fine
\n1 x teaspoon cumin powder (fresh can be obtained at Indian or Asian grocers)
\n6 x slices fresh turmeric root (or 1\u00a0 tsp powder)
\n1 x large red onion chopped (brown onion optional)
\n1 x large coriander root chopped
\nPinch of Krachai (optional)
\n2 x tbs olive\/veg oil (not peanut)<\/p>\n

Other Ingredients<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

500 g thinly sliced chicken, beef, pork or prawns
\n1 tsp Thai fish sauce, or soy sauce if you prefer
\nvegetables of your choice, e.g.:
\n1\/2 cup Pea eggplants or 1 regular purple eggplant angle sliced in strips
\n250 grams green beans
\n1 medium capsicum sliced
\n1 cup bamboo shoots sliced. (Can be bought fresh in sealed bags at Asian grocery)<\/p>\n

fresh basil<\/p>\n

Pound all paste ingredients in a mortar and pestle until roughly blended. Do not use a food processor as it will make the curry too thin.<\/p>\n

Saut\u00e9 paste in a wok with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan to release fragrance. Add your chosen meat.
\nAdd tsp of Thai fish sauce to taste. Then add vegetables
\nStir fry until all veg are soft but not over cooked.
\nAdd sprigs of fresh basil to taste just before the veggies are done, to wilt briefly.<\/p>\n

Serve with steamed rice<\/p>\n

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Songkran stalls<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Thome at Songkran<\/p><\/div>\n

If you would like to enjoy a whole lot of FREE Thai food, along with performances of traditional Thai music, and lovely chanting by Buddhist monks, traditional alms giving and pouring water for the Songkran New<\/p>\n

Year celebration, get along to:
\nthe Bodhi Tree Forest Monastery
\n78 Bentley road, Tullera (via Lismore)
\ncall 6628 2426 or www.buddhanet.net\/bodhi-tree<\/a><\/p>\n

It looks like a gorgeous way to get to know real Thai culture.\u00a0 Everyone is welcome.
\nAnd you can meet the lovely Thome!<\/p>\n

Hopefully one day we can get her back on belly to share her recipe for the best fishcakes in the universe (according to NancyJ0)<\/p>\n

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BELLY BULLETIN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A new Farmers Market is starting up in Murwillumbah, from April 6 at the usual market time of 8 to 11am.\u00a0 It will be held in the Dairy Pavilion at the Murwillumbah Showground, and will be called the Caldera Farmers Market.
\nThe name ‘caldera’ comes from the huge volcanic formation in the Tweed region, and from the Caldera Institute, which is attempting to assist sustainable development in the region.\u00a0 All sellers must be growers, within 50 km. of Murwillumbah.\u00a0\u00a0 To contact the new manager,\u00a0 Deborah Fuller, please call o401 306 818 or email deborah.fuller@bigpond.com<\/p>\n

And in more good news, a great English concept has just been launched in Australia.\u00a0 It is called ‘Landshare<\/strong>‘, and is all about getting together people with land who for one reason or another can’t work it productively, or just feel like sharing\u00a0 it, people with time and energy but no land, and lovely helpful people who can contribute skills or tools or knowledge.\u00a0 It is part of the great movement back to the veggie patch, which is hampered by the fact that many of us, even out here in regional Australia, don’t have any room to plant veggies or keep chooks or bees, and we’ve also never learned how to do it properly.\u00a0 Go to the website to see who has already joined up in our area and to find out more about it: www.landshareaustralia.com.au<\/a> It has only been going for a week in Australia and more than 400 people have already joined up.\u00a0 Including 3 in our area so far.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Melon Skiing, Melon Bungy, Melon Bullseye, Melon Ironman, Melon Chariot, Pip Spitting, Melon Eating races, and of course Melon Head Smashing (cracking open the watermelon with the head only \u2013 no hands or assistance).\u00a0 Yes it can only be the Biennale of the big red fruit, the Chinchilla watermelon festival<\/strong> in Queensland.\u00a0 We love it on belly, but this year we really thought it would be cancelled with all the talk of destroyed watermelons.\u00a0 But you can’t keep a good Queensland melon farmer down.\u00a0 Two floods, 85% of the crop lost, homes destroyed, and they still held the festival over the weekend.\u00a0 Normally Chincilla produces 1\/4 of Australia’s watermelons.\u00a0 But it makes sense that it went ahead, as it was introduced in 1994 to cheer people up after terrible drought.\u00a0 No news yet if the head only melon smashing record of 47 melons in 1 minute has been broken.\u00a0\u00a0 But we can tell you that there are more than 1,200 known varieties of watermelons , they can have red, yellowish or white flesh and take 3 months to grow.\u00a0 Lots more info and a very dubious chicken watermelon pasta recipe at melonfest.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

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FINGER LIMES<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>On the outside they look like stretched cumquats, on the inside like translucent caviar – little citrus bliss balls.\u00a0 They are in season right now and they are the first delicious local native featured in this new series, I’m thinking of calling it Leah’s local legends.\u00a0 Leah Roland from the Bangalow Cooking School will be in about every 4-6 weeks to talk about using a great Northern Rivers ingredient.<\/p>\n

Keeping finger limes : squeeze out balls and freeze them in a shallow container.\u00a0 Use straight from freezer.<\/p>\n

Season – high summer!\u00a0 This year they have been around for about a month and should stay to at least end of March.<\/p>\n

Using zest – forget it, it is very very bitter and thin.<\/p>\n

A few recommendations from Leah:<\/p>\n

In kids’ lunchboxes to just split and suck or to add to lunch, well packaged portion size citrus seasoning.<\/p>\n

As delicate highlights, or they will get lost (although sister B enjoyed them at a friend’s in mashed potato)<\/p>\n

On raw seafood and beef, on oysters.<\/p>\n

In chocolate truffles…mmm<\/p>\n

More info: www.wildfingerlime.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

KIDS FOOD PREFERENCES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We thought we’d better talk about kids and food since we were replacing the pregnancy show.\u00a0 If your kids don’t like something, don’t despair, Leah says you may have to present a new food up to 15 times before they like it.\u00a0 And we all agree the old way of forcing kids to finish everything weren’t so good, and may turn them off particular foods for life.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe start working on their taste buds while they are still in your belly.\u00a0 Have a look at this<\/a> paper by Gwen Dewar.<\/p>\n

It looks like a baby’s food preferences for both healthy food\u00a0 and alcohol can be affected by what mum is having, both while pregnant and breastfeeding.\u00a0 But don’t worry – one hamburger and a beer will not turn bub into an obese alcoholic.<\/p>\n

Lots of great info on preparing baby food at home, and what is worth spending money on as far as products marketed for babies, like special milks and yogurts, on the consumer website choice<\/a>.\u00a0 They also publish a book on this.<\/p>\n

And for bub’s first curry:<\/p>\n

 
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