Culinary Journey of Thailand and Laos

THAI CUISINE

Thais love all manner of spices & curry pastes, every Thai meal is a delicate balancing act of bold flavours. Whilst Thai food uses many of the same ingredients as other South East Asian countries, though it manages to retain a flavour that is uniquely Thai – fresh herbs, such as lemongrass and galangal, tone down overpowering spices. Salty sauces are tempered with sugars and offset by lemon and lime juice. Hot sours soups, fragrant stir fries, curries & salads. Thai cuisine is undoubtedly one of the world’s favourite cuisines.

Thailand’s various regions all have their own flavours, unique dishes &complex cooking styles. Cooking in the north will more likely uses steamed glutinous rice & influences from Laos & Burma. Southern Thai food is more influenced by fish, coconut, sour fruits & chillies – southern Thai food is the hottest in the country.Royal Thai cuisine influences central Thai food heavily, these sophisticated dishes, which use many ingredients. 

Rice is an integral part of every meal. A typical Thai meal will have there will have soup, a couple of curries and some side dishes. Tropical fruit is popular for dessert but there is also a wide variety of colourful Thai sweets.

CUISINE OF LAOS

As Laos is a landlocked country, ingredients from afar & other cuisines have been slow to find a place in its kitchens. Sticky rice, fresh herbs, fish, meat, fresh vegetable. Spices, chillies & fish sauce. The staple that distinguishes Lao cuisine from that of its South-East Asian neighbours is  khao niao (sticky rice). Larb is a signature dish of Laos & the traditional Laotian tom som, a shredded green papaya salad spiced with chilli can now be found in variations in neighbouring Cambodia, Thailand & Vietnam.

Bread is not traditionally part of the Lao diet, though baguettes are a popular street food –due to the legacy of French rule in the first half of the 20th century, Lao formed part of French Indochine along with Vietnam & Cambodia.

Laos’s savoury dishes have a particular piquancy the balance tips towards the sour and even bitter –due to the wide use of herbs (lemon basil, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, dill, galangal, coriander and Vietnamese mint), bitter greens & fermented fish sauce padaek. Meals usually come with one or more small dishes of spicy dipping sauce or condiment (jaew).

WINE & DRINKS OF THE REGION

Singha beer is the quintessential Thai beer, the orginal recipe was formulated by Thia nobleman Phya Bhirom Bhakadi & his son Prachuap in 1934. Rice whiskey made from sticky rice & Lâo khāo, a whit liquor is popular in both Thailand & Laos. The beer of Laos is one of Journeys Rediscovered’s favourites Beer Lao. Coffee from the southern Bolaven Plateau of Laos is enjoyed all around the world 

Small Group Tour of no more than 8 people

Bangkok – Chiang Rai – Chiang Mai – Luang Prabang

12 days/11 nights

• 4 nights accommodation in Bangkok – Riva Surya
• 1 night accommodation in Chiang Rai – Le Meridien
• 2 nights accommodation in Chiang Mai – Na Nirand Romantic Boutique Resort
• 4 nights accommodation in Luang Prabang – Satri House
• Breakfast daily at hotels
• Many lunches and dinners included at specially selected restaurants and culinary experiences
• All private transfers 
• All Activities included as per itinerary
• Entrance fees
• Sightseeing and touring with a local English speaking guide  

Contact Journeys Rediscovered for pricing to suit your preferred departure as a private itinerary or to REGISTER your spot on our 2022 or 2023 Small Group Journeys.

Boutique accommodation twin share. Single Supplements available.