Village Calendar

Cooks & Books heads East with with a fascinating dinner hosted by America’s top expert on Thai cuisine! Blending elements of several Southeast Asian traditions, Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared but aromatic dishes that balance sour, sweet, salty, and bitter tastes in almost every dish.

Join us just a few days before the Thai New Year with dinner, discussion and recipes from Nancie’s perennial bestselling book: Real Thai: The Best of Thailand’s Regional Cooking. Here’s the dinner menu:

First Course
A Thai Tasting…
Crispy Spring Rolls with Sweet-Hot Garlic Sauce / boh biah tote & nahm jeem gratiem
Savory Minced Pork on Fresh Pineapple / mah haw
Pink Grapefruit Salad with Toasted Coconut and Fresh Mint / yum som oh
Issahn-Style Pork Salad with Toasted Rice and
Fresh Mint / lahp moo

Second Course
Son-in-Law Eggs
kai leuk koey

Main Course
Accented Rice….
Jasmine Rice / kao hohm mali
Panaeng Beef with Wild Lime Leaves and Coconut Cream / panaeng neua
Crispy Rice Noodles with Pork, Shrimp, and Bean Sprouts
/ mee grop
Chicken Coconut Soup / tome kha gai
Spinach Stir-Fried with Black Pepper and Garlic / pahk boong fai daeng
Tangy
Cucumber Salad / taeng kwa dong

Dessert
Coconut & Lemongrass Custard with Mango Sorbet, Pineapple & Tamarind

Author Nancie McDermott

An author of ten cookbooks, Nancie is now a judge for the James Beard Foundation cookbook awards. She’s a contributing editor for Saveur and Edible Piedmont and has a well followed blog and, she points out, is importantly, a UNC grad!

“I love Thai food and eat it everywhere I go–in Bombay and Bangalore, in Khota Bharu and Kuala Lumpur, in Singapore, the Napa Valley, Los Angeles and, of course, in Bangkok,” says Nancie, who first experienced the cuisine while stationed in that country while in the Peace Corps.

Real Thai is a cookbook organized geographically by region, with more than 100 tempting, and intended (successfully) easy-to-follow recipes. With advice on basic utensils and techniques, a glossary of ingredients, a list of shopping sources, and suggested menus, Real Thai is the definitive guide for novice and expert cook alike.

Our Thai New Year Dinner includes all recipes (five or more) served (cooked by Chef Colin Bedford), beverage pairings (by Maximilian Kast), tax and gratuity — plus an autographed copy of Real Thai —$100.