DECONSTRUCT


You can also adapt the paste to suit whatever


you’re cooking in it. “With fish, you might choose to add a root called ‘Chinese keys’, or ‘finger root’, which has an earthy taste. You can pound it into the paste and have some in the curry as well,” Andy says. Furthermore, meats with a more robust flavour than chicken require a more powerfully spiced curry. Beef or goat, for example, can take more dried spices, as well nutmeg or mace, according to Andy. Once any protein and veg have been added,


the paste is seasoned with fish sauce and garnished with Thai basil and more chilli. The end result should be spicy-salty, with a lick of sweetness from the coconut. “Particular vegetables are associated with green curry in Thailand,” says Andy. “There’s a bias towards green and white vegetables, like heart of coconut palm, which is white, or pea or Thai apple aubergines.”


Home and away For a dish that’s been thoroughly mangled, green curry has a surprisingly short history. Hanuman Aspler is a Thai food history expert and the founder of Thaifoodmaster, a website and cookery school in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, which attracts both amateurs and professional chefs from all over the world — including Sebby Holmes’ sous chef. He points out that the first Thai cookbooks were written in the early 1890s and mention other curries, but not this one, so it’s likely to have first emerged in the following decades. “It’s true that there isn’t much information about green curry,” Hanuman says. “The first time we come across it is in a 1926 book by an author with the pen name L Phaehtraarat.” Some Thai curries have a far longer story — massaman curry, for example, is thought to be over 300 years old. Hanuman’s speculative theory is that “Indian culinary codes influenced the aristocracy to try making curry with green chillies,” and points out that because it’s so similar to what we call red curry, it does have older origins.


No kaffir lime? Don’t be tempted to use normal limes as a substitute — they’re not suitable. If you can’t find the right fruit, fresh kaffir lime leaves will do; either buy a small tree to keep in the kitchen, or store leaves in the freezer. Tear before using, to release the flavour.


Chillies first appeared in Thailand in the


late 1600s, arriving from South America — via Europe and Africa — with Portuguese traders. The use of white pepper, dried ground cumin and ground coriander in both red and green curries (as well as many other Thai dishes) hints at an Indian influence, too. Other neighbouring countries also


contributed to Thai cuisine; China, for instance, is thought to have introduced the noodles used in pad Thai, while coconut only began appearing in savoury dishes after contact with Persian, Indian and Malay cooks. For centuries, this indigenous ingredient was used only in desserts, while curries were made with water. As for why green curry emerged when it did,


Hanuman suggests it’s down to more than simple chance. The late 1920s and early 1930s were a time of political and social upheaval, when Thailand moved from absolute monarchy to democracy. “It was a time to think outside the box,” he says. “And green does suggest regeneration and new growth.” Beyond its homeland, Thai cuisine has


boomed in recent decades. The UK’s first Thai restaurant, Bangkok on Bute Street, opened in Kensington, London, in 1967; today, the nation is home to approximately 2,000 Thai- owned restaurants. In June 2019, Pot Noodle launched a green curry variant — a sure sign Thai food is now a staple on these shores. Yet, how did it become so popular? The answer perhaps lies in a very clever piece of soft power: since the 1990s, at least, Thailand’s government has been supporting overseas Thai restaurant businesses by training chefs and restaurant owners, and helping to open up foreign markets for products such as fish sauce. The model has been so successful that other countries, including South Korea, Peru and Malaysia, have adopted it, with similar success. If that means more — and better — green curry for the rest of us, that’s surely no bad thing.


1967 Bangkok on Bute Street, the UK’s first Thai restaurant, opens in London’s South Kensington.


TIME LINE


1926 First known mention of Thai green curry — in a Thai cookbook.


1988 The Churchill Arms, in London’s Notting Hill, becomes the first UK pub to serve Thai food. It proves so successful that its owner, Fullers Brewery, launches nine more pubs with Thai menus shortly afterwards.


2006 The Thai government launches the Thai Select scheme, certifying quality Thai restaurants around the world.


2015 Thailand’s Office of the National Culture Commission conducts an international survey to find out which Thai dishes are most liked by non-Thais: green chicken curry was number two.


NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/FOOD-TRAVEL 73


2001 Chef David Thompson opens Nahm, a Thai restaurant at London hotel The Halkin. In 2002, it wins a Michelin star, the first Thai restaurant ever to gain the accolade.


2009 Thai green curry forms part of the new ration packs given to British troops serving in Afghanistan.


2017 The Michelin Guide covers Bangkok for the first time; in 2019, Phuket and Phang Nga are added; the 2020 edition will see Chiang Mai included for the first time.


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