Lessons In Thai Takeout...

"Thai Table. How can I help you?"

"I'd like to place an order for pickup, please."

"Okay. What you want order?"

"I'd like pahd thai with chicken and red curry with shrimp."

"How hot you want? One to ten."

"TEN, please!"

"NOOOOOOOOO. You sure? Who is it? I know you??"

"I'm sure. I promise. I just moved to town, so you don't know me, but I'm sure I can handle a ten." <vocal smile>

"NOOOOOOOOO. REALLY??? You really really sure????"

<laughing> "I'm sure. I like my food very, very hot."

<warning tone> "Okay. You going to pick up? When you come, I see you!"

"I'll be there to pick up. How long will it take?"

"Fifteen minute, okay? I see you then."

"Great. Thank you. See you in fifteen minutes!"

And that was my first proper takeout order in the new digs. Thai food so flaming hot it made my nose run, my eyes water, and my inner ears flame. Perfect. Just the way I like it. 

Red curry with shrimp

Well, ok. Actually, the pahd thai was a little on the sweet side and the curry a touch on the thin side for my liking, but the food was delicious anyway. Not just because it was as hot as I like it (which is rare), and not just because we'd been unpacking and arranging and rearranging stuff all day...

The food was indeed tasty in its own right, but it was also delicious beyond its execution because of what happened when I went to pick it up. As I walked through the doors of this little hole in the wall Thai joint in a nondescript strip center on Oceanside Boulevard, I was greeted by an elderly Thai man only slightly taller than my mother and sporting an unbelieving and impish grin at the sight of the newbie who surely would not be able to stomach the Scoville units that came with a *10*.

Pahd Thai with chicken

"You really sure you can eat, huh?"

"I'm really sure. But I promise I'll tell you next time if it's too hot! ;) Oh, and may I have some lime, too?"

"Ohhhh. LIME. To eat with pahd thai. You know, huh? You know how to eat our food! You want chili in fish sauce too?"

"YES! I'd LOVE some!"

"Chili in fish sauce for curry. Lime for pahd thai. YOU KNOW."

He then motioned to the kitchen staff - who were all smiling and peering out of the kitchen to see their apparently hapless victims - to assemble our proper condiments as he rang us up.

"Okay, okay. Here your chili in fish sauce and your lime!"

Bird chilies in fish sauce.
We know, and we *LIKE*.

And having left a tip that reflected our appreciation for the old man's genuine hospitality and happiness at having served customers who "know how to eat our food," we sped home to devour the flaming hot dishes made even more delicious by a couple of cold, cold beers.

Though I had to be without my kitchen for a few days, I was grateful. Not only for the first good meal after several meals of the fast food necessitated by moving, but also for the reminder of how food brings us together and enables us to relate through barriers of language, culture, and even age. And of how food gives many of us such a sense of pride in our heritage that we can't help but smile big when someone else shows appreciation for and interest in the foods of our families and childhoods.

Sometimes it feels like our world has become such a cynical and saturated place that we forget how a thing as basic as food, sometimes the simplest and humblest kind, can bring so much joy and depth to our lives. But if I couldn't cook for a few days, I'm glad I was reminded in a brief encounter with a little old Thai man why I do.

shinae

P.S. I can't wait to go back and tell him we ate it all and survived.

Thai Table

1910 Oceanside Blvd.

Suite C

Oceanside, CA

760.721.4850