14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Exploration of Thai Recipes for Eating and Well-Being, February 3, 2010
This review is from: The Elements of Life: A Contemporary Guide to Thai Recipes and Traditions for Healthier Living (Hardcover)
The Elements of Life may look like a coffee table book, but it is so much more. It serves as a doorway into the Thai way of life and traditions. Follow the steps and the adventure begins. For the interested reader, this book enables an uncomplicated method of incorporating Thai recipes for food and health/well-being.
The first step is to use the included Elements of Life wheel to determine the reader's applicable Home Element. This step took only a couple of minutes. The elements are earth, water, wind and fire. An individual may have one or two home elements. Once the home element is determined, the Basics Chapter offers general guidance. Read that section first and then turn to the applicable home element chapter for specific guidance for eating and well-being. The entire process is fascinating and encompassing. After using the Elements of Life wheel my home element result was approximately 2/3 water and 1/3 earth. Both the water and earth chapters apply to me, with a stronger emphasis on water.
I first checked the Earth chapter. The contents include Food for Health, Hot weather recipes, Rainy weather recipes, a chart that incorporates the aromas and flavors of the element making it easy to see how to add items most beneficial to me in my cooking and life based on my home element(s). The Bliss section of the chapter offers advice to optimize physical being and includes recipes for facial masks, a foot rub, hair conditioner along with a section of special scents (like cedar, sandalwood, patchouli, juniper berry, etc.) that are complimentary, massage oils, sachets and finally traditional remedies for minor ailments. The Water and other home element chapters are similarly organized.
The book is lushly illustrated although every dish is not pictured. Not surprisingly, the user should be willing to search out specialty ingredients for the recipes. I prepared the Cambodian Salad with Chicken, Smoked Salmon, Mushroom and Arugula Salad, and Cool Rice Vermicelli with Grilled Shrimp, Fire-Roasted Anaheim Chile, and Sweet-Sour Sauce. The recipes were delicious and instructions clear.
This is much more than a cook book, it is an introduction to Thai traditions. The book is carefully crafted by Su-Mei Yu and her desire to share her wonderful culture with the reader is evident on each page. I treasure my copy of this beautiful book and recommend it to all.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good thai cook book with simple healthy recipes, December 29, 2010
This review is from: The Elements of Life: A Contemporary Guide to Thai Recipes and Traditions for Healthier Living (Hardcover)
A well written book with some interesting yet simple and healthy recipes. There's some beautiful pictures, but I wish it had more pictures of the final dish. I also like that it included some natural recipes for facials and foot soaks.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Learn the theory behind Thai food, January 30, 2012
Just as Traditional Chinese Medicine made a huge splash in the Western world for its understanding of the body's "humors' and has produced the best cold and flu medicine around, and acupuncture, so does Thai cooking rely on a foundation of astrology combined with a TCM style list of "elements." Once you know your "home element" you can find your section in the book which s pleasantly comprehensive and custom-written for your type of constitution.
The concept is not new - Indian medicine ayurveda, calls these humors "doshas" and also prescribes diet accordingly. But it is still a new concept in the West - that everyone's body is actually different. That one recipe does not serve all. That what you love is actually not good for your partner, and you need to cook for all constitutions, not just one.
The book takes a complicated subject and prescribes a full menu for all four seasons for EVERY element type. What makes it easy to read is Yu's wonderful full-page photographs...photos are explanatory, not just artful, a pleasant suprise.
Unlike Thai cookbooks focusing on Thai street food, these recipes can actually be cooked at home. The author is a Thai restauranteur in California and spouse of a non-Asian foodie, so her ability to translate culture is as good as it gets. This book will probably end up being a reference and foodie classic once our culture abandons industrial agriculture and fully adopts sustainable foodways. That could take decades. But the book exemplifies how far Americans are from the healthful diets of Asia and why Thailand is the center of medical tourism today. Expand your mind!
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